El Anatsui Transformations

Lisa M. Binder n March of 2006, while on one of our daily two-hour hikes through the landscape and villages surrounding the Uni- versity of Nigeria, Nsukka, El Anatsui stopped mid-stride atop a crumpled, dusty, plastic tablecloth lying in the mid- dle of the dirt path. He wanted to come back with the car to retrieve the “road sculpture” that reminded him of debris assembled by the Nigerian police at driving checkpoints. He Ioften and half-jokingly conceived of the twisted log and metal heaps as sculptures and the law-enforcement individuals as installation artists. While we never did drive back to pick up that piece, the incident was the impetus for several discussions on the idea of transformation. El Anatsui has a personal mandate as a sculptor that he, and those under his tutelage, should use “whatever the environment throws up.” He has always experimented with space and the unpredictability of form in response to environment: Chance was integral to his work with clay; when installing wood sculptures in galleries, there are almost always instructions for the sections to be arranged at the curator’s discretion; while working all photos by the author except where otherwise noted in residence, he tends to take a good deal of time reacting and responding to the space of the landscape before beginning; and most recently, the elements of his “cloth series” began when he found a pile of bottle-caps while looking around his studio for a “pot monument” (Fig. 1).1 Arguably, it is the cloth series that has garnered him the most attention from the Western art world in recent years. Academ- ics, critics, museums, galleries, dealers and collectors are all in a scramble for his wire-stitched wall sculptures. With sold-out shows in New York and London, major commissions from foundations, corporate collections, and museums such as the Harn, deYoung, British Museum, and Centre Pompidou all adding his work to their collections, Anatsui’s pieces are quickly becoming some of the most sought after in the current contemporary art market. Much has been written about the cloth pieces, specifically the story of how he came to discover the material used in the sculptures and their relationship to Ghanaian kente and adinkra patterns. However, in conversation with the artist, it became clear that this historical connection to a specific cloth type was secondary to the transformation of material and the significance of this change in relation to local and global political and societal conditions.2 As popular as the cloth sculptures are in Europe and America, 1 bag of liquor bottle tops in the studio of El the 2006 Dak’art Biennale marked the first time his work—Soci - Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 24 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:55:52 AM 2 el Anatsui Society Women’s Cloth (2004) Aluminum bottle tops and copper wire; 400cm x 500cm (157½" x 196¾") As exhibited at “Dak’Art 2006,” Dakar, Senegal.

ety Women’s Cloth (2004)—was exhibited in Africa (Fig 2). It Thus, this paper examines a selection of his recent work, pro- could easily be argued that the greatest number of Anatsui pieces duced and/or exhibited in the United Kingdom, specifically in on public display in 2005 were to be found in the United King- 2005. For while he was certainly known for his ceramic and wood dom. During the “Africa 05” celebration, pieces of Anatsui’s cloth sculptures prior to his cloth series, it is the cloth sculptures that series quite literally draped over the entire city of London. Man’s have resonated the most with contemporary curators and collec- Cloth greeted viewers at the entrance to the Sainsbury African tors in the last few years. While his work is often read primarily Galleries in the British Museum while yet another hung, and still in relation to cloth, in fact it should be considered in terms of a hangs, directly behind the desk of the director, Neil McGregor. At conceptual and historical space and given a localized reading of the same time, Sasa was displayed at the entrance to the “Africa his practice of incorporating locally procured materials. Remix” exhibition, while around the corner at the October Gal- lery, several works were on view in a solo show. In addition to Flowing Liquor the cloth series, Signatures, constructed with piled logs, was on I first met El Anatsui in February 2005 after I became involved display in Norwich in 2005. with the installation of his solo exhibition “El Anatsui: Gawu” Anatsui’s connection to the UK is strong as a direct result of his at the October Gallery.3 A majority of the show consisted of his relationship with the October Gallery. Since first showing with “cloth series,” as the work has come to be called, with each piece October in the early 1990s, he has maintained the connection made up of thousands of liquor-bottle tops. He came up with while participating in an ever-expanding network of residencies, the idea after finding a bag of the tops while looking through the biennales, solo and group exhibitions, and private transactions. brush near his studio. One of the few things recycled in Nige- While he has lived and worked as a successful artist in Nsukka, ria is liquor and beer bottles; however, the screw tops denoting Nigeria, for several decades, it is the work that he has shown in brand name are discarded. the US and UK that launched him onto the international stage. According to Polly Savage of the October Gallery, the tops sat

