Oculus of the Hand: rediscovering apprenticeship, craft and useful work

21.1 hackney

Blistered and calloused. I notice their hands first, fingers like pistons. The chiseled crevasses of their palm brush away sawdust. It hangs in the afternoon light. Oak thuds onto the bench. They see the table leg beneath its surface, I see only a block of wood… for now. One day my hands will read timber like theirs; distinguish Birch from Beech, recess from router, dovetail from dowel.

In this school of craft — the oculus guides the eye and the portal focuses a progression; a move from observation to action, from new brick to old, from subterranean drum to skylit, timber lined collegiate dining, towards useful work and enjoyment in labour.

Jeremy Bonwick