Innovation Alley: Rockets into Roses: Israeli Artist Yaron Bob

Yaron Bob, is an art teacher and blacksmith who lives in Yated, a small Israeli community near the border with the Gaza strip.

Mr. Bob had two close calls with rockets and he knew he needed to react to the terror that he and his community were facing.Yaron wanted to create something that speaks of growth and prosperity and to make something out of the destruction and of the ruin of the Kassam.The truth is because the rocket is an instrument of death he really didn’t want to handle it.

However, his frustration was intensifying with so many missiles falling on Israel and so many alarms.The situation was very stressful on him and his family. “It finally struck me that I need to make a rose from the Kassam”, Yaron says. Now. Bob collects the spent rockets, most given to him by the police, after they have been checked by the bomb squad.

Although the rose, stem and base are made of Kassam remains, there is no sign the flower comes from rocket metal.

“I take the Kassam, the instrument of death and I change it, I transfer it into something of beauty.”

Bob is not a pacifist, but he would like Hamas to know talking is better than firing rockets and starting a war.

His goal is to somehow let the world know people in Israel are not hungry for war and what they really want is a bright and beautiful future. You can learn more at Rockets into Roses 
and The Israel Boutique.