Mexican artist, sculptor Pedro Reyes fabricated musical instruments from dismantled gun parts as part of an anti-violence statement he calls “Disarm.” The work is indicative of his prior projects as Reyes typically aims to increase awareness in social and environmental issues.
Reyes was supplied 6,700 segmented weapons from authorities in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico for his project, rendering nearly 50 musical instruments in the end. Normally these guns would be buried or destroyed.
Six musicians toiled for two weeks melting down, hammering, welding and transforming the “death metal” of magazines, revolvers, shotguns, and machineguns into “instruments of life”.
The vague structure of the firearms can be recognized in xylophones, cymbals, guitars, and other instruments.
The point behind recycling the confiscated and donated weapons is to inform and reinforce the consideration of the many lives these weapons have taken in the hands of criminals and drug-cartels. More than 70,000 people have been killed by drug-cartels over the last six years in Mexico.