Tools for Engagement: Reclaiming Craft in an Age of Technology

* This title is now available for pre-order. Expected delivery in June. Tools for Engagement: Reclaiming Craft in an Age of Technology by: Joshua A. Klein & Michael Updegraff “Craftsmanship,” it has been said, “is a word to start an argument with.” And in many ways, this is especially true today. With workshop automation, digital design software, and engineered materials readily available, it has become hard to clearly define the line where human creativity ends and machine production begins. Humans are, at heart, makers. We have always found ways to create beautiful things – to work wood with tools and to build, with our own hands, all we needed to thrive. This is our birthright. But this handcraft inheritance is increasingly at risk in an era when technology seeks to supplant not only tedious and arduous tasks, but even our creative endeavors. We are at a watershed moment in human history. Which path will we choose? In Tools for Engagement, authors and woodworkers Joshua A. Klein and Michael Updegraff make the case for human craftsmanship in the 21st century. Drawing from historical precedent, workshop wisdom, and modern research, they explore why it is critical to cherish and celebrate humane handwork. As more and more aspects of our modern lives are becoming outsourced, Klein and Updegraff argue that we as makers must take a stand. Examining the effects of the Industrial and Digital Revolutions, they show how the trajectory of technology has a definite and disengaging arc. It is decidedly not neutral. Beautifully designed with lavish photography, illuminating anecdotes, and practical woodworking instruction, Tools for Engagement is not just another lofty, navel-gazing soliloquy on craftsmanship. Rather, it presents, chapter by chapter, a new way of thinking about old ways of being – a heartening charge to seek engagement with the natural world, connection with the work of our hands, and fellowship with one another. In a world where insecurity, instant gratification, and indifference grow ever-more prominent, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work. Table of Contents: Introduction: All the Difference 1. Makers, Not Machines Project: Wooden Spoon Carving 2. The Question of ‘Craftsmanship’ Project: Sliding-Lid Box 3. Technology is Outsourcing Project: The Low Bench 4. Tool Marks Tell Stories Project: Post & Rung Chair 5. Taking Up Tools Project: Re-Handling a Chisel 6. Craft as Counterpractice Project: Fan Birds Afterword: Resolutions for Engagement 7.25"x 9.5". Softcover. Smythe-sewn binding and premium uncoated paper. Printed in the United States.