This Is Not a Gun gathers contributions from 40 artists, writers, healers, and activists who each respond to 40 objects that police officers have mistaken for guns, during a shooting of an unarmed civilian. The project opens dialogue to consider how everyday objects, such as a broomstick, bible, set of keys, iPod, sunglasses, and a pack of Skittles are transformed into ones of perceived threat through the lens of racism and power.

This Is Not a Gun is part of a long-term, multidisciplinary project by the same name, which endeavors to carve out time and space for community to site these issues within our own bodies and stories. The project, by artist Cara Levine, includes a studio practice of carving wooden sculptures of these mistaken-as-gun objects, as well as public workshops to discuss where participants shape these objects in clay, giving presence to their form, the human-rights violations, and racism prevalent in the United States today. Visit thisisnotagun.com for more information.

Author(s): Various
Year: 2023
Pages: 288
Dimensions: 5 x 10.5 in.
Cover: Softcover
ISBN: 978-1-953189-09-7
Language: English