Tools for Making Decisions

Tools for Making Decisions

When I was considering choice, I asked myself, as well as my friends on Facebook, what kind of tools help us make decisions. I brainstormed my own list and considered the opinion of scores of friends who responded. What I noticed was the underlying presence of the senses in both my ideas and my friends' so I began reading about the traditional and combined senses. I realized our senses are the most basic tools we have to observe and perceive our world and to make choices every day. I thought of a tool for each sense, choosing objects with layers of meaning, and forming a group that allows information to be studied and measured. In addition, I deliberately chose to focus on my love of collecting, searching the Bay Area and Etsy for just the right level or leather gloves, for example. Finally, I carefully arranged these nine necklaces for the installation, placing them atop a table, ready for use, as intuition hovers above and gathers below. 

Sight, brass, vintage bi-focal lens

Hearing, brass

Touch, vintage leather gloves

Taste, brass

Smell, brass, glass test tubes, cork, ground garlic, dried blueberries, lemon rind, lavender, vanilla bean, mint, dirt and rotting leaves, Comet cleanser, popcorn, oak tree bark

Temperature, vintage water thermometer

Kinesthetics, brass, antique dividers

Balance, brass, vintage level

Pain, brass, Dolorimeter

See more pictures on Flickr.

Thanks for reading.