Sensory System

Touch

Context

Handling the spade to prepare for exhibition on railways

Description

The spade is made of two types of material, wood and metal. The blade, plaque and part of the handle is made of metal. The handle grip and shaft are made of wood. The metal of the blade is slightly rough and textured, as it is not polished. This might be exaggerated by dust that has settled on the spade. There is a slight dip in the centre of the blade, but it becomes flatter as it approaches the bottom edge. The edge of the blade is narrow but not sharp. There is a crack on the back of the blade which has created a small bump in the otherwise flat surface. The metal runs up from the blade to wrap around the wood shaft, making this part of the metal much more curved, and it has a scalloped edge. There are 6 metal screws attaching the blade to the shaft (three on the front and three on the back), resulting in bumps as I run my finger up the shaft. The wood is polished so it is smooth, apart from a few light cracks that create very small bumps as I stroke the surface. The shaft is long and circular, so I can wrap my hand around it. The wood of the handle grip and the upper half of the shaft has been carved, so I can feel dips in the wood. There is a carved band in the middle of the shaft with a mixture of shapes and lines. Above that, most of the shaft has been carved with bands twisting up and around it like a piece of rope. The wood around the metal plaque has been carved into the curving shapes of leaves and flowers. The wood of the handle grip has also been carved into twisting bands. It is wider at the middle and narrower at either end. The metal plaque near the top of the shaft is slightly curved to fit the shape of the wood shaft. It has a smooth surface, with slight ridges where the text has been engraved. It has four pointed corners which are slightly sharp. A piece of metal has been used to attach the shaft to the handle grip. It wraps around the top of the shaft, with a single metal screw holding it in place and causing a bump. The metal then splits into two thin pieces which curve up and join onto the ends of the handle grip.

Relationships

• Pain
• Proprioception
• Temperature