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

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.'"

Why?

[O('_')O_Bush]

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.

Re:Art???

[gl4ss]

Tell me how a glorified zip gun is considered art?

it's media art. not art of engineering. not art of revolution. but art of playing the media frenzy.

you know what non-profit means in this context? that all the money goes for the guy..

Re:Wrong Aproach

[wonkey_monkey]

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.

Re:Not art

[wonkey_monkey]

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.

Giving 3D Printers A Bad Name...

[dryriver]

Am I the only one who thinks that these idiots are creating 3D printed guns solely to provoke TPTB into regulating 3D printers? ---- I.e. future 3D printer models you purchase will send any 3D object you print to a remote server, where trained specialists check whether you are - possibly - printing "gun parts" without legal authorization. ------ I think that the crappy 3D guns these people are trying to create give all of 3D printing a bad name. And I'm pretty sure that the big corporations can't wait for 3D printers to be crippled with draconian regulations. Thus one can forget about a future where one doesn't buy a product the conventional way, but rather uses one's home 3D printer to print it out. I hope the 3D guns people stop before they ruin the 3D printed future for the rest of humanity. My 2 Cents...

Re:Why?

[Rude Turnip]

It's not about the shitty design process. It's about sending a message: democratized defense against all threats, external and internal.