The Gunshot Art of Walt Creel

By John Farrier in Art, Weapons & War on Dec 12, 2009 at 8:59 pm

Birmingham, Alabama-based artist Walt Creel creates illustrations by firing guns at aluminum sheets. He calls his collection “Deweaponizing the Gun”, and sees it as an exploration of guns in U.S., and in particular, Southern culture:

The terms gun and weapon are practically interchangeable. From hunting to war, self defense to target practice, the gun has been a symbol of power and destruction. Art and entertainment have both taken the same approach to he gun. Traveling Wild West shows had gunslingers that shot crude silhouettes and names, but this was done to illustrate the shooters prowess. Some artists have used high speed film to capture a bullet slicing through its target, while other artists have melted guns into sculptures.

Link via Say Uncle | Artist’s Website | Image: Walt Creel

Tags: gunshot, Walt Creel

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Johnny Cat
Dec 12th, 2009 at 10:45 pm
I love it. A commentary on the tendency for roadsigns to have shotgun blasts in them. F-Yeah Alabama.
Skipweasel
Dec 12th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
It’s a shame it’s such a harsh grid – a more naturalistic scatter would have been more effective.
jamesB
Dec 13th, 2009 at 2:43 am
He shot a deer. haaaaa nice
thedistractor
Dec 13th, 2009 at 2:45 am
Skipweasel — Although it would be really cool to see, I don’t know how anyone could create a recognizable image out of the natural scatter of bird shot. I assume that you’re referring to bird shot.

On a completely unrelated side note, I think I’ve dated this guy’s cousin. (I live in Alabama, so it could happen.)
Skipweasel
Dec 13th, 2009 at 11:15 am
thedistractor- well, no, just less ordered dithering.

Perhaps similar to the right-hand pair here…

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Dithering_algorithm s.png
LisaL
Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Pretty neat, although it would be more impressive if he made them shooting from a distance
DeLuxe
Dec 13th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
The shots are done one-by-one, with .22 bullets. So no bird / buck shot.

Looks like the artist built some kind of construction in which he fixed the gun thus, that he could move it in set increments along two axles.

Almost like an old-fashioned needle plotter, with one gun instead of a set of needles.

Just a thought: for buck shot art, one would need a steel stencil and a wooden art board. That would also make it possible to pruduce a series, all slightly different because of the unique dithering of each shot…

By the way, this work would go well in a show together with work by Aoife van Linden Tol.

http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2009/March/09030902.asp
thedistractor
Dec 13th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Skip — Oh, I see what you mean now. I stand corrected.
Foreigner1
Dec 13th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
…New twist on Bob Ross—

“…And now we shoot a happy little tree in yonder corner of our “canvas” ’cause it just wants to shoot up there….” …
carl
Dec 13th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
I agree with Skipweasel. The grid blows it.

Anyway, “The terms gun and weapon are practically interchangeable” – this is not remotely true.
DHX400
Dec 14th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
reminds me of mister Burroughs shotgun paintings.

check it out: http://www.ubu.com/film/burroughs_shotgun.html
davisbg
Dec 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
I am so proud to be from Birmingham, Alabama.
davisbg
Dec 15th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Now I am REALLY proud of my city!

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