Artist Pedro Reyes has used a large cache of weapons to build a selection of musical instruments. Called Imagine, this project was made using confiscated guns, which were publicly destroyed by the Mexican Government as an anti-violence statement.  To further communicate this message, Reyes has turned to the world of musical instruments and Rage Against The Machine.

 Pedro Reyes is no stranger of rebuilding a destructive force into something constructive, reinventing 1527 confiscated weapons into an equal number of shovels, four years ago in a project called Palas por Pistolas.  But this ingenuity is a clear step-up.  Earlier this year, Mexico's Ciudad Juarez offered Reyes 6700 confiscated (and destroyed) weapons for another project, including machine guns, revolvers and shotguns.  Out of this, the project was born, along with the inception of 50 musical instruments that took six musicians two straight weeks to build. 

Through this project, Reyes hopes to make a statement about the ongoing violence in parts of Mexico, the glorification of such acts, and the illegal gun economy in the country.

Jason England