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It may look like the cross section of a gun, but peer closer and you’ll
see from the reflection that it’s a water tap. The work of art, called Amelioration
(Progress?), is part of an exhibition called ‘Art in Boxes’ which is being
held at the England & Co gallery in London.

Hadrian Pigott’s image is part of a series of seven boxes tracing the
technological development of plumbing and weaponry through history. One
source of inspiration for the work was the Iraqi supergun affair, in which
sections of a gun were mistaken for ‘plumbing’ for a chemical plant.

The earliest taps in the display date from 1700. Integrated into each
tap is material from small arms of the same period, ranging from lead shot
used in muskets to modern bullets or cartridges. Pigott introduces the work
by pointing out the ambiguity of the dual images in the exhibit, ‘one being
the promoter of health and hygiene – life – and the other the deliverer
of death’.