In 2004 I was an artist-in-residence at the Marlin Firearms Company in North Haven, Connecticut. The residency was part of Factory Direct, a residency, commissioning, and exhibition program organized by Artspace in New Haven that paired eleven artists with eleven New Haven area manufacturing companies. Each artist worked with their paired company to create new works based on the materials and technology utilized by the business. Marlin, founded in 1870, was a manufacturer of sporting rifles and shotguns that began a tradition of “presentation rifles” in the early years of the twentieth century by making special, one-of-a-kind commemorative rifles for famous individuals who used their products, including Annie Oakley, William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, and cowboy film star Tom Mix. The tradition continued into the 1960s with a range of individuals, including Micky Mantle and John Wayne, receiving custom guns inscribed with their names. The tradition was, however, phased out in the 1970s due to the growth of negative publicity for firearms due to the increase of gun violence in the U.S.

After researching the history of the company, I decided to work with the Marlin factory to revive the tradition of presentation rifles by designing and making five custom guns, each dedicated to an artist who had done significant work utilizing firearms: Mark Dion, Margaret Evangeline, Harold Edgerton, Tom Sachs, and Niki de Saint Phalle. The three living artists (Dion, Evangeline, and Sachs) were presented with their rifles by Chip Kenna, Chairman of Marlin’s Board of Directors, at a ceremony during the resulting exhibition at Artspace. The presentations were documented in 8” x 10” glossy black and white photos, echoing the style of photography from earlier presentation ceremonies. The rifles dedicated to deceased artists Harold Edgerton and Niki de Saint Phalle remained in my possession.

The five presentation rifles were based on the company’s classic “1894 Cowboy Competition” lever-action rifle, which was Marlin’s primary product for almost sixty years. My modifications included a special hand-carved walnut gunstock, squaring of the finger lever, manufacturing a steel forestock to replace the original wood, a “Liberty Bell” gunsight for the end of the barrel, and the engraving of the name of each recipient onto the side of the gun’s receiver.

Marlin was sold in 2007 to Remington Arms, Company. After Remington’s bankruptcy in 2020 the Marlin Brand was purchased by Sturm, Ruger & Co., who started making Marlin-branded rifles in 2021.