US artist Ravi Zupa has been making machine guns out of antique typewriter parts since 2007. In 2013, he decided to focus the idea into “Mightier Than”, a series of works that encourages people to reconsider a weapon born into violence as a piece of art carrying a positive influence. This is especially relevant in the United States where the death toll as a result of gun violence between 1968 and 2011 eclipses all wars ever fought by the country, according to the BBC.
Zupa’s mock machine guns and semi-automatic rifles are weapons created for a war of words. Intricately crafted, the works are held together with welds, bolts and rivets. According to his website, the stocks and wooden handles were all shaped from salvaged oak. Each piece is hand etched by the artist with his signature, saw and hatchet symbol.
Speedball pen nibs make up the ammunition along with actual brass cartridges of various sizes. Each cartridge is laser etched with the artist’s signature, plow and scythe symbol.
Zupa’s work was recently exhibited at the Black Book Gallery in Denver.