GAVEL TO GAVEL

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Over the past 2 million years, mans had invented a hammer as a tool for living, fighting, hunting and also as a labor-saving equipment for many purposes. It can be said that the hammer was the very first tool for human survival in the Stone Age.
Since then, lots of tools and equipment for pushing things, hitting, making shapes and even collapse are made by using developed hammers from times to times. The hammers are made into various forms up their usages. However, the hammers still have the same basic structure, a hammerhead and a handle. The weight is at the hammerhead more than the handle so, the mass and force are the main factor.

One of the hammers now is the one for a specific purpose like hummer for communication is called a gavel. For the history, the gavel was used as a symbol of power and rights of the chairman. Its sound was used for calling attentions or leading to any final decisions, declaration, justices, or controlling men’s behaviors in the past. Some said that the gavel was in used since the Medieval England Age in a land court. The judge used the gavel once the judgment for land renting agreement or any final conclusions were done. This made the word “gavel-to-gavel” mean the total meeting

I am very surprise how mans could pass this. Many times people use power over each other to finish problems. At the end, people still have to use rules or agreements to control everyone.
I believe that religions were created along with our world, societies and administration. The religions has help mans to maintain minds for thinking; the thinking of good and bad behaviors. Today, some said the belief of religions seemed decreasing but I was not agreed. I think we changed our life-style along the changing of world today. Making this art is starting from the starting of mans by connected hammers and nails. Then I found that the basic structure of mans, a head, could be changed into a religion symbol by a sharp extended on the top.

I looked back when I was working on developing Thai products with the Ministry of Commerce, I met a carpenter who was having selling. One of his products was the gavel. This made me realized that the very powerful gavels were actually made from the locals. I asked him why he had to make so many gavels. He replied me that he did not know - the gavels were made since his grandfather’s age. He said somebody might use them someway. At that time, I bought these old but powerful gavels from him with my idea to do something with them.

Today, the gavels may not be used daily for normal people like us. For me, as a metaphor in our post-modern world, it seems like we all are carrying these gavels all the times. We hit tables and judge so many things. Anybody’s decision and even us have influences on the others and societies. Each judgment we make on someone or something, we have already been a judge with the invisible gavels in hands.