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 25 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:55:56 AM (counterclockwise from top left) 3 Folded “cloth sculpture” and pile of bottle tops in the studio of El Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

4 el Anatsui Dzesi I (2006) Aluminum bottle tops and copper wire; dimensions variable. Photograph taken outside the studio of El Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. n.d. Photo: El Anatsui

5 installation of “El Anatsui: Gawu” at the October Gallery. Wall right: Flag for a New World Power (2005). Floor right: Adinkra Sasa (2003). Floor left: Fading Cloth (2005). London, England, February 10–March 19, 2005.

5a detail of Adinkra Sasa as exhibited in “El Anatsui: Gawu.”

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 26 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:56:16 AM untouched in his studio until famous woodcut Description of a Slave Ship (1789). Juxtaposing the idea came to him to flatten and stitch them together with copper this historical image with that of the implement used to illegally wire. Once the process had begun, he realized the result resembled transport petrol between Benin and Nigeria, La Bouche du Roi a real fabric, and that the colors of the caps echoed those of narrow- simultaneously speaks of a local and global history of trade, slav- strip, or kente cloth (Savage 2005). ery, memory, loss, and environmental destruction.6 Elizabeth Harney has written beautifully on the practice of Two important items emerge here: the resemblance to kente and récupération employed by Senegalese artist Issa Samb: the use of liquor tops. As for the latter, when I asked the artist His use of objets trouvés from the streets of the surrounding city has why he did not use other brands, such as 7-Up or Coke bottle- helped him create an aesthetic that speaks directly to the experiences tops, he responded that they were too hard—they were not as of artists and audiences living in Dakar (2004:121). malleable as the liquor tops. In addition, he noted that soda tops rust whereas liquor caps generally do not. Samb, as a member of the Dakar-based artist group Laboratoire This is an important distinction, as the cloth series could be Agit-Art, would often perform in a city courtyard. Herein lies an seen to reflect a connection with alcohol trade in West Africa important distinction. The use of locally collected media, for use (see Ambler 2003:73–88, Akyeampong 1996, Diduk 1993:1–42). in artwork specific to a particular space, manifests a particular This reference in the “cloth” is born more of convenience rather transformation of material. For Samb’s audience, than the artist’s conscious planning.�� However, the connection The Laboratoire acts as an open space, an interactive gallery of sorts, with the consumptive practices that the caps symbolize is an making works available to the surrounding community. Many of these important theme that runs throughout the series. Anatsui says, works … also constitute leftover “props” from Laboratoire perfor- Back home we would characterize someone who is given to the plea- mances and workshops, possibly awaiting recycling (ibid.). sures of drinking and eating as someone who is “building the stom- ach” … the whole piece is talking about “consumption,” or could be An Anatsui cloth sculpture, in that it is produced for and dis- seen as referencing it at least (Houghton 2004:22). played primarily in museums and gallery spaces, is transformed from a grouping of consumptive materials into its final manifes- I am not trying to imply here that Anatsui is not additionally tation as commoditized art object in the Western market.7 concerned with trade and globalization. These issues, as they Of course, the artists mentioned above