With the memory of recent campus shootings still raw in the psyche of America, any art exhibition that uses guns to deliver its message may well be advised to tread carefully lest it be accused of trivialising the weapons and their potential for devastating harm. Bay Area artist Scott Hove has bravely set out in the other direction with his Guns and Ecstasy collection, which treats assault rifles and other automatic weapons to a cake decoration makeover in order to challenge the image of control which Hove believes the gun lobby uses to justify gun ownership.

Twelve of the killing machines have been modified and re-purposed for the exhibition, destroying their masculine image with the garishly coloured frosting and piping of cakes presented for special occasions, while at the same time maintaining a certain sense of paranoia through his event space. This pentagonal “disco infinity chamber” creates a hall-of-mirrors effect and allows space for only one viewer at a time, leading to a feeling of isolation.

Spoke Art Gallery in San Francisco is hosting Guns and Ecstasy, which you can experience in person until 25th May.