Trained as an architect, Pedro Reyes is interested in societal problem solving. His projects aim to improve the urban environment through hands-on facilitation: increasing individual and collective agency through constructed situations, which he devises. Of prime importance is Reyes' interest in the 'encounter experience' between strangers and the de-professionalization of therapy and its use as a peer assisted tool. This has most recently been evidenced in the artist's Sanatorium, a temporary clinic in which visitors can experience treatments drawn from Gestalt psychology, theatre warm-up exercises, Fluxus events, corporate coaching and psychosis - simultaneously acknowledging the importance of the performed and 'real' self.

Reyes' new commission for Liverpool Biennial 2012, titled Melodrama and Other Games, uses the format of a board game as it starting point and considers the architecture of relationships in an increasingly commoditised environment.

Inspired by the classic game of Snakes and Ladders, Melodrama is a board game customised to reflect the ups and downs of human relationships. Other games include Mine-field, Feather Fun, and Slow-motion Fight, which are parlour games that encourage visitors to improvise new forms of social interaction with each other.