each make work that manifest themselves in Nigeria, Ghana, and the world at large, responds to a specific environment and situation. The traditional all figure into much of the artist’s oeuvre as a whole. I am merely divisions of art history would have us classify Kester, Dilom- suggesting that in this particular case, while clearly representa- prizulike, Samb, Hazoumé, and Anatsui as all participating in tive of current conditions in Nigeria, the connection was inher- similar acts of reclamation. For each artist, I agree with Harney ent in the medium, not necessarily the artist’s intent. that the analysis should address “particularities of local histories Anatsui transforms a rigid, metal material into malleable, fluid of patronage, education, practice, and modes of assessment and sculptures that take on organic qualities adaptable to a specific interpretation” (ibid.). Thus we must be cautious of the language space—that of the gallery. However, he also employs the locally used to critique these practices, a subject I will return to later in collected material in order to comment on the historical space this discussion. of his Ghanaian and Nigerian experience. This action is neither African nor Euro-American in invention; the practice has existed On the Cutting Room Floor in a multitude of cultures and art histories. For example, the art- Strip-woven kente cloth is produced primarily in Ghana, Anat- ist Kester welds sculptures made from decommissioned weapons sui’s country of birth, where it is made predominantly by men gathered in Maputo by a local charity. His Throne of Weapons (see Ross 1998, also Kraamer 2006:36–53, Kwami 1995:43, Picton (2001) reflects over a decade of civil war in Mozambique. The and Mack 1979:chapter 5, Steiner 1985:91–110, Picton 2001:159– artist collective he belongs to was commissioned to produce The 62, 2004:5–62). Much has been written on his familial connec- Tree of Life (2004) for the British Museum using guns collected tion to weaving, with most of the literature mentioning that his in the Tools for Arms Project.4 In another example, a previous father and brother wove Ewe kente. The artist stated, “My father student of Anatsui’s, Dilomprizulike, a.k.a. “The Junkman from wove Ewe kente—as a hobby, though, it wasn’t his profession per Africa,” also procures his material from the space in which he se” (Houghton 2003:24).8 His cloth sculptures resemble textiles lives. Dilomprizulike gathers his “junks” from the city to con- in that they have flow, movement, and are delicate. For ease of struct larger figurative groupings that function as commentary transport, the sculpture is folded like a textile ready for sale in on the energy of life in Lagos. He also stages performances with the market (Fig. 3). The colors are often those most common in objects found on location, such as Professor Junks (2006) at the kente: yellow, red, purple, black, green, and orange—which are Goethe Institute in Lagos and How the Taylor Died (2005) at the also the colors of most liquor-bottle tops. Victoria and Albert Museum in London, that reflect the urban When I asked the artist if he had kente in mind when he first condition in general, and Lagosian life in specific.5 One extremely began to make the cloth, he responded that he had not really powerful work of art to include local materials is Romuald considered it until the work had already begun. Then, after he Hazoumé’s La Bouche du Roi (1997–2005). Along with video and began the process of linking the caps, he “noticed a big reso- sound, the piece consists of 304 plastic petrol containers recon- nance” with kente “primarily in the color connection” and pat- structing the British anti-slavery campaigner Thomas Clarkson’s terns that emerged.9 In fact, he was fairly unfamiliar with types of

