Creative Synthesis

The cover of the September/October 2007 issue of Good Magazine bore the image of an AK-47–a symbol of good design as well as a socio-political icon–and asked the question:  “Is there design this good that doesn’t kill people?”  Over the past decade, two groups have worked to reimagine the aesthetics of weaponry while removing guns from the community.  Both groups address the problem of firearms by commissioning local artists to convert guns into tools and art.

In Guadalupe, Arizona, Socorro Hernandez Bernasconi responded to the growth gun-related violence in the 1990s by creating Guadalupe Libre Alcohol Armas y Drogas (GLAAD).  The community group promotes substance abuse prevention programs among teens and sponsors a trade-in program in which participants receive donated items in exchange for weapons.  The guns are then given to local artists, who turn them into items used in community spaces such as churches.  GLAAD has used a rifle converted into a shovel at the burials of crime victims.

After the civil war in Mozambique, community and religious organizations decided to convert military weapons into works of art.  The program, coordinated by Christian Aid and the Christian Council of Mozambique, exchanges goods for guns, in many cases providing the tools needed for local economic development.  The sculptures created from the surplus weapons are larger than the works supported by GLAAD, and often completely lose the original forms of the weapons in order to create positive works.  The pieces have been displayed in galleries in Europe, and proceeds from sales are split between the artists and the coordinators of the program.