The Sten Gun Artwork - Essay Example

Art analysis The work of art was an acrylic STEN MK. V submachine gun drawn on a canvas courtesy of The E of Jeff Davies. The STEN MK. V submachine gun has its sight and muzzle resting on the globe and its stock the inscriptions God Bless America. This artistic piece was drawn on 5th February 2003. The artist describes the piece of work in a highly simplified manner. The artist makes no attempts at explaining the name of the machine, STEN MK. V submachine gun and this leaves a viewer guessing whether the name is part of the creativity. On research, it is evident that the STEN in STEN MK. V submachine gun is an acronym from the names of the chief designers of the weapon namely Shepherd, Turpin and Enfield. The submachine was produced in several basic marks i.e. mark I, mark II mark III and the initials MK were used for the term mark. The drawing is small, measuring 44 by 33 inches, yet immensely powerful. Though its dimensions may be small, the art work is immensely powerful. In simple terms, the smaller the submachine, the higher is its efficiency and effectiveness. The fire arm is small and yet it is extremely powerful. The STEN was used exceptionally extensively throughout World War II and in the Korean War by the British and commonwealth forces. This background information makes the inscriptions “God Bless America” on the drawings stock very full of meaning, hence extremely powerful. The aspect of its sight of the submachine on the globe is additive in a symbolic way. The artist used an acrylic, a plastic polymer pigment which is used with water and dries extremely quickly, on a canvas ground. The canvas has the ability to reflect light. The use of acrylic on canvas gives the drawing exceptionally impressive and distinctive detail and a rich visual sensation. The artist also blends closely related colors in, but the blue color comes out as giving the globe a feeling of calmness. The message seems to be that a STEN Submachine can restore calm in the globe. The artwork has the flag of the United States of America embedded on it and these may be used to mean that the machine is heavily used in America to shed blood, and it is only through the blessing of God that the country will be saved. On the background, closely related colors are also blended making the submachine appear as if it is placed on the entrance of a cave. It also appears that there is light radiating from the background. This gives the submachine a highly symbolic meaning; one feels that the artist meant a gun is a protective instrument. The light that radiates from the back is a symbol of hope, that if a person has a gun they can have hope they are or will be safe. The dominant message that comes out in this work is the correlation between a gun and safety. To enhance the subject matter, a map of the world has been painted and then gun pointed at it, and it is specifically pointed at the United States of America. This is to show that the machine has been used globally and more so in the United States of America. In the map of the world, the United States is painted as one which is torn apart and full of blood. This is to show that regardless of its small size, the machine is able to shed blood in a whole country. During World War II, Britain and the commonwealth countries relied on the United States for supply of guns as it had entered the war without an adequate submachine gun of its own. So, Britain and the commonwealth countries purchased large numbers of Thompson submachine guns from the United States. American factories at the time were operating at peacetime levels, and as such were not able to meet demand for the weapon by Britain. The British army was then defeated at the continent and the Dunkirk Evacuation because of shortage of weapons with which to defend Britain. Thus, a drastic action had to be taken as there were no sufficient numbers of Thompsons submachine guns available. Thus, a shortage in supply led to the invention of the STEN gun so the machine was hastily created. Its constructing consisted of a variety of basic stamped parts which needed minimal wielding. Some varieties of STEN could even be produced in five hours. Some contained forty seven parts only. The machine was simple in design with a very low production cost. This made them very effective weapons for combating resistant groups. The machine could easily be assembled and used by persons who had never used a gun before. The project was led by Major R.V. Shepherd of the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, and Harold John Turpin of the Royal Small Arms Factory, Enfield. They drew there inspiration from the Royal Navy submachine gun and the German MP40. The weapons name, STEN, derives from the initials of the names of the two designers, Shepherd and Turpin combined with EN from Enfield. The STEN was a stern weapon with a metal barrel and a metal tube for the stock. The haste with which the submachine was created cased several challenges. Firstly, the safety features it contained were basic only. Secondly, because of lack of adequate security measures, it had a high rate of accidental discharge when hit or dropped. In later variants, efforts were made to correct this. The ideas behind the painting are perfect and quite explicit. In conclusion, the artist in this work brings out a very powerful message about the mischief that STEN MK. V submachine gun was invented to cure, and the important role it played in World War II. The significant role guns play in the society up to date is not to be lost. The police use guns to protect us. Human beings, from times immemorial use guns to protect themselves from the lawless and the evil. The Painting Work Cited Thompson L. (2012) The Sten Gun published by Osprey Publishing Read More