Not much value was placed on it, the lines between life and death were often blurred. It was haphazard, insignificant.
But we kept working at it, trying to get it right.
And so a civilisation was created, so that life could live.
And it was wonderful, a sacred thing, something untouchable and huge. Beautiful and universal, it survived to our own era, to the twenty-first century, the third Millennium, advent of a civilised civilisation.
Well done the past. Rest in peace.
And so on, and on and on…
Nothing is as it appears.
Just when we had got used to a kind of Enlightenment the shadows return, only faster, denser and ever more threatening, and death rears its ugly head again.
Nowadays we kill – religiously, militarily, civilly, indeed very civilly sometimes. We kill out of ambition, out of greed, for the fun of it or the spectacle it generates.
Republics are now all of the banana variety, our political masters all tyrants.
Be they designed, manufactured, sold, dreamed of, bought or used, weapons are the new icons of our age and our lives barely worth the price of the bullet it takes to end them.
The “Guns” collection is nothing but a sign of the times.
We get the symbols we deserve.
Happiness is not a hot gun.
Glory to our dictators.
To life… unto death.
Philippe Starck
PS:
Light, functional, affordable and elegant, with over 100 million copies officially produced to date, the Kalachnikov is one of the industrial design success-stories of our age.
Mr Kalachnikov has never received any royalties for his design. But he doesn’t complain about it much. For my part, I intend to pay him a commission from the sales of the model that replicates his invention. Poor guy. The remainder will be donated to Handicap International*, though sometimes I wonder why.
Philippe Starck
Explanations:
The gold represents the collusion between money and war
The Kalachnikov symbolises the East
The Beretta symbolises Europe
The M16 stands for the West
The black shade signifies death
The crosses on the inside are to remind us of our dead
* We are seeking other, more appropriate organisations for future contributions.
