'Pedro Reyes: Changing Matter' via Louisiana Channel

10 October 2025

“I like to think of sculpture as changing the shape of things, taking a material and giving it a new form… although the matter may be different.”

Mexican artist Pedro Reyes explores sculpture as a physical and social practice, ranging from stone carving to large-scale participatory projects – always aiming for transformation. Pedro Reyes distinguishes between classical approaches to sculpture and what he calls “social sculpture” – a form of sculpture in which the material is a social context, and part of it is the participation of different social actors.

Trained in architecture, Pedro Reyes developed a belief in art’s functionality: “I have wanted art to be used and to have a measure of effectiveness that is not purely aesthetic.” Influenced by Joseph Beuys and by Mexico’s tradition of socially committed art, he sees sculpture as a way to bridge material, community, and imagination: “What you do in sculpture is to somehow take matter and try to make a transmission of spiritual energy into matter, and then that object should be able to irradiate that energy back to the viewer.”

One of his best-known projects, Palas por Pistolas (Shovels for Guns), collected 1.500 donated guns, melted them down into 1.500 shovels, and used them to plant 1.500 trees. The project is a critical comment on gun violence in Mexico. To Pedro Reyes, the project is twofold, entailing “not only a physical transformation of the metal, but also a psychological transformation and hopefully a social transformation – turning something that is an agent of death into an agent of life.”

At once ancient and experimental, Pedro Reyes’ practice merges mysticism with social engagement. He suggests sculpture is a form of play and a tool for reimagining the world: “Art is not fiction, but it’s not reality. It’s something in between. It’s like a surplus reality”.

Watch in full via Louisiana Channel.

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