UNLOADED, curated by Susanne Slavick, is discussed in Loaded objects: addressing gun violence through art in the gallery and beyond, by Annie Dell’Aria in nature.com, Palgrave Communications 6, #15, 2020. Features works by UNLOADED artists Natalie Baxter, Mel Chin and Stephanie Syjuco among other artists.
Image: Stephanie Syjuco, Standard Issue Smith & Wesson, 2006, downloadable pattern for fillet crochet
UNLOADED, a traveling group show that explores historical and social issues surrounding the availability, use, and impact of guns in our culture. Curated by Susanne Slavick
September 5 - October 26, 2017
Curator's Lecture: September 14, 2017
Reception: Thursday, September 14, 7PM, Harris Gallery
http://mcad.edu/event/unloaded
Unloaded is a nationally traveling multimedia group exhibition that explores the historic and social issues surrounding the divisive nature of gun ownership in the United States.
Curated by Susanne Slavick, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, the exhibition presents a number of perspectives on the image and impact of guns in contemporary culture, though none endorse them as a means to an end. Works by twenty-two artists and collaboratives touch upon a host of issues surrounding access to and use of firearms across a range of demographic categories.
The artists in Unloaded visualize the power of the gun as icon and instrument. They explore the role that firearms continue to play in our national mythologies, influencing suicide rates, individual and mass murder statistics, incidents of domestic violence, and the militarization of civilian life. Some show the power that guns wield in our daily realities and personal fantasies. Others mourn and resist that power, doing everything they can to take it away, believing there are better ways to resolve conflicts, ensure safety, and keep the peace.
