To chart the history of the nail is to map the course of human civilization. However, this is not strictly an anthropocentric history. In their inception, nails are materially derived from the natural world. In their application, they are used to redefine it. This tension between nature and industry, with humanity at the center, is emblemized in every phase of a nail’s existence, from its sourcing and production to its usage and eventual deterioration. The nail is both an elemental extension of nature and a device by which it is subjugated and transformed. In this sense, the nail functions not merely as an indicator of human technologies, histories, and ideals, but as a broader icon of evolution and invention. Arguably, the nail is to human civilization what the atom is to the human: an integral element of both creative and destructive potential. Omnipresent and ignored. Invisible and invaluable.
Fawn Rogers