Despite a recent downturn in crime, Juarez is still plagued with violence and tragedy. But one artist has transformed the city’s ubiquitous weapons into music.
Pedro Reyes, of Mexico City, has created 50 musical instruments from 6,700 confiscated guns in Juarez. Old barrels from pistols are now pipes for flutes, magazines for machine guns form a guitar’s body; a lap-steel stands on revolvers and is made from rifles.
The project, "Imagine” seeks what Reyes believes is an expression of an unsung human right: to live in a community free of guns. He explains on his blog:
This is a large industry of death and suffering for which no cultural rejection is expressed. Guns continue to be depicted as something sexy both in Hollywood and in videogames; there may be actors who won’t smoke on the screen, but there has not been one who would reject the role of a trigger-happy hero ...
Imagine is continuation of his acclaimed project “Palas por Pistolas,” where 1,527 weapons were turned into shovels to plant 1,527 trees. "Imagine" is on display at the Istanbul Design Biennial through Dec. 12, 2012.
