Machine guns are pretty popular as toys among kids, but they are also used for more violent purposes. Thus, even the toy guys have the ability to evoke two different emotions: fun and fear.
Tomm Velthuis, a young Dutch student at the Design Academy in Eindhoven has created an amazing wooden machine gun called RATATA that surpasses all expectations one might have of toy guns.
It has a pleasant colour, and a smooth texture. The package comes in a wooden box that contains eleven pieces of wood. These wooden blocks can be joined together to create a full sized machine gun. The wooden machine gun not only looks pleasant but is also smooth to hold and looks aesthetically appealing. At the same time, no gun is pleasant enough for a gun’s purpose is to injure, or even kill.
The designer aims to convey the message of these dual emotions hidden within the fun toy machine gun. He encourages the buyer to dwell upon the two emotions that are hidden in this wooden box. If we ponder upon it, the innocent-looking wooden box with wooden pieces could create a toy machine gun, which in many people could evoke images of blood, violence and death.
At the same time, those who may not have encountered violence first hand may find the toy machine gun to be a source of joy and fun. Thus, these contradictory emotions could be explored in this aesthetically pleasing wooden toy, and the designer surely aims at encouraging us to explore different emotions hidden within these wooden pieces.
The RATATA gun has been exhibited at several exhibitions in Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. If you are the kind of person who is fond of guns and especially machine guns, go ahead and contact Tomm. You could also take a look at other guns that we have featured earlier like the LED Coil Gun, Marshmallow Gun and the Primitus Steampunk Gun.
