“Imagine” – Instruments made from destroyed drug war weapons by Pedro Reyes via colossal.

Imagine is a set of 50 musical instruments fabricated out of destroyed weapons – revolvers, shot-guns, machine-guns, etc. This work is a progression of Palas por Pistolas (2008), where 1527 weapons were melted and made into the same number of shovels to plant 1527 trees. In April this year I got a call from the government who had learned about Palas por Pistolas, they told me a public destruction of weapons was to take place in Ciudad Juarez and asked me if I was interested in keeping the metal, which would otherwise have been buried as usual. I accepted the material but I wanted to do something new this time. 6700 weapons, cut into parts and rendered useless, were given to me and I set out to make them into instruments.

Pedro Reyes, Imagine, 2012.
Commissioned and produced by Alumnos47
Proyecto Liquido, curated by Jessica Berlanga Taylor for Alumnos47
Coordination and production, Emiliano García and Marcelo Rangel Valenzuela
Coordination and Musical Direction, Jazmín Zepeda
Music and Instrument Designers Omar Córdova. Adrián López. Alonso López.
José Mena. Leika Mochan. Daniel Zepeda
Blacksmiths, Antonio García Salinas and Arturo Quiroz

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