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 27 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:56:17 AM (counterclockwise from top right) 6 assistant to El Anatsui working in the studio on a “cloth” sculpture. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

7a–b new “cloth” shapes in pre-made sections. In the studio of El Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

8a–b pre-made sections of “cloth.” In the studio of El Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

9 el Anatsui (foreground, in blue and white shirt) working in his studio. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 28 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:56:42 AM kente and sought information on textiles from several academics Several months later, in El Anatsui’s atelier just down the road and specialists after the cloth series was already established. This from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I watched as several becomes important when critiquing a cloth piece. Scholars of of his assistants hovered over a new sculpture that was nearing African art history have followed Anatsui’s lead and assessed the completion. Sitting on stools and wooden spools of safety wire, sculptures in relation to kente and other types of cloth in gen- they would connect sections based on color or shape as directed eral, but have also gone so far as to compare his work with cloth by Anatsui (Fig. 6). The sculptures have become much more designs similar in title to his sculptures. It is most important to advanced in the last few years, with pieces such as Man’s Cloth remember here that stating his work looks like cloth is quite a exemplifying his earlier style and Dzesi I reflecting later inno- different thing from itactually being cloth. vations. Whereas the earlier sculptures were made up almost He has explained to me that while the connection to cloth is evi- entirely of rectangular-shaped flattened tops, more recent works dent, it is a mistake to try to match the patterns with original cloth also include sections of triangular, tube-like, and octagonal types. The titles of his cloth sculptures often make reference to the shapes (Figs. 7a–b). The assistants are now able to preproduce idea or inspiration of a historical cloth, but the signification ends sections of like shape meant to be joined at Anatsui’s discretion there. He is not trying to reconstruct history per se, but rather to (Figs. 8a–b). engage with a present moment that is enmeshed with signifiers of The assistants have taken to giving the different sections code the past. Pieces such as Sasa (2004) may reference the spirit of a names. This practice makes it easier for Anatsui to explain his specific cloth design but the title and the sculpture function more design ideas, thus streamlining production. He can leave instruc- as an interpretation rather than a replication of meaning. History tions for sections based on color, shape, and size. Thus, when he here is “brought on,” and in keeping with the metaphor, “woven does come into the studio, he can focus on layout and overall in” as it were (Picton 1998:22).10 He has said: design pattern in real time (Fig 9). I would watch as he stood I think that cloth has been maybe an unconscious influence. I have over sections on the floor, pointing at areas that required more discovered only much later, looking back over what I’ve done over a of one color or another. When a sculpture is nearly finished, it particular period, that cloth has been a recurrent theme or leitmotif is transported outside into the light for assessment (Figs. 10a–c, …. (Haughton 2004:25) 12a–c). When deemed complete, it will be folded (now with a protective plastic sheeting) for storage or transport (Fig. 11). As A sculpture might not have a name until after it is completed a result, Anatsui has begun to use the term “nomadic aesthetic” and a relationship evoked (Anatsui: 2002:121). Of course this is when discussing the cloth sculptures. This application came not always the case. Dzesi I (2006), made for the touring exhibi- about “as a result of the need to address a certain problem; to tion “The Missing Piece: Artists Consider the Dalai Lama,” was create works that are packing, storage and transportation effi- meant to resemble a hole or zero sign and was conceived prior cient or friendly.” In addition, he says, “It applies to work that I to construction (Fig. 4). In this instance, reading history into the have done but more especially to what I am doing now, which piece is acceptable, as Anatsui explained the title to reference a always comes in considerable sizes but can contract, and like a “mark” or the “marking” of empty space. Both artist and viewer nomad, I can move around” (McCrickard 2006:7). are invited to insert meaning into the history of the sculpture: as This notion is also important in that each installation will be John Picton writes, “It is we who do the putting in, not through a new configuration, with the curator or collector hanging the some kind of essentially inherent presence, but through the piece as they see fit. This can easily be read as yet another layer imaginary project that art is also” (Picton 1998:21). When we of transformation. The object is changed each time it is displayed look at his work, we not only pull from our subjective memo- in a new location. From folded “cloth” to wall-hanging sculpture, ries, but also the memory and history of El Anatsui (see Oguibe the interaction with light and space, coupled with the flow of the 2004:98–110). metal material, all add to the metamorphosis. However, we must not confuse this change with an alchemic process, for he states, In October “… this aesthetic is about the impermanence of form, indeter- In early 2005, as I sat on the floor of the October Gallery minacy, as well as giving others the freedom, or better still the repairing damage that occurred to a sculpture while in transit, authority to try their hands at forming what the artist has pro- I became painfully aware of the cutting edge of history (Fig. 5). vided …” (ibid.). Anatsui distances himself from any perceived The four major pieces of cloth were delivered folded and stacked metallurgic spell by ensuring it is the installer who determines as cloth would be found in the markets of Lagos or London. this final stage. However, cloth, this was not. The metallic screeching made by the sculpture as it was unfolded, the ping of the wires entangled Out There in each other and finally snapping was enough to make anyone After our initial introduction in February, Anatsui and I met in wince. Each individual liquor label was approximately one inch London at various “Africa 05” events and again in June and July high and three inches wide with holes punched in the four cor- 2005, when he participated in an artist-in-residence program ners. In some places the safety wire that had fastened the pieces at the University of East Anglia (UEA) titled “Out There.” The together had torn through a hole; my task was to punch another Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (SCVA), part of the UEA cam- and mend the piece with new wire. Days later, and with wire-cut pus, closed for refurbishment from August 2004 to May 2006. In hands, I gently washed the Nsukka dust, which had traveled with order to continue programming during the building work, the the piece, off the sculpture. staff opted to bring artists to the campus to make site-specific

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 29 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:56:42 AM (above and left) 10a–c assistants preparing and moving a sculpture out of the studio for Anatsui to assess in the light. In the studio of El Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

(below) 11 el Anatsui, Society Women’s Cloth (2004), as laid out on packing plastic in preparation for hanging at “Dak’Art 2006,” Dakar, Senegal. May 5, 2006.

