“21st Century Bunny” Series Speaks Eloquently to a Culture of Violence

Using ceramic bunnies to make a statement about global violence might seem like an odd concept. But that’s exactly what artist Justin Novak does with his series “21st Century Bunny” — a collection of hypervigilant, one-eyed, gun-toting ceramic rabbits that Novak created in Denmark and Finland between 2006 and 2008. Depicting what he calls the “pathological and cyclical nature of violent behavior” the bunnies are “a perfect allegory for America, post 9-11 ” and a powerful symbol of the paranoid terror of modern life. 

First-generation Bunny-2006
(Credit: justinnovak.com)

At first glance, bunny rabbits may seem like an odd metaphor to depict the cultural influence of terror in our time. But, as Novak explained in an interview with “Who Killed Bambi” in 2009, the symbolism actually makes perfect sense. Rabbits are archetypal victims. Living in a state of near-constant vigilance — ears extended, eyes wide, noses twitching — they are always on the lookout for predators, always wary of becoming prey. In this sense, he says, 21st Century Bunny’s story parallels the growth of our global culture of violence… He is “a warm-blooded innocent that means no harm to anyone,” who has armed himself out of fear.  

“This hypervigilant creature has become so paranoid that he’ll shoot at anything that moves,” Novak says on his website. “Needless to say, he’s become a danger to others: an unwitting predator,” he adds.

Credit: justinnovak.com

Novak’s choice of ceramics as a medium is intentionally disconcerting. Inspired by the aesthetic of vinyl toy collectibles, the artist imbues the series with the “simplicity of a children’s fable,” and conveys an even more powerful message as a result. The bunnies appear harmless, innocent, guileless — not all that different from the humans who commit horrible acts of violence out of paranoia and fear. Novak’s description of Bunny could fit any number of well-meaning people who have turned violent in response to a global ethos of hatred and xenophobia.

Writes Novak:

Freedom Hurts – 2007
(Credit: justinnovak.com)

“Just like any other bunny,
21st Century Bunny is vigilant…

The smell the danger is always in the air.
Even at home…

It never ever goes away.

Tired of living in fear.

21st Century Bunny has armed himself.
He’s become a danger to others now.

But all he ever wanted
was to protect his way of life.”

Novak’s series also seeks to shed light on the growing influence of nationalism and the dangers of adhering to an isolationist ideology in an increasingly well-armed world.  His second-generation bunnies, born in Finland in 2007, sport an array of graphics that symbolize American aggression in the Bush-Cheney era, and are titled collectively, “Freedom Hurts.” Living, as we are today, with the increasingly violent aftermath of that era, it seems fitting that we use Novak’s sculptures to illuminate our worldview and ask ourselves how we can — and why we must — avoid becoming “21st century bunnies” ourselves.