K. C.: You’ve expanded the boundaries of
blacksmithing as an art form as evidenced by
the national and international awards and
recognitions you’ve received, but it’s far from
typical. How would you describe what you’re
doing?
T. J.: Even though I now make my living exclusively
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as a sculptor, my origins as a blacksmith
provide the connective tissue toward thought
processes and solutions that are an inextricable
part of my practice as an artist. In fact, without
these skills, it would’ve been impossible
to have gained access to the state-of-the-art
industrial forging facility in Illinois where, for
the last fi fteen years, I’ve created the largescale
works, some pieces weighing in excess of
20,000 kilos. It’s precisely because we speak the
same fundamental language in this context that
I’m offered a seamless working environment
allowing hands-on orchestration as if I’m working
in my own studio, but with the aid of their
industrially scaled equipment.
Another advantage of producing my work
there is that it provides a means of keeping my
fi nger on the pulse of global political and economic
conditions driving this industry. They
furtively facilitate indispensable tasks that provide
a staggering array of goods and services that
human beings rely on. Blacksmiths have been
doing this for more than 3,000 years. They continue
to do so but are simply out of public view
now, performing with astonishing technological
innovations inside industrial facilities that are
closed to outsiders. By forging sculpture from
their massive remnants, literally hot-off-the-press
and acknowledging each piece as “offspring”
still metaphorically connected to its “parent”
material, I reference our dependency on forging
activities that remain at the cutting edge of our
lives. In every way imaginable, forged components
are churning away at the heart of energy
production, cultivation and processing of food,
extraction of mineral resources, protection of
borders, and even the exploration of our galaxy.
Our debt to these blacksmith/technicians and
FIG. 6 (above):
Objects on a table in Tom
Joyce’s home offi ce.
Photo © Tom Joyce Studio Archive.
FIG. 7 (below left):
Male initiate playing an
ekpande bell at an initiation
ceremony. Kuwdé, Togo,
2010.
Photo © Tom Joyce.
FIG. 8 (below):
Kabre blacksmiths Kao Kossi
and Ide Essozimna forging
an ekpande. Tcharé, Togo,
2010.
Photo © Tom Joyce.
TRIBAL PEOPLE