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The gun. It’s as American as apple pie.

Originally envisioned by the Founding Fathers as tyranny deterrant, the gun has since become many other things: the criminal’s trusty tool, the hobbyist’s fetish and, depressingly, the police force’s preferred weapon in its dealings with African Americans. And though the NRA and responsible gun owners may point to hunting as a positive use of firearms, the reality is that the gun just can’t seem to outgrow the reason for its invention: ending human life.

But gun rights, ownership, and usage are complex issues. And the American Gun Show exhibition, curated by James Morgan and Dorothy Santos at at Works San José gallery in California, attempts to unwrap these complexities with artistic responses lying at the intersection of technology, free speech, personal liberty, and national identity.

The works in American Gun Show come in all shapes and forms. Four guns were 3D-printed for the show, all based on Cody Wilson’s Liberator pistol. But the work created by artist Nika Cherelle, Prototype, might take the cake. Satirizing the association of guns with masculinity, the barrel of Cherelle’s golden firearm is an erect penis. In Micha Cardena’s piece UNSTOPPABLE, made in collaboration with Patrisse Cullors, Edxie Betts, and Chris Head, the artist explores the idea of making bulletproof clothing and gear in response to Cullors’ question at the Allied Media Conference 2015: “What would technology for Black Lives be?”

http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/american-gun-show-exhibition-explores-a-national-obsession