Yesterday I went to the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA to see an astounding, gorgeous show of work by African artist El Anatsui. Born in Ghana, he's worked in Nigeria for the past 25 years or so, a professor of sculpture at the University of Nigeria. The works were large sculptural wall hangings made entirely of discarded aluminum tops from liquor bottles, pieced together with copper wire.
The work looks in many ways like traditional kente cloth from Ghana, as well containing many patterns that put me in mind of traditional American quilting. They are constructed like a quilt, in smaller squares, and then assembled into the larger piece.
The work not only addresses waste, recycling, and consumption, but El Anatsui provides an historical context: "Alcohol was one of the commodities [Europeans] brought with them to exchange for goods in Africa. Eventually alcohol became one of the items used in the trans-Atlantic slave trade...I thought that the bottle caps had a strong reference to the history of Africa."
If you find yourself in the area, the Clark is a special place to visit. The grounds are beautiful and this particular show is in the Stone Hill Center, a separate hilltop gallery with a contemplative vibe, accessible by a system of pretty hiking trails or by car. The show is there through 10/16.
http://www.clarkart.edu/
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