Guns, Art-making, and Truth

What is the relationship between guns (a piece of technology), the culture(s) that has manifested around guns, and the realities of gun violence in the U.S.?

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What is the historical arc of U.S. gun culture?

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How can art-based experiences complicate individual understanding of the role of guns and the impact of gun violence in the US?

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How can humanities and art-based actions for social justice express this understanding?

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What are the roles, responsibilities, and responses of the artist-researcher within the debate between gun advocacy and gun abolition?

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What is a "Fourth Responder"? What do they do? Why do they do what they do? How does one become one?

In this lab, contributors (we won’t use the words teacher or students) will all participate in an immersive, creative experience about gun culture in America. Contributors will receive and discuss the most recent data and analysis on gun ownership, victim accounts, and community-based agreements. With this information, contributors will seek deeper understanding of the values held by the gun-owning community, gun law supporters and proponents, and anti-Second Amendment activists alongside the embodied experiences of victims of gun violence through the “fourth responder” approach. By bringing critical lenses to and participating in art that responds to a painful and divisive dimension of contemporary U.S. society, contributors create the capacity to open dialogue. This lab will unfold in three essential parts: 1) delivery, sharing and discussion of information, 2) arts-based research including creative responses and performances to the collected information, and 3) public installation/performance of the final creative work, and reflection on the impact. Contributors will gain an understanding of the range of public reception and support for future community-led roles and responsibilities, as we seek to define a broad, democratic culture that allows for gun ownership and the absence of guns.

Guns, Art-making, and Truth in the News

At the Humanities Lab, we strive to ensure our Labs are relevant and current. Here are some recent articles about Guns, Art-making, and Truth in today’s news!

National Humanities Center Announces Sites for Inaugural “Being Human” Festival

What Gun Violence Does to Our Mental Health

Loaded objects: addressing gun violence through art in the gallery and beyond

A dance about gun violence is touring nationally with Alvin Ailey's company