What Do You See?
click on this link:
forsum.com/lag1.jpg/
Courtesy of Forsum and Associates
top row is more difficult to use, but more versatile when mastered. Bottom row is easier to use, but more limited in application. Or something along those lines.
Note for others: click on link to see the images. The attachment doesn’t show the entire thing.
Top row - I see beautiful music, wonderful sculptures with fine details, I see a challenging race track, a mechanic enjoying his work with ease, I see a pure 1 iron struck on a 220 yard par 3 with accuracy landing right next to the pin, and an amazing homerun hit with the beautiful sound of pure wood leaving the hitter with a great feeling in his hands and body.
Bottom row - I see pure raw power as the dragster makes his way down the straight track, I see a fireman hacking his way thru a wall to rescue a person, I see a cute child playing on his toy xylophone, I see the normal Joe rounding off his bolts in frustration as he wrenches together his bench, I hear the high pitch pinging sound of a metal bat at a batting cage, and lastly i see the average golfer pulling out his giant hammers in hopes his ball will go somewhere…
Top row I see depth. Depth in craftmanship, depth in the range of results and options of use/enjoyment/satisfaction. Depth in the journey of becoming a skilled practicioner. Disciplined & devoted need only apply.
The bottom is substituting skill for raw power through technology. The bottom line is the result, not how its achieved.
Top? A skilled martial arts journey.
Bottom? A punk with a gun
If those are Rorschach images, I am sure Chaos may see all of them as beauties on a beach.
Lots of stuff in there Lag. I like the open end adjustable wrench versus what looks like a ratchet wrench. I guess with the adjustable wrench there is something to be said with having to remove the wrench completely from torque pressures in order to continue with the direction of travel once we reach any barrier to a full circular motion- and it is an up and down removal away from the nut for the adjustable wrench. Now the ratchet variety, although some torques may be lessened in order to continue travel, there is always some measure of pressurized contact between the hand and object being torqued.
The other images say a lot too. Straight line velocity on the dragster countering the more active Le Mans track and all those driving pressures…all pretty neat stuff if you ask me. I was fiddling around with some art work some time ago with wrenches, and your post caught my attention. Good stuff…and Happy New Year to ABS… 
The one with the wrenches was the hardest one to ‘get’ for me. Best I can come up with is that the top one properly fits, while the the bottom one doesn’t. But there may be something about the dual ratcheting vs. tightening action (backswing vs. downswing ?) that the upper tool is capable of as well.
It was very interesting speaking to the author. His explanations ran deep. Conceptually much deeper than I would have initially rendered myself. The general purpose of this post and his reasoning for suggesting I post it took me by surprise. It certainly wasn’t what I thought. He is the top executive at a successful advertising firm that does a lot of work with large corporations. He is an ABS student, but not one that posts here.
Good stuff so far… keep it coming. The more you look, the more you will see.
Hmmmm, I don’t know what we are supposed to do here, but I have two further observations:
It seems to me that there is redundancy in the first 2 comparisons (clubs and bats).
The 3rd comparison is ‘apples to oranges’ (race-track vs. race-car).
Persimmon and blade vs cavity back and frying pan, wooden bat vs aluminum bat, sports car race track (is that Watkins Glen?) vs drag racer not designed for a sports car race track…
Guitar v xylophone. The xylophone requires loose wrists and a gentle grip, whereas the guitar requires a firm grip (of the plectrum) and a plucking (hitting) motion on the strings.
Race track vs car (is it a drag racing car or formula 1?). The race track has changes in direction, deceleration and acceleration. The car is just like the golf club, which can be used to navigate the track to decelerate and accelerate in the right moments to get the best lap time. As any good driver knows, to navigate a corner in the least amount of time, and in the safest way, requires slow in and fast (accelerating) out of each bend. A bit like going into P3? Going into a bend too fast could be like going through impact without any post impact effort (pivot stall).
Mallet + chisel vs axe. The mallet provides control, as long as the skill has been developed, whereas the axe provides very little control, but provides raw and devastating power.
Well…ok, tell your advertising guy nothing gets past RR.
The top set requires, or allows, more engagement to a whole process than the bottom set…see, now back to my deliberative stash for more reflection. 
…torquing the bottom vs torquing the top, precision tool vs blunt tool, instrument of skill vs instrument of folly…
Chisels vs Axe: Tools that can do a lot of subtle, little things vs a tool that can do one big thing.
- I carry blades and a persimmon driver, not cavity backs and a frying pan driver.
- Like baseball, golf should resist technology to protect the purity of the game. Wood bats, not metal alloys.
- Golf tracks, like race tracks, should be used for their true, intended purpose. You don’t drive a dragster on a raceway.
- The wrench is a metaphor for ground pressures (torquing the bottom), not torquing the top (x-factor nonsense).
- The chisels are my wedges, the axe is my driver. Either way, I’m going to carve you up.
- The violin is the background music my opponent hears, as he whines about how badly I beat him with clubs that cost less than a plastic, five note xylophone.
The answer, my friends, is Ben Hogan.
…or is it John Erickson???
Love it!
Ok,
Here is a little clue…
for instance… the axe… it is a very specific type of axe. It’s not just a random axe.
All of the images were created by hand… in other words, they are not generic clip art or pulled from pre existing online images or from books. Everything with a purpose. Everything…
With a deeper underlaying form.
He is not telling me everything either…
My initial thought was that it was a golf IQ test.
There is nothing random going on here. Even the order of presentation has been carefully prepared.
Not sure what the underlying form of a single bit felling ax is. I first thought this whole thing was somehow about a wood-metal relationship thing.
Can you give us a little more? To quote my 16 year old: I got nuthin’.
Ran out of stash…but the upright bass and xylophone…could be flat versus upright.
Still working on some more, but need more cowbell, I mean stash. 