Excerpt from news story featuring Pedro Reyes, an artist featured in the new Tijuana Consulate in Mexico. “…It represents efforts by more than 100 artists to expand definitions of art and change social conditions by inventive, nontraditional means. Low, temporary walls of stacked concrete blocks and gray metal shelving units divide the space, creating an ambiance that suggests a revolutionary militia’s headquarters.The layout was designed by the architectural firm Common Room.Some of the artists veer toward symbolism. For “Palas por Pistolas,” a project orchestrated by Pedro Reyes, 1,527 guns were collected in a Mexican town racked by drug-related violence. The weapons were melted down and turned into shovels that were then used to plant trees on public-school grounds. Some of the spades are on display at the start of the exhibition, along with a young tree, which will be planted in a community garden after the show ends”… For the whole story, please click on the following link. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/arts/design/living-as-form-at-essex-street-market-review.html?_r=2