About Gun Totem
At first glance, Gun Totem looks like a rough concrete pillar. Look closer and recognizable pieces of handguns begin emerging from the surface.
Artist Boris Bally created the twelve-foot sculpture in 2001 using one thousand reclaimed and disabled handguns obtained through a firearm buyback program in Pittsburgh. The guns were fixed inside a mold and encased in concrete, creating a dense column with the weapons effectively fossilized inside.
After the concrete hardened, sections of the outer surface were deliberately chipped away so portions of the guns remained visible. Handles, frames, barrels, and other metal forms interrupt the gray surface, rewarding a close look from several angles.
The sculpture stands outdoors in Memorial Park along South Main Street and was commissioned through the Providence Parks Department’s Convergence International Art Festival. It can be viewed from public park space without touching or climbing the work.