027. The Gun Totem

Episode 27 finds us in the capital of Rhode Island near the federal courthouse looking for an unusual concrete obelisk. Join us as we discuss Boris Bally's Gun Totem.

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The last couple of episodes were about dogs in Connecticut. In this episode, why don’t we head over to New England’s smallest state and check out a rather unique sculpture in the capital city of Providence. Hello and welcome to episode 27 of the New England on a Pedestal podcast. I am your host, Doug Farquharson.  If you have returned after listening to previous episodes, thanks for sticking with us! We create each episode of our podcast as a stand-alone chapter in the story of New England as told through its many and varied statues and sculptures. We hope that once you have heard one of our podcasts, you’ll be inspired to take a listen to our other episodes. If you like what you hear, please subscribe to us through your favorite podcast platform and consider leaving a comment or review for us. It will help us reach more listeners and expand our audience. Thank you!

As I mentioned before, this week we find ourselves in Providence RI and we are looking for the Federal Courthouse there. It is in the Kennedy Plaza on Exchange Terrace and was built in 1908 using granite from New Hampshire among other building materials. It houses an art collection besides the courts and other federal offices, and it is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places.

The courthouse, while very interesting from an architectural perspective, is not what we’ve actually come here to see. In the Memorial Park area there is a twelve-foot-tall concrete obelisk sculpture. It may look rather ordinary from a distance, but that’s not the case once you get up close.

This art piece was commissioned by the Providence Parks Department for the Convergence International Arts Festival in Riverwalk Park in 2001. It is by Rhode Island artist Boris Bally. A statement taken directly from his website says, “Boris Bally’s award-winning work is both witty and innovative employing the use of jeweler’s skills on non-precious materials. His current body of work transforms recycled street signs, weapons parts, and a wide variety of found materials into objects for reflection. These pieces celebrate raw American street-aesthetic in the form of objects, often useful, for the home and the body.” He has won wide acclaim and many awards over the years, and his works have been displayed in several major museums and public art displays.

It has been described as a twelve-foot-tall concrete obelisk. Looking at it, I’d say it’s more of a concrete tower or a large, wide concrete post with what appears to be a twist to it and from a distance what appears to be metallic objects embedded in it. I imagine when one hears the word totem, one may envision a totem pole from the old western movies. But what does the word totem really mean? Merriam-Webster’s definition is as follows: “an object (such as an animal or plant) serving as the emblem of a family or clan and often as a reminder of its ancestry. Also a usually carved or painted representation of such an object.” It goes on to say: “a family or clan identified by a common totemic object” and finishes with this: “one that serves as an emblem or revered symbol.” 

I’m going to switch gears for a moment here and introduce Dr Michael Hirsh, a retired pediatric trauma surgeon who in the late 1970s was going through his residency and became great friends with another doctor working with him, John Wood II. They worked the emergency department at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Needless to say, they were kept quite busy. Sadly, Wood was shot out in front of the hospital by a young kid who was trying to rob him. Wood was rushing home to see his wife who was pregnant and feeling nauseous. When the thug demanded money, Wood could only produce some crackers and peanut butter that had been intended for his wife. Dr Wood was shot in the chest and despite all efforts by his coworkers and friends, he could not be saved. This tragic and unnecessary event was the main catalyst that would drive Dr Hirsh to study gun violence in America and try to find a solution to the needless death and destruction it was causing. He basically decided to look at gun violence the way Dr Walter Reed, yes, that Walter Reed, looked at yellow fever during the Spanish American War when it was sickening and killing American soldiers in Cuba. Reed realized that because they were lacking anti-virals and antibiotics, he would have to look at the vectors that caused the infections, namely pesky mosquitos. By requiring the use of mosquito netting and long sleeves, for example, the infection rate from yellow fever was cut by 98 percent. Hirsh studied cases like this and figured out how to apply the same principles to reducing gun violence. Eliminate or at the very least, weaken the vectors of infection, that is: go after the supply of illegal weapons.

He is quoted on the momentsthatsurvive.org website as saying “Gun violence prevention is seen as controversial in a lot of injury prevention programs. But we’re not anti-gun or anti-gun owners, we’re anti-gun violence. If gun owners don’t store or own a gun responsibly, then it’s better out of the house.”

While working in Pennsylvania, he co-founded the Goods for Guns Program. It is a program where gun owners can turn in old or unwanted guns and receive gift cards for groceries and other goods. Is it a perfect system? No, probably not. But it does provide away for people to turn in weapons that they either no longer want or feel safe keeping for any manner of reasons. And it absolutely keeps those weapons from falling into the wrong hands. If you want more information on Dr Hirsh or any of the programs he is involved with, I encourage you to do a deep dive on the ol’ Interwebs.

So, how does this fit into our look at the sculpture in Providence by the courthouse? Well, after Bally and Hirsh met and discussed a variety of ideas, Bally obtained over a thousand disabled and dismantled guns from a Goods for Guns buyback in Pittsburgh that Hirsh’s organization helped run. Then using a steel interior framework, rigid foam panels, and plywood forms, he encapsulated all of them in concrete and once cured, chipped away at the outer layers revealing the gun parts inside. Looking closely at the unusual sculpture, you can see everything from snub-nosed 38s to Colt Peacemakers, black powder flintlocks to automatic pistols, Derringers to Magnums, and everything in between. The twist I mentioned earlier in the description is meant to represent the rifling in a gun barrel while the top of the totem is shaped like the sights at the end of a gun barrel. The piece won first prize in the 2001 Convergence Festival. Bally and Hirsh have collaborated on other pieces since then as well.

Gun Totem. What does it say? What does it mean? What message is behind it? At the very least, like most art, it should make you think. Is it a totem, a symbol of America’s seemingly endless love affair with guns? Is it a visual representation of the shear numbers of guns out there? Is it a monument to those trying to end gun violence? I suppose it’s all of these and more depending on the viewer and their stance on the ever-present issue of gun violence in America. I do know this. We can do better. No matter your stance on the gun issues, you have to admit we as a nation can do far more to end gun violence and the needless death and destruction it causes.

As we mentioned before, the concept behind New England on a Pedestal is rather simple. Travel around our six-state area, find some interesting statues and sculptures, and discuss them. We have a growing database of statues, monuments, and sculptures that we will be covering over time, but we certainly do not know all of them. That is where you can assist us. Shoot us an email at newenglandonapedestal@farqie.com and tell us about a favorite or unique or odd statue you know. If you have additional information or maybe a correction about something we have already shared, please send it our way and perhaps, we will add an addendum to a later episode. Are you, or do you know a New England based artist who works with statues or sculptures? Get in touch! We’d love to have a chat.

We would love to hear from you. Let us know what you think. What are we doing right? What can we do better? We can be reached via email at newenglandonapedestal@farqie.com. That’s New England on a Pedestal all one word at F A R Q I E dot com.  Like our Facebook page. Follow us on Instagram. Help us get the word out! Share your favorite episode on your social media.

As always, my thanks to Jake, Sam, Bekka, and Jason for their amazing talents. Join us next time when we venture to another New England town and dig into some local history there. Until then, be safe, be well, be kind and keep discovering. Thanks for listening!