Un modo per
esorcizzare il potere sinistro di oggetti di morte può essere quello di convertirli in parti di opere frutto di una originale creatività, che riesce a trasformare il fastidio per un arnese letale nel piacere della sua metamorfosi. RR
What do
Esther and Michael Augsburger, Sasha Constable, Lin Evola-Smidt, Al Farrow,
César Lopez, Jessica Mindich, Kester, Hilario Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos,
Adelim Serafim Maté, Pedro Reyes, Byron Zarrabi, and Victor Hugo Zayas all hae
in common? They have all taken on the world
of weapons by turning decommissioned firearms, bullet shells, rockets, land
mines and even nuclear bomb casings into art, musical instruments, and useful
items. Creators with strong stomachs,
they consciously transform used objects of violence into often beautiful monuments,
sculptures, instruments, jewelry, "thrones," and even 1,527 shovels (Pedro
Reyes) made from 1,527 handguns to plant 1,527 trees worldwide. Everybody knows that firearms are big
business, along with bombs and bombers. Speaking
for my own country, all I can say is that when the founding fathers gave American
colonialists the right to keep and bear arms, in order to prevent the likes of
the 1700's Redcoats from bullying them ever again, surely they did 
not envision
gang wars and madmen with machine guns, not to mention rocket launchers and nukes. Many places on the planet are overrun with
weapons left over from wars. Parts of
the world, thinking especially of Mexico and Colombia, have become the Wild
West thanks to drug cartels. Most people
will admit that there are too many guns in circulation, but guns continue to be
glorified by the entertainment industry, and they are forever defended by business
interests and cynics. Where does change
begin? The above named artists, along
with mayors, police chiefs, and sometimes, too, religious and cultural
organizations, have been working to make a dent. "Buy back" programs permit gun
holders to get rid of their weapons in exchange for cash, coupons, and household
appliances. Recently, in Newark, NJ, Mayor
Cory Booker and designer Jessica Mindich worked together to make The Caliber
Collection possible, sleek steel and brass bracelets and cufflinks fashioned from
locally confiscated guns and shell casings.
Booker calls the popular jewelry "an instrument of
peace." A Catholic bishop in
Mozambique convinced people there to turn in their civil war guns, saying, "Having
a gun in your house is just like having a poisonous snake in your house." Four artists then fashioned the beautiful
"Tree of Life" out of the guns that were surrendered in exchange for
useful items. Since 1997, Lin
Evola-Smidt of New York has been turning all manner of death-related metal into
monumental Peace Angels. She says,
"I think that war is the opposite of creativity." She also reminds us that only 800,000 weapons
are destroyed every year 
as opposed to the 8,000,000 produced. A 10-meter Peace Angel equals 100,000
weapons. Peace Angels represent
"the holding of possibility," and now stand tall in Los Angeles,
Lower Manhattan, and the Ukraine. César
Lopez of Colombia makes guitars which he calls "escopteras" out of
AK47 rifles and plays them on stage. He
gives them to inner city groups such as Afro Reggae of Rio de Janiero in his
consciousness-raising efforts. Pedro
Reyes of Culiacan, a city with one of the highest murder rates in Mexico, has
transformed guns not only into shovels but also, along with other musicians,
into 50 musical instruments. They first played
them to "Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine. Reyes says, "Guns cause people to
disappear from public spaces, but music brings them back." In the Peace Art Project, Sasha Constable,
the great-great-great graddaughter of the English master John 
Constable, has
worked with art students at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phonm Penh where
guns decommissioned from Cambodia's civil war have been turned into amazing
sculptures including an elephant, a peacock, and a skeleton man. "It's devastating material to work
with," she admits, knowing that men, women and children were slaughtered
with the medium itself. Using bullets
and weapon parts, Al Farrow makes extraordinarily detailed reliquaries, such as
temples, cathedrals and mosques. His
work makes us think. All of these
artists and artisans make us think. "If
the weapon that was designed to kill, if its use can be changed, then why can't
people change, too?" asks César Lopez, and rightly so. Perhaps we still can, as Evola-Smidt hopes,
"Remember our greatness." UN'AMERICANA
A VENEZIA
not envision
gang wars and madmen with machine guns, not to mention rocket launchers and nukes. Many places on the planet are overrun with
weapons left over from wars. Parts of
the world, thinking especially of Mexico and Colombia, have become the Wild
West thanks to drug cartels. Most people
will admit that there are too many guns in circulation, but guns continue to be
glorified by the entertainment industry, and they are forever defended by business
interests and cynics. Where does change
begin? The above named artists, along
with mayors, police chiefs, and sometimes, too, religious and cultural
organizations, have been working to make a dent. "Buy back" programs permit gun
holders to get rid of their weapons in exchange for cash, coupons, and household
appliances. Recently, in Newark, NJ, Mayor
Cory Booker and designer Jessica Mindich worked together to make The Caliber
Collection possible, sleek steel and brass bracelets and cufflinks fashioned from
locally confiscated guns and shell casings.
Booker calls the popular jewelry "an instrument of
peace." A Catholic bishop in
Mozambique convinced people there to turn in their civil war guns, saying, "Having
a gun in your house is just like having a poisonous snake in your house." Four artists then fashioned the beautiful
"Tree of Life" out of the guns that were surrendered in exchange for
useful items. Since 1997, Lin
Evola-Smidt of New York has been turning all manner of death-related metal into
monumental Peace Angels. She says,
"I think that war is the opposite of creativity." She also reminds us that only 800,000 weapons
are destroyed every year 
as opposed to the 8,000,000 produced. A 10-meter Peace Angel equals 100,000
weapons. Peace Angels represent
"the holding of possibility," and now stand tall in Los Angeles,
Lower Manhattan, and the Ukraine. César
Lopez of Colombia makes guitars which he calls "escopteras" out of
AK47 rifles and plays them on stage. He
gives them to inner city groups such as Afro Reggae of Rio de Janiero in his
consciousness-raising efforts. Pedro
Reyes of Culiacan, a city with one of the highest murder rates in Mexico, has
transformed guns not only into shovels but also, along with other musicians,
into 50 musical instruments. They first played
them to "Bullet in the Head" by Rage Against the Machine. Reyes says, "Guns cause people to
disappear from public spaces, but music brings them back." In the Peace Art Project, Sasha Constable,
the great-great-great graddaughter of the English master John 
Constable, has
worked with art students at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phonm Penh where
guns decommissioned from Cambodia's civil war have been turned into amazing
sculptures including an elephant, a peacock, and a skeleton man. "It's devastating material to work
with," she admits, knowing that men, women and children were slaughtered
with the medium itself. Using bullets
and weapon parts, Al Farrow makes extraordinarily detailed reliquaries, such as
temples, cathedrals and mosques. His
work makes us think. All of these
artists and artisans make us think. "If
the weapon that was designed to kill, if its use can be changed, then why can't
people change, too?" asks César Lopez, and rightly so. Perhaps we still can, as Evola-Smidt hopes,
"Remember our greatness." UN'AMERICANA
A VENEZIA
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