Defense Distributed, via European Pressphoto Agency The parts of the Liberator.The first functional gun created entirely with a 3-D printer has become more than an object of curiosity and outrage: two prototypes of the weapon and one disassembled gun are now on display at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.
Cody Wilson, a law student in Texas who described himself as an “anarchist,†first created and fired the gun in May. He called it the Liberator, and received a license to make and sell the weapon.
“A non-designer has managed to make the biggest impact in design this year,†said Kieran Long, the senior curator of contemporary architecture, design and digital at the Victoria and Albert Museum. “It’s a new level of disseminating the means of production,†Mr. Long said in a telephone interview Monday from London. “This is the next industrial revolution â€" we’ll all have a 3-D printer. If you can download a gun, it presents all kind of profound challenges to nation-states.â€
The guns will initially be displayed as part of the museum’s Design Festival, from Sept. 14-22. They will remain at the museum, and on display, as part of the permanent collection. The guns, as well as magazines and other parts, are among five contemporary project acquisitions, which also include a series of vessels made of polymers and a chest of drawers made of ash. Of the two pistols, Mr. Wilson fired one himself and one is new, Mr. Long said.
Mr. Wilson’s actions were denounced by gun control activists, as the designs for the guns and gun components were put online by an organization he co-founded, called Defense Distributed. The gun’s design was downloaded 100,000 times before government officials in this country demanded its removal.
