views - Robert Hague

The Trojan Hammer
‘Art is not a mirror held up to society, but a hammer with which to shape it.’ Bertolt Brecht
‘A crime has been committed, perhaps art.’ Robert Hague
Friday, 04 January 2013 15:04
FBI: More Club and Hammer Homicides than Rifle
Reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s annual
crime statistics reveal that more hammers, clubs, and other
blunt objects are involved in murders than rifles or shotguns.
The hammer lies against a paisley patterned sheet. It is, quite simply, a
murderous image. The only question is whether Robert Hague has wrapped
the oil-cloth over the hammer’s head to conceal the gore or has he wrapped
it for future use – to burn the tarnished cloth and hide the evidence?
Known well as a sculptor, Hague’s most recent work – a major series of
lithographs – is based firmly in the world of drawing, an activity that is
as time honoured as his subject.
His central icon in this series takes on innumerable roles. The earliest
hammer was no doubt a rock, or perhaps bone and it was also, with little
doubt, originally a killing machine, an easier way to pummel prey for
food or cause the demise of an enemy or invader. As time went by metal
was discovered and forged and the hammer thrived for some time as the
ultimate form of human technology.
The hammer can be seen as a symbol of work and creativity. It can be
seen as a symbol of class solidarity (the Hammer and Sickle). Hague’s
Trojan Hammers, however, go far further.
February 29, 2012 8:54 am
Hammer used as weapon in Nampa – Idaho Press-Tribune
Kelly A. Singh, 40, was confronted by police on the 4400
block of Long Valley Place after reports of a possible
disturbance. Singh was uncooperative and had blood on
her clothing and hands, Nampa Police Chief Leroy Forsman
said. Upon entering the home, officers found Ruth Collins,
69, suffering from head trauma in a bedroom. Collins was
transported to Saint Alphonsus Medical Center, but died
a short time later. During the investigation, Forsman
continued, police recovered what they believe is the
murder weapon. That weapon was revealed at Singh’s
Wednesday afternoon arraignment to be a hammer.
At St. Peter’s Basilica in 1972 a man attacked the ‘Pietà’ with a hammer.
He damaged the face and neck of the Virgin Mary sculpture, as well as the
left forearm, which fell to the floor and broke apart. It is hard not to think
of such events when considering one of Hague’s lithographs that doesn’t
feature a hammer specifically. Trojan Hammer (Urn) instead depicts a Ming
vase, it’s fate inevitable it would seem.
But then perhaps not. Looking closely the hammer head is concealed in
the base of the vase. Is the hammer rendered impotent by its’ fragility?
Or has the vase become a hidden weapon, its ponderous and dangerous
weight concealed. Art with which to bludgeon its’ admirers? Art, as Brecht
puts it, created to shape a culture.
Trojan Hammer (Urn), 2013
lithograph on cotton rag paper, 65 x 65 cm, edition of 10
Gift of the artist. Deakin University Art Collection.
Trojan Hammer (Moth) 2012
lithograph on cotton rag paper, 30 x 46 cm, edition of 10
Purchase, 2012 Deakin University Art Collection
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