Gun Politics

Half a tonne of weapons, confiscated by the Mexican Ministry of Defence and donated to Pedro Reyes for artistic purposes, were turned into working musical instruments used to denounce the production and trafficking of guns.

This article was originally published in Domus 962 / October 2012

It was almost a year ago when my cousin, who works at the National Commission of Human Rights in Mexico, told me the story of a Black Hawk helicopter that was shot from the ground by the Michoacán-based drug cartel La Familia. One of the pilots got hit. The helicopter, she explained, was given to Mexico's federal police by the United States government as part of the Merida Initiative, which is a transnational agreement signed in 2008 between the United States, Mexico and Central American countries to combat drug trafficking by the supply of American war equipment and military training.

"What is striking and contradictory about this story," my cousin said, "is that upon analysing the helicopter's perforations, it showed that the weapon used was a Barrett .50 calibre firearm, which is an extremely difficult machine to operate." She then explained how a series of Barrett .50 firearms entered Mexico illegally through another US initiative, Operation Fast and Furious, which ran from late 2009 to early 2011. This controversial government strategy "purposely allowed licensed firearms dealers to sell weapons to illegal 'straw buyers', hoping to track the guns to Mexican drug cartel leaders." [1]

"It's gun politics," my cousin said. We discussed how this particular subject doesn't really figure in the political discourse of Mexico's current drug war. There's such an obvious link between weapons and violence, and yet, it's all about drugs. [2]

Top and above: 6 musicians worked for
2 weeks with craftsmen
to make about 50 working
instruments, obtained from
confiscated weapons
Top and above: 6 musicians worked for 2 weeks with craftsmen to make about 50 working instruments, obtained from confiscated weapons
It is this particular subject that the Mexico City–based artist Pedro Reyes attempts to address in his most recent work Imagine, which is being presented at the recently inaugurated Gwangju Biennale in South Korea. This performance-based work consists of more than 500 altered pieces of artillery, which were confiscated by Mexico's Secretary of National Defense, and donated to Pedro for artistic purposes only. This halftonne weapon bundle was then morphed into a set of about 50 functioning musical instruments. Through concert-like events, Imagine uses the universal medium of music to direct our attention to the madness of gun policies.

Moments from the <em>Imagine</em>
concert, first performed last
June at Alumnos47, Mexico
City, using the instruments
from Pedro Reyes’ project
Moments from the Imagine concert, first performed last June at Alumnos47, Mexico City, using the instruments from Pedro Reyes’ project
In 2008, Pedro launched another project that followed a similar principle: Palas por Pistolas (Shovels for guns). As described in the project's website, it is "a campaign to curb the trade of small weapons." In this sense, Palas por Pistolas is a participatory project, a campaign: upon the donation of 1,527 guns from the city of Culiacán, 1,527 shovels to plant 1,527 trees were made. The project is still ongoing, and it's certainly a precedent to Pedro's most recent work.

"It was actually meant to be a bell," said Pedro when discussing Imagine in a recent phone interview. (He was in Gwangju, preparing Imagine's second performance, which was to occur at the opening of the Biennale with a group of local musicians who would be playing the instruments.) "You know how bells are sometimes used as an alarm instrument?" he continued. "Like a rape whistle?" I asked. "Exactly," he said.

In Mexico, Pedro's Imagine makes the air heavy, as everybody there is aware of the +60,000 drug-related deaths that have occurred in the 6-year tenure of outgoing president Felipe Calderón, who notoriously declared "war on drugs.
A moment from the <em>Imagine</em>
concert
A moment from the Imagine concert
Unsure of the direction in which the bell idea was leading, a cab-ride conversation in Mexico City with former Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus — who is known for his unorthodox tactics to resolve conflict; someone with whom Pedro often discusses his projects — encouraged him to take the "music" rather than the "alarm" approach to the bell. He toyed with the idea and decided to create instruments for a fully functioning musical band. "These weapons were all used, and many people died because of them," said Pedro. "The causes of violence involve a complex international network, and I'm interested in uncovering the circuits of production and trafficking of small weapons, because it is obvious that they're all fabricated in different countries, and most of the companies that produce them are listed on the stock market. You find them in Austria, Sweden, Belgium, the United States, etc. There is a whole industry and international market that we normally don't see, that is only made visible when the weapons are used."

"I wanted to liberate these objects from their demons rather than perpetuating their association to death. When the instruments are played, it is as if some sort of exorcism is performed on them, and the negativity they inherently posses turns into something positive."

Since its inaugural concert in Mexico City, <em>Imagine</em> has been performed in Gwangju and Istanbul
Since its inaugural concert in Mexico City, Imagine has been performed in Gwangju and Istanbul
Earlier this summer, I attended the first presentation of Imagine at Alumnos47, a new art foundation in Mexico City that commissioned and produced the piece. I arrived late, but heard sounds from a distance, and slowly, as I was making my way into the venue, I realized the distorted tunes I heard were from John Lennon's legendary song, Imagine. In Mexico, Pedro's Imagine makes the air heavy, as everybody there is aware of the +60,000 drug-related deaths that have occurred in the 6-year tenure of outgoing president Felipe Calderón, who notoriously declared "war on drugs". John Lennon's Imagine is a globally recognised peace anthem that calls for a borderless unified world. For Pedro, this utopian world is one without weapons. He noted how he wasn't fully convinced about Imagine's title, but after thinking about the ambitions of his piece, I believe it has a purpose. Pedro's work tends to have an optimistic message, which sometimes can erroneously be understood as naïve. Rather, his always rigorous and research-based projects engage with the audience in almost therapeutic ways, aiming to get into the visitor's conscience.

Our conversation left me wondering why the subject of gun control only seems to enter the public discourse when punctual events occur. We are reminded of this subject every so often by insane mass murders in the most unthinkable places: a Batman premiere in Aurora, Colorado; a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin; a summer camp on Utøya Island, Oslo. In Mexico, this happens all year round, but it's only about drugs. So why wait for another horrific murder to engage with this subject and put it in the forefront of the international agenda? Pedro Reyes' gun-tune performance aims to do exactly that. José Esparza Chong Cuy (@JoseEsparza)



A moment from the <em>Imagine</em> concert
A moment from the Imagine concert
Notes:
1. Richard A. Serrano, "Emails show top Justice Department officials knew of ATF gun program," Los Angeles Times, October 3, 2011
2. Our conversation was based on an article by Víctor Hugo Michel titled "El francotirador del narco II" for Milenio
6,700 firearms,
confiscated by Mexico’s
Ministry of Defence, are
destroyed by a compactor
roller at Ciudad Juárez
6,700 firearms, confiscated by Mexico’s Ministry of Defence, are destroyed by a compactor roller at Ciudad Juárez
Through concert-like events,
<em>Imagine</em> uses the universal medium of music to direct our
attention to the madness of gun policies
Through concert-like events, Imagine uses the universal medium of music to direct our attention to the madness of gun policies
In Mexico, Pedro’s
<em>Imagine</em> makes the air heavy, as everybody there is aware of the
+60,000 drug-related deaths that have occurred in the 6-year
tenure of outgoing president Felipe Calderón, who notoriously
declared “war on drugs”
In Mexico, Pedro’s Imagine makes the air heavy, as everybody there is aware of the +60,000 drug-related deaths that have occurred in the 6-year tenure of outgoing president Felipe Calderón, who notoriously declared “war on drugs”
Pedro Reyes altered weapons to create functioning musical instruments
Pedro Reyes altered weapons to create functioning musical instruments

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