Have you ever walked into a hardware store to buy something - but not known the proper name for what you’re after? For me, it resulted in lots of handwaving, gesturing and I’d say the word ‘thinga**’ at least once. These days though? I can cheat - whip out the phone, flash a picture, and grunt like a Neanderthal. “Aisle six, up the back above the hose clamps.” Progress.
When I’m writing these things though, there is no amount of Googling that will save me. I either have an idea, or I don’t.
*
In Paradox Bullets, we watch Tom Sachs make his own thinga - a uhh - wheel lock? You know, the steel boot thing that clamps onto the wheel of a car. Phew. But now I need to find the words for the other description of the wheel clamp? The “arts” description? The reason why Tom might have made a wheel boot? Fuck this, I dunno. I’m getting some breakfast… Whoah, wait a second.
I think we all hit roadblocks. Let me rephrase that - I’ve certainly struggled to find meaning - the right words for my pursuits. I get stuck in these massive steel parking boots that trap my motivation. Do I wallow about and give up, or do I cheat? Maybe I can jack up the car, slide a dolly under the wheel lock and work around the problem?
** Australian slang is lazy. We often shorten something down to one syllable and add an ‘a’. Thinga => Thingamajig
Originally written for the Sachsian Syndicate.
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