No. 195
Anatomy of Conflict 2018
By : Nemo Gould
Entrant’s location : USA
LINKS
Description
From a mechanical perspective, I’m fascinated by guns, from a moral perspective, I’m conflicted about them. However you feel about them, they’re a divisive issue worth discussing. Although very little material was added to the original rifle, the process of cutting and reassembling its various pieces required quite a lot of time and technique. The color scheme was chosen to mimic educational anatomy models found in schools and doctors offices. Materials: FA91 Assault Rifle, bullets, steel, brass, epoxy, paint
What did you create?
This piece is a complete FA91 rifle, carefully split in half. The interior surfaces are painted to resemble human anatomy models. It is designed to be interactive. The two halves can be opened and closed, presenting both the original form of the rifle, and revealing its colorful interior.
Why did you make it?
My family experienced an incident of gun violence a few years ago. Ever since I have followed the news and subsequent debate about guns in my country (USA) more closely. I was interested in taking the object of this discussion and literally slicing it open to examine both the object and the issue. It is my hope that the color scheme lends a sort of humanity to the mechanical innards of the gun, raising the question of where the boundary is between hostile intentions, and dangerous tools.
How did you make it?
This project required the use of a water jet cutter to deal with the larger, hardened steel components. Small components were torch annealed and then cut with a bandsaw or rotary tool. Softer alloys were cut on a bandsaw. The paint colors where selected from researching medical models and texts, then hand mixed from acrylic paint sets.
Your entry’s specification
Year: 2018 Dimensions: 12” x 40” x 8”