(opposite) 12a–c assistants preparing and moving a sculpture out of the studio for Anatsui to assess in the light. In the studio of El Anatsui. Nsukka, Nigeria. March 17, 2006.

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 30 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:01 AM work rather then transport existing sculpture to the grounds. For three weeks, eight international artists worked to create outdoor installations that interacted with the landscape. Anatsui had sent plans to build two halves of a hollow boat meant to be suspended from both sides of a footbridge on the University grounds. The artist and I discussed his plans to stage a performance on the bridge at the opening of the exhibition.11 When I asked him about the reference to “boundaries,” one of the themes of the exhibition, he began to discuss the way the reeds under the bridge all fell harshly in the same direction. He later elaborated: The work is about crossing water and man’s most basic means of doing this. The quest to make links across expanses of water set into motion the process which has impacted on the fates of most parts of the world. Thinking of the boat one cannot forget the stories of sail- ors, explorers, traders, armadas, wars, territorial expansion and, to some extent, globalization.12

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 31 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:18 AM (this page) 13a–b el Anatsui, first sculpture for “Out There” on the University of East Anglia campus; wood, paint, paper and glue. The sculpture was destroyed before given a title. No dimensions available. Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Norwich, UK. June 30, 2005. “Out There” was on view from July 3–August 29, 2005.

(opposite) 14 construction of wood pile for El Anatsui, Signautres (2005).

15 el Anatsui instructing and oversee- ing the painting of Signatures.

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 32 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:28 AM When he arrived at the SCVA for the “Out There” project, a large tent was set up in front of the museum, where a team of craftsman began to build the first half of the boat. After a week of sanding, gluing, and nailing the sculpture, one half of the boat was finally complete. With the strength of twelve individuals the massive body was removed from the tent. The University health and safety inspectors were quick to deem the structure unsafe; it was not to be hung from the bridge and thus the second half need not be built. Though he sent the specifications ahead of time, the work was constructed larger than he envisioned. After much discussion an agreement was reached: He would finish half of the boat and then construct a second sculpture. He selected colors and instructed me to paint the boat very lightly so that the wood seemed old and stained. The interior was to be white and cream in keeping with the ageing technique used on the exterior. After the painting was complete he asked me to go the library to find proverbs to type, print, separate by tear- ing, and then glue to the interior of the boat. When I asked him

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 33 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:34 AM if he meant African proverbs in general he replied, “Chinese, We then proceeded to paint the cut ends of the logs with color Japanese, Mexican, American, African, English, whatever. Just and pattern variations as prescribed by Anatsui. The combina- proverbs.”13 I checked out the texts and brought them to him for tion of colors, the monumentality of the sculpture, and the var- selection—he told me to choose them myself. ��I decided to select ied directions of a multitude of stripes, all combined to create as many as I could that had to do with ships failing to arrive in what he wanted to be a dizzying effect. When complete, the work port, unfinished projects, and losing one’s way.After�� the task was could easily be read as a reference to kente and some have dis- completed, the boat was moved by crane to what was to be its in cussed it as such. However, Anatsui explained that in Nsukka, situ location for the duration of the exhibition (Figs. 13a–b).14 when wood is cut to be sold, a stroke of brightly colored paint The work he decided to make, in the little time he had left, was is added to the end of the wood as a mark of the owner (Figs. very similar to Signature, a sculpture he had made for the 1999 17a–b). The line of color functions as a signature. The stripped Cyfuniad International Artists Workshop in Wales. Signatures patterns in Signatures, he added, were “colonies of color” which (2006) consisted of a large pile of logs purloined from one of occasionally invaded each other’s space.�� On the day he made this the other “Out There” projects and purchased from a local wood statement, in Norwich, I did not have further opportunity to ask dealer (Figs. 14–16). ��Anatsui explained the variation in the title’s him about it. However, I did bring the topic up again in Nigeria plurality: Signature, made in Wales, had only one person gather- while we were at the wood merchants and he elaborated, “when ing the wood for the project and thus left one signature whereas I say colonies of color I am speaking on a macro level. I am not the wood in Norwich was gathered by many, hence the title Sig- referring specifically to the peoples of Nigeria … I am talking natures. ��He requested a wall of the logs to be piled, much like about Europe and the carving up of Africa.”15 Signature. Yet again health and safety became involved, insisting Whilst the entropic nature of the other sculptures produced for the work be held between metal rods and secured throughout. It the “Out There” exhibition ensured they were only on view for a was also to be much smaller in scale than he envisioned. It was short while, Signatures was on display at UEA for more than a important for him to have the logs stacked as high as possible in year. When the construction on the newly renovated SCVA was order to transform the simple material of wood into a sculpture nearing completion, the sculpture was dismantled and the logs of monumental size. In this way, as he also instructs his students were temporarily used as colourful barriers along the road next in Nsukka, a common medium can be put together in such as to the museum. Wondering what Anatsui would make of this way as to become monumental. I sent him several images of the barriers. He was not offended

