Harmless Weapons by Kyle Bean

We have covered a lot of Kyle Bean artworks in our previous post here, here, here and here.



Kyle Bean has created a series of weapons made from harmless materials for an article in CUT Magazine about 'Guerilla Gardening' and 'Yarn Bombing'.











Check his website: http://www.kylebean.co.uk/

Shotgun Shells Mosaic Sculpture by Linton Meagher

Australian artist Linton Meagher constructs these beautiful mosaic sculptures using hundreds of empty shotgun shells, shotgun pellets, and acrylic in resin.



"The bullets are quite repellent by themselves, but when there are thousands of them glinting in the light they actually look quite beautiful. Hence, the gun becomes an object of beauty in much the same way that the gun is often romanticized in popular culture."



“Taxidermists strive to cover up the means and act of death, traditionally portraying the pheasant at the height of its beauty. With the shotgun cartridge works, the viewer is initially seduced by the beauty of the multi- coloured cartridges that glisten in the light. However, it is hard to look past the act of death implied by all the empty cartridges, especially since these are all spent cartridges and, on looking closely, the viewer can see how some of the cartridges are coloured by gunpowder and dirt from the field.”

Meagher also made these trout and salmon where thousands of flies brings the form of the fish to life.



“The individual trout and salmon flies are extraordinarily beautiful – they are individual works of art in their own right”.



Check his website: http://www.lintonmeagher.com/

Source: fadwebsite

Guns and Ammo Artworks by Al Farrow

Al Farrow built these unusual holy places with guns, gun parts, bullets, artillery, gears, chains, bullet shells and bone fragments, to reveal the violent side of religion.











Al Farrow was born in Brooklyn, NY and has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than thirty years. An accomplished sculptor in a wide variety of media from bronze to clay to assemblage, Farrow generally adopts the language of an historical period in his work, updating the imagery or materials to make cogent observations about contemporary society.











In recent years he has used amunitions—bullets, guns, hand grenades, bombs—to make three-dimensional projects that resemble Christian reliquaries, Islamic mosques and a Jewish menorah.





Al Farrow’s Religious Trifecta: A Synagogue, a Cathedral and a Mosque tries to reinterpret three of the world’s major religions according to their political, military and cultural history.





"I am not a gun person. My fascination with guns is with their function and use."





"It is the ubiquitous presence, seeming necessity and actual accessibility of guns in our culture that inspires my investigation. I am interested in their impact on society and cultures: Past, Present (and Future)."





"I do not personally use guns (Except as a medium for making art), so I was amazed at the availability of gun related paraphernalia when I started to accumulate supplies for this body of work."





"I am also perpetually surprised by the historical and continuing partnership of war and religion. The atrocities committed in acts of war absolutely violate every tenet of religion, yet rarely do religious institutions speak against the violations committed in the name of God. Historically, Popes have even offered eternal salvation to those who fought on their behalf (The crusades, etc.)."





"In my constructed reliquaries, I am playfully employing symbols of war, religion and death in a facade of architectural beauty and harmony."





"I have allowed my interests in art history, archeology and anthropology to influence the work."





"The sculptures are an ironic play on the medieval cult of the relic, tomb art, and the seductive nature of objects commissioned and historically employed by those seeking position of power."









Check his website: http://www.alfarrow.com/

Images taken from here and here

Bullet Portraits by David Palmer

California-based artist David Palmer uses empty bullet casings to create portraits of famous people killed by bullets.

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After collecting enough bullet casings, Palmer puts them together to form one big metal canvas. He then wields a small blowtorch to burn and darkens the ends of the bullet casings, making lines and shades.

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“Around the world they (bullets) are still used to either help build dreams or destroy the dreamers. My hope is that you will feel the agony and then see the miracles that can arise from choosing to create rather than destroy.”

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