A gun shatters a life like dropped porcelain. Okay, yes, these pieces by Yvonne Lee Schultz are derivative of work that has been done before (by Charles Krafft) but it’s still such a striking critique on violence and the legacies baked into it that inform our culture today. mostly it’s a clear call to remember the fragility of humans.
Unlike Krafft, Schultz showing these pieces next to identically painted other objects brings the commentary to another plane. Also I find her selection of the James Bond rifle to be really incisive re: Hollywood idealized veneration of symbols and masculinity.
It isn’t just about violence it’s about how violence lives in the cupboard with our regular everyday tea & cake. I think they are beautiful as they are brilliant.
Porcelain Pistols by Berlin artist Yvonne Lee Schultz. From her site:The Porcelain Pistols are replicas of James Bond’s Walther PPK and its contemporary sister, the P99, with friendly permission of Carl Walther Inc. The fragile weapon, hand-painted in the style of classic tableware motifs, lies next to your coffee and cake, asking to be picked up. Its coolness and comfortable grip increase the qualms of the user, leaving him in a quandary between the pleasure of luxury and violence.
via Make: Online (thank you Jason!)
