Author: Suzanne Ramljak

Publisher: Schiffer Publishing

ISBN: 076436278X

Category:

Page: 176

View: 115

Works by nearly 100 of today's prominent artists ask questions about the many cultural issues firearms trigger, leaving the answers up to you, the viewer. This invigorating survey of contemporary art and guns offers insight into the mixed associations of firearms in today's culture. Situating these artworks within the contexts of fire domestication, weapon history, social movements, and art history, the book touches on questions of power, equality, access, and the current debates surrounding gun use. What emerges is the inherently dualistic nature of firearms, which are both protective and destructive, empowering and enfeebling, supporting peace and war, life and death. While this central ambivalence can't be captured in statistical data or media sound bites, it thrives within these complex visual works. This collection by some 100 prominent artists reveals a striking diversity of viewpoints on guns, highlighting their inescapable duplicity and the compelling role they have come to play within our lives and imaginations. The first in the new series Art à la Carte: books offering us easy access to exploring current art via real-life themes.