Happiness Is A Warm Gun Part VI: Beep

Happiness is a Warm Gun

Part VI: Beep

Directed by Robin Davies
Dell Domnik, Anita Harkess, & J. Edward Nelson

This experiment explores the history and ideologies at the center of the gun debate.

Happiness is a Warm Gun is a six-part performance exploration of gun culture and violence in the United States. Each piece deconstructs the American gun debate and examines the statement, “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”

From freedom to fear, our complex relationship with firearms, and the role they play in our society, is one of the most polarizing issues of our generation. From the inside it has become a cornerstone of the ideological “Culture War” with players on both sides staking uncompromising positions, making broad claims and dehumanizing anyone who may disagree with their perspective. From the outside, it looks like a high-stakes game being played by people with endless resources, who play loose with the rules and only let you play if you buy into their brand.

It is a game.

A trivial pursuit where we chase one another around in circles gathering facts and assembling parts and pieces in a race to win the grand prize - the right to call our opponent wrong. The right to call ourselves true American.

This is where the LIDA Project’s exploration begins. With a circle...