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[strumming music]

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[Speaking Spanish]

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[Plays "A" note]

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[Pedro Reyes] I believe that anything can [br]become material for art.

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It's one of the freest environments[br]because you're requested to reinvent the rules.

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[Chimes]

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— Let's try with revolvers, but it would [br]be better with pistols.

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— Si. Si.

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This is one of the many workshops that I've been [br]doing where we turn weapons into instruments.

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[Speaking Spanish]

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[welding]

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The notion of sculpture is [br]having the understanding

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that you can take that material and give it shape.

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Something that was designed to kill, [br]how will it produce sounds for music?

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[Chiming]

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I often find myself knocking at the [br]doors of different government agencies

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trying to persuade them to embrace this initiative [br]as something that could happen on a national scale

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because we need to get rid of all the weapons that [br]are entering our territory from the United States.

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Doing these workshops is an attempt to [br]transform not only the material metal

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but also to try to create a [br]psychological transformation and,

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hopefully, a social transformation.

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[Percussion music]

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[Electric guitar]

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[Music continues]

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I grew up in Mexico City, [br]and I have always lived here,

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and I don't have any plans to move.

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I love it.

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I studied architecture, although I [br]had always wanted to be an artist.

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After architecture school, I wanted to have [br]a kind of a space for doing experiments,

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and I opened an artist-run space [br]called Torre de los Vientos.

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It was a hollow tower made in 1968,

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and I knew this space was abandoned.

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I squatted in, and I started to use it as

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a studio and then invite other [br]artists to do projects there,

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so when I started that, I was 23 years old,

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and I didn't have a kind of artistic dedication,

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but I learned through curating what [br]was the trade of being an artist.

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[Rain falling]

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I consider myself a sculptor.

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As an artist, I'm very interested with how things [br]are built and how you can walk around them.

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I also am very concerned with form and materials.

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It's interesting because in architecture,

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you learn to solve problems,

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so I think that that stick[br]with me, you know,

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the issue of having to solve problems

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to a degree that often, it's hard for me to think[br]just art for art's sake.

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— And then here we could have other [br]sheet metal pieces

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so when it moves back and forth, you hear

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♪ Ping ping ping ping ♪

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Artists change the perception of things.

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So something that is considered disgusting,

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such as an insect, you could turn that into a [br]source for protein and make food out of insects.

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These are the crickets.

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so, you see

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mm mm, mm

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They have their little legs [br]and stuff.

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Mm mm. They're very yummy.

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Making a hamburger which, instead of meat,

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you use crickets could have a[br]tremendous effect in the environment.

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Our reliance of meat as a source for [br]protein is driving the planet to extinction.

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This was an idea that my son gave to me.

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[laughs]

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— They're cricket hamburgers.

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— Whoa!

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— This is an experiment.

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— Really?

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— Let's see if it's successful.

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— They're so big, the issue is to grab them because...

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— No, but the size is good, it's actually very good.

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[Pedro Reyes] Other people may copy the idea, so you [br]hope that, in a way, you spark a trend.

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[violin music]

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— Camarada, I have a new[br]idea for a manifesto.

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— Good, good, friend. What idea?

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— All that is solid melts into[br]air.

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Hwahhh...

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— I don't know if that could[br]happen.

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[Pedro Reyes] When I became a parent, I started to [br]see how my kids were feeding their mind,

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so I decided to do this puppet show where I could [br]present the political debate between, you know,

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capitalism and socialism,

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like Marx on one side or Adam Smith on the other.

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[Smith Puppet] And I have no cookie,[br]and, therefore,

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you should give me your[br]cookie.

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[Pedro Reyes] OK. Well, you're gonna fight[br]over who eats the cookie

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but using these kind of, uh,[br]ideological ideas.

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[Marx Puppet] Well, according to you,[br]the capitalist,

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you should have bought a[br]cookie

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so you would have ownership of[br]the cookie,

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and then you would have the[br]right to eat all of the cookie.

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[Smith Puppet] OK. Just give me the cookie.

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[Marx Puppet] You can't have my cookie.

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[Smith Puppet] Give me the cookie.

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[laughs]

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[Pedro Reyes] Mythology, mathematics, neurology, [br]pacifism, poetry, psychology.

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That's social sciences, feminism, [br]social justice, Latin America.

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I mean, like, I think that my[br]library is like my brain.

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In any moment, one section of the library [br]becomes the raw material for a new series.

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For me, every year, I need to [br]move to a different planet...

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One big, new field of research that I start.

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It becomes an entire system of reading materials [br]and sculptures that will be made and a show.

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[strumming music]

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— All right.

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[Pedro Reyes]The People's United Nations, or pUN,[br]is an idea that I had since I was a kid.

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— I did it.

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[Pedro Reyes] There's a comic strip made in [br]the Sixties called "Mafalda."

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She's saying, "Yes. When I grow up, [br]I'm gonna be an interpreter at the UN

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so when one delegate tells another,

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"Your country stinks," uh, I'm[br]gonna translate, ''Oh, your country's charming,'

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and then, you know, 'I'm gonna avoid global war,'

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and then she looks at the planet and says, like,

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"Well, you have to promise you [br]will last until I grow up."

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[laughs]

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— On the count of 3. 1, 2, 3.

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[Pedro Reyes] Role-play is something that [br]is very much present in pUN.

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[indistinct conversation]

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The fact of being in character and the character [br]being that you're the delegate of your country

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makes this game very serious,

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and I love serious games. [br]I mean, I love serious fun.

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— So I'm from Mexico City. [br]I've been living in California for 4 years.

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— Yeah.

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— I love my city. I love my[br]country...

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— Yeah.

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— but it isn't like, people are[br]scared.

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— "If you were the president or head of state of China,

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what change would you[br]implement?"

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— In the past two years,

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two members of my family have[br]been killed.

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— Remove the nationalistic[br]component of a school curriculum.[br]

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— We need to rise as citizens.

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We need to not just complain.

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— Super fun talking to you.

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— So fun talking to you, too. [laughs]

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[Pedro Reyes] That is why art is useful,

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because you can have this[br]rehearsal space

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where you can play.

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[laughter and conversation]

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[Pedro Reyes] This workshop is called[br]"pUN Times."

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Each of you say to the group[br]something about your country,

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but it's, like, actually[br]something

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that you don't like about your[br]country,

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so we're gonna turn that[br]negative thing

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into a positive headline of[br]extremely optimist scenarios.

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[People murmur]

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— Hi. I'm the delegate from[br]Venezuela,

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and when I shared my concerns[br]about violence and crime

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in my country, the delegates[br]of Germany, Australia, Yemen,

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and Paraguay, um, helped me[br]think of a solution,

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so soon, the headline in the[br]papers in Venezuela will be,

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"Mandatory Use of U-Turn[br]Bullets in All Guns in the[br]Country."

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[Laughter and applause]

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[Pedro Reyes] I love my[br]life.

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[laughs]

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It's super fun.

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You're like a kid, and everybody [br]gets to do what you wish.

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I mean, in terms of "Oh, I have this one idea. Let's make it." "Yes," and it happens.

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It's amazing.

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[Cheering]

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[soft electronic music]