Anatomy and Art

There is a little bit of a point of contention regarding when to use the word “instrument”, and when to use the word “tool”.  We are told that in surgery, one should refer such items as instruments.  This isn’t always what happens, but it seems to be the preferred way of saying things.  In dissection, I never heard the word “instrument” uttered once though.  We always spoke of “tools” and some of those are the same or very similar to some of the instruments used in surgery.

Similar distinctions get thrown around in art.  Musical instruments are obviously instruments.  Other than that, I will usually speak of tools, with some exception.  But learning to sculpt, the discussion was always that of tools.  There were tool users and there were non-tool users and anything could be a tool.  A toothpick can be the greatest tool ever.  Your fingernails are natural tools.  People sometimes make a big deal about tools, but find your basics and they will serve you well.  Branch out when they don’t do the job. I even keep my sculpting tools in a tool box.  I keep my paints and brushes in another tool box.  I’ve always rather liked thinking of these things as tools.  Tools are strong.  They allow us to manipulate the physical world around us beyond our body’s natural capacity.

Some people vastly prefer the word instrument though.  And I can see where the word has a certain amount of class to it.  It implies an element of delicacy, carries an air of formality.  In the surgical examples mentioned before I think it also creates a less intimidating dialogue for patients who are about to be the object of such instrumentation.  In art, I think it comes down more to the artist, and how they like to think about what they are doing.  And perhaps in anaplastology, the art becomes that much closer to surgery and begins to take on more of that terminology.

I am trying to learn to set my love for the concept of tools aside and use the term “instrument” more.  I find this most challenging with regard to my own work.  But yesterday working with laying down some wax in preparation for an acrylic substructure (early steps in an auricular prosthesis) I was very focused on the task at hand not at all focused on the politics of word connotation.   I was being shown a better way of doing the job, and it involved borrowing something from the person teaching me how to do it.  I slipped again and asked her if I could keep using the better tool while she went to lunch and it was clear from her reaction that this was no small infraction.  I was told that I could borrow it *only* if I called it an instrument.  So I called it an instrument, but the word “tool” clearly had great negative connotations for this instructor.  She stood up and not even looking at me went on to exclaim “Every time I hear the word tool I just think stupid person!”

Being the word geek that I am, I found this reaction fascinating.  And I got to wondering if people don’t want to use the word tool because of it’s association with carpentry, and machinery, and more laborious, blue collar kinds of work?  I know that in surgery that is part of it, but in surgery drawing that line makes a bit more sense (at least to me anyways).  But when it comes to art, or in our case creating a prosthesis, well personally I have seen straight up hardware type *tools* create beautiful art.  And while anaplastology work is certainly delicate and often requires finesse, I don’t think that it is so very different from more delicate hardware work.  So I wonder if this distinction is really just a matter of elitism.  We are often told as anaplastologists that we will have to check our artists’ egos at the door and use our artistic skills in more of a technician’s role.  Maybe this insistence on wording is one place where that ego pops back out. I’m not so sure that we should be putting such a schism between ourselves and physical laborers who build cars and houses and furniture though.  Our specialties are different, but I think that at our roots we are all physical problem solvers, and I often wonder what solutions we might find looking further outside of our own field for inspiration from other types of problem solvers.  It wasn’t long ago, a friend of mine’s brother in law who is a plastic surgeon was submitting a plan for the BP oil spill which was taken very seriously at the time which was all based on bleeding control in surgery.  We do have things to learn from one another.

Then again, it is entirely possible that my mind has wandered down this winding path over a comment that was in fact intended to call me stupid personally for repeatedly slipping up and using the wrong word, and really never carried anywhere near the weight I am reading into it.  C’est la vie.  But now that I’ve taken this little mental jaunt, I must say that I would be very interested in hearing what those of you reading think about these words.  When would you say “instrument”?  When would you say “tool”?  When would it most matter that you use one as opposed to the other and why?  Please, indulge my curiosity and fascination.

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