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3D-Printed Gun Bought and Displayed By London Art Museum

Posted by samzenpus on from the print-and-shoot dept.

Sparrowvsrevolution writes "The world's first 3D-printed gun known as the Liberator has been treated as a technological marvel and a terrorist threat. Now it's officially become a work of art. On Sunday, London's Victoria & Albert museum of art and design announced that it's buying two of the original Liberator printed guns from their creator, the libertarian hacker non-profit known as Defense Distributed, and will display them during its Design Festival. Cody Wilson, Defense Distributed's founder, calls the museum's acquisition of the gun a victory for his group: 'It will now be this curated, permanent cultural provocation.'"

4 of 133 comments (clear)

  1. Why? by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm still not sure what makes 3D printed guns any different or more special than a gun produced with CAD plans and a used CNC machine.

    Good 3D printers are not cheaper or more accessible than used CNCs, and the turns produced are far more dangerous than those produced from small blocks of aluminum and steel.

    Granted, producing the guns may be cheaper (AR parts kit, plus homemade receiver, plus upper would probably cost 700$), but the difference in quality and utility is quite vast.

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
  2. Re:Wrong Aproach by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    These are 3D printed guns. You cannot just display them

    Of course you can. By your argument the Smithsonian shouldn't have the Wright Flyer on display and should be telling people to fuck off to the airport if they want to see planes.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  3. Entirely Missing the Point by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Bought a 3d printed gun? The entire point was for it to be printable! If anything, don't display the gun, display a 3D printer in a case continually printing guns, with the finished guns falling into a hopper to be ground down to pellets to be extruded into filament to be fed back into the printer. Now that's art!

  4. Re:Not art by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not there to look pretty. It's there because it was the first of its kind. It's in the museum of art and design.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.