Castle Doctrine

Castle Doctrine

Modeled on designs used during The American Revolutionary War, Castle Doctrine is a 1:1 scale, 6ft long 3D-printed cannon with a welded steel emplacement carriage.

American gun culture makes monuments of firearms, a tradition that is written into the very founding of the country. Inspired by objects central to the infamous 1774 March on the Powderhouse, an early in the run up to the revolution, in which American colonists were disarmed by British Soldiers. This grievance was held by the colonists through the war, and its ripple effects manifested in the enshrinement of the 2nd Amendment as a constitutional right. In the two and a half centuries since the country was founded, that right has persisted and evolved with the times.

Within the past decade the 4th industrial revolution - digital fabrication - has given rise to the concept of the Ghost Gun, a weapon that circumvents the few guide rails put on firearms ownership in the US. These home-made firearms are created outside of the existing regulated market, sidestepping laws that govern how and where firearms can be acquired.

2023 - 3D-printed plastic, steel, and pre-made components - 36" x 36" x 108"

This project is a continuation of 1A2A3D, a project exploring American gun culture through the lens of 3D-printing. More about this project can be found here - [1A2A3D]

A blog post showing how Castle Doctrine was fabricated can be found here - [Blog]

All files to make your own cannon can be found here - [ZIP file, 3.85MB]

All images of this work on this page are free to use via the following creative commons license. A gallery of high-resolution images of this work can be found here - [Gallery]

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