Log Loading Hook 1939

Harold Ballerd made this drawing of a ‘Log Loading Hook’, and though we don’t know when exactly, we can be sure that it represents an object that would have been common in the American landscape during his lifetime. Consider the weight and strain implied by this tool. Loading logs was a labor-intensive task, often carried out by rural workers. The hook itself speaks volumes about the physicality of work and the relationship between humans and the natural world. It makes one ponder the ecological impact of logging and the lives of those whose livelihoods depended on it. Ballard was born in 1855, so growing up during the Industrial Revolution, what did he make of this transition away from the land? Did he see his art as preserving a vanishing way of life?