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NEW YORK — In this shooting gallery within an art gallery, a pellet gun and a bull’s-eye over a human target evoke images of the recent sniper shootings. 

“Shoot Me,” by Miyoung Song at the Puffin Room in Manhattan’s SoHo district, is a video installation about the darker side of human nature. 

Despite its similarities, “Shoot Me” is not based on the Washington-area sniper shootings. “It’s a metaphor,” the artist said. The exhibit opened on Sept. 21 — more than a week before the first shooting — and a similar show by Song was first exhibited last year. 

Song’s work is part of a larger exhibit on Korean American art that runs through Nov. 10. 

The show is intended to explore violence in the United States, especially toward women, and the country’s obsession with guns. “The human subconsciousness is the most violent terror,” Song said. 

The installation, in the gallery’s dimly lighted basement, has a target superimposed over video images of women and children. A faux handgun loaded with plastic pellets and headphones playing techno music give it the feel of an arcade.