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 34 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:41 AM stein 2006:162). But is El Anatsui a “found object” artist? He has not termed his practice as such, choosing to refer to “objects the environment yielded” in the vein of Andy Goldsworthy, Chris Drury, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Richard Long, Robert Smith- son, Marina Abramovic, or Antony Gormley.18 In this way his practice may be more similar to artists who create earthworks or stage landscape interventions. Indeed, Anatsui famously created the earth-sculpture, Altar, in 1984 at Cuxhaven, Germany, and staged the performance “Offering to the Weather” in conjunc- tion with it (Anatsui 1997:178–9; see also Anatsui 1993:49–50. Margaret Iversen has argued of the found object, The space occupied by the found object is carved out by traumatic experience, defined precisely as an experience that has failed to achieve a representation, but on which, nonetheless, one’s whole existence depends (2004:49).

In applying this definition to Anatsui’s practice, we see that the objects he uses in his sculptures often connote the destructive power of trade, consumption, and globalization, potentially rein- forcing that reality when manipulated into a sculpture. The caps no longer hold liquid in a bottle and they are removed from their original use in trade. They can no longer perform their function and are rendered impotent until Anatsui manipulates them for his sculpture. It is this manipulation that alters the material, thus transforming the object’s existence. In addition, it could be argued that if we consider the caps “yielded” rather than “found” the trauma ceases. However, not all artists working in this manner are considered to work with found objects. Of Issa Samb, Harney wrote, In addition to déchets (trash), he and other members of Laboratoire Agit-Art work with materials such as chiffon, bottles and caps, cans, and discarded metal parts, found readily available in the large city markets and streets (2004:121).

Dilomprizulike was included in musician Baaba Maal’s selection of the fifty greatest artists working in Africa today; the article’s

(opposite) author describes his work as “wrought from rubbish” (Anon. 16 el Anatsui 2006). Dilomprizulike and Romuald Hazoumé both partici- Signatures (2005) pated in a symposium held at the October Gallery on Septem- Wood and paint; no dimensions available. “Out There” on the University of East Anglia Cam- ber 23, 2005, called “Alchemy: Recycling in Art,” which discussed pus. Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Norwich, UK. the place of recycled, ready-made, and found-object media in Now destroyed. art practice in Africa and Europe. Finally, Anatsui’s cloth sculp- (this page) ture, along with the work of several other artists, was considered 17a–b piles of wood for sale in Nsukka, Nigeria. by one “Africa Remix” reviewer to be made of “waste material” March 13, 2006. (León 2005:100) while the headline for The Boston Globe’s review of “Gawu” at the Hood Museum read, “Dartmouth Showcases that sections of the piece had been used and noted that the Sculptor Who Turns Junk Into Precious Metals” (Cook 2007). arrangement had given him some ideas for a future project.16 It is Trash, rubbish, junk, recycling, and waste material? Or found important here to note that the sculpture had not been reused or object? Artists in Africa have been manipulating and incorpo- recycled in any way, only pieces of it; Signatures existed and then rating locally procured objects for centuries. Yet, when scholars was no more.17 and critics write about their work, they often employ language that describes material rather than practice. The connotation Transformation and Terminology can be negative in that trash, rubbish, junk, recycling, and waste In an Art in America review of one of Anatsui’s exhibitions in material all imply ownerless, discarded objects having little or New York, the author wrote, “It’s hard to think of many found no value. Anatsui has questioned media throughout his career object artists who have achieved works as intricately made, cul- beginning with his work in ceramics. Of this, Olu Oguibe notes, turally resonant, and visually sumptuous as El Anatsui’s” (Rubin- “the found object for Anatsui was not complete in and of itself,

