Nils Hint, 2014, Estonia

No. 2 (conceptual neckpiece)

Iron for me is a venerable material that holds a certain seed of civilization. Iron is used for tools and machinery that subjugate nature and keep society moving. Iron is functional and conservative even though it has also been hammered into weapons. Iron is just a tool in a battle, goaded on by other metals whose glitter is blinding. Blacksmithing is truly beautiful work – each time I take up a hot piece of iron, I can’t get over its glow. Unlike common opinion, I see it as a soft material; it doesn’t break into shards like stone or glass but takes on form like soft clay. Forging iron is the most unique and fascinating of all the iron working technologies. The time when the iron is still glowing is not long and you have to perform all the necessary shape changes quickly and in well-thought-out fashion, so as not to waste heat. Working with fire and tending to the fire, which is important for blacksmithing, makes you love and honor the fire, just as with those who heat their homes with a stove. Fire cleanses material and the thoughts, and it is truly a universal tool whose power is used by all but few sense it. That is why I choose iron.

Forged iron, ready made