Tools have always been vital necessities: they have come to the help of the feeble bipod since forever. “Praising the Tool” is Amir Mobed’s latest exhibition that begins with praising the tool. Making use of an ontological metaphor of the notion of tools, Mobed has called forth everything that helps us get something done: from sickles and missiles to the ever-present smartphones. Instruments that have grown and developed with humans like organic beings, have fanned the sparks of identity into flames.
In Mobed’s thought, there is always a place for man in its biological sense. Body is a plane that connects us to the world and tools are made to extend the ability of individuals to modify features of the surrounding environment. “Praising the Tool” is a situation of sorts: a five-piece installation, in which every piece makes a link to humanity’s past.
Amir Mobed always uses his installations to create situations, commonly dealing with beginnings, especially the starting point of creation. From the bronze statues of “Creation” and the “Created” installation that exhibited perfection and deficiency at the same time, to the curious and challenging “Disformission,” “Upon Us,” and “Virus” performances. “Praising the Tool” longs for the instinct that has been lost in the tumult of modern instruments.