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 35 10112_20802045 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:50 AM but required the transfiguring intervention of human agency in Samb’s performance space in Dakar requires a similar local- order to be translated into sculptural form” (Oguibe 1998:48). ized reading. There is often little left from a performance piece in Thus, “found object” (or even “environmentally yielded object”) general, other than documentary photographs and objects that not only signifies ownership but also an elevation of material can be considered either as props or artworks in and of them- form (for more on Anatsui’s history with materials see Okeke selves. This condition is nothing new to Anatsui. He has staged 1999:156–7, 1995:58–9.) performances that include sculptures produced for the event and However, “found object” still may not be the appropriate meant to be retained as separate works when the performance is term. The “found object” was born to art history of a particu- complete. The wood boat discussed earlier was one such event, lar European moment. Neither “ready-made” nor “mixed media” another was Wonder Masquerade (1990), eloquently described (as practices) seem suitable descriptions either. There has been by Sylvester Ogbechie in the catalog for “Gawu.” In describing much debate surrounding the applicability of Euro-American the local reaction to Wonder Masquerade, where Anatsui manip- terminology and classification to systems of art production out- ulated and animated a sculpture made of wood, Ogbechie wrote side of that specific history. While I am in no way arguing that of the “deep impact of his local environment … and the recep- these terms are not also applicable to practices other than those tion his work elicits in the local Nsukka community among in Europe and America, I am suggesting a considered applica- which he lives” (Ogbechie 2004:12). In April 2005, as part of the tion rather than a catch-all grouping of the work as either recy- “Africa 05” celebration, Anatsui took the stage of the Royal Fes- cling or found object. The answer is to acknowledge the local tival Hall with Baaba Maal. He worked feverishly to complete a while assessing the reciprocity of art practices in a global histori- “cloth” while Maal sang. The two performances were meant to cal context. Thus we must ask how Anatsui discusses his work.19 work in tandem, commenting on artwork in the “Africa Remix” Several of his students often use circuit boards, expended film exhibition. Each of these performances should be considered containers, metal cans, and plastic bags in their work. He has used in the environment in which they were staged as well as within bottle tops and wood as well as metal obituary plates and tin milk international sculpture and performance art practices. containers. Here he is very clear: The sculpture he makes is not This discussion of El Anatsui’s work has focused on a small recycling—it is transformation.20 Something that is recycled, he selection of what was produced and displayed in the UK in 2005. will argue, is meant to have yet another life. A recycled object will He is prolific and his work consistently changes. The “cloth” he be reconstituted and reused a multitude of times. When he makes makes today is markedly more developed than the “cloth” he a sculpture, the materials have reached the end of their previous produced just a few short years ago. The process will continue to use value and will not be reused as anything other than that par- evolve incorporating newer processes, more dynamic patterns, ticular artwork. In a cloth sculpture, elements of bottles previously and increasingly timely references. He will continue to make containing alcohol will not anticipate any further reclamation. sculptures with wood in innovative, interpretive ways. His envi- Thus, art historians must resist the temptation to lump together all ronment will continue to be a source—of inspiration as well as those from Africa who work with objects that are found under the media. Through it all, historians will need to consider his work rubric of “recycling in contemporary African art.” in relation to the past, the ever-changing present, and possibly This is not to say that every artist to include local objects within new contexts and with new terminologies. While his work should be considered in the same way. For example, Dilomprizu- has consistently made reference to history and memory through- like, “The Junkman from Africa,” literally instructs us to consider out his career, and more implicitly the colonial history of Nigeria his sculpture as made from junk, for therein lies his statement and Ghana, his work is also meant to inform global histories of on local consumption and urban existence. The object may or memory, transience and more importantly, transformation. This may not be transformed; the issue is secondary to material in his transformation, much more so than cloth, is the common theme practice. As Arthur Danto succinctly reminds us, “… one’s aes- of his oeuvre to date. thetic responses are often