What does 'Generational' mean for your work?
Will your craftsmanship be "antique" worthy?
Have you ever considered the impact of your work on the future, maybe for people who don't yet exist? With scheduling demands, considering profitability, dealing with clients or contractors, and putting out fires; it can be difficult to stay cognizant of the lasting effects your work may have. The people who interact with your work will have impressions on their memory long after you've delivered your product.
To make my case, I like to imagine a family living for a decade or more in a house where I hung the doors. I think about how they might take for granted the countless rotations of the hinges, the flush set of the hardware, the consistent reveals that defiantly resists the sagging of the aging structure. These things may not be consciously remembered by the occupants, but they do have an impact, miniscule as they may be. They might help form an expectation or create a standard of quality and craftsmanship, which may in turn, become a part of future work. The pebble thrown into the pond is a singular event, yet it produces continuing events after it.
Maybe you just delivered a set of custom nightstands to your client's home, and watched their faces light up as you pull the protective blankets off their beautiful new furnishings. Books and iPhones, coffee mugs and prescription drugs; lamps, figurines, dust, etc. will find their place atop your work; enhancing and beautifying the owner’s lives. Conversations will be had and arguments sorted out in their presence. I believe it's possible that the care you put into creating your art piece will influence the conversation or argument for the better.
You are creating something of meaning with your work! What you produce in your shop or on the job site is like a hand-written note compared to a pre-printed greeting card, mass-produced and purchased at Wal-Mart. They may each have their place, but one certainly leaves a sense of care, importance, and connection. These hand-created forms are not features of our disposable, modern, one-time-use culture. They are part of a collective edifice of the past, made to endure, made for generations to come. You are bringing something into being that the future will enjoy.
Consider how this concept might shape the way you approach your next build or install.
Yerg Tools was founded on a legacy of trust, integrity, and care for others. Our primary hope is that our tools become integral to your work in creating and forming meaning for others, and that they inspire you to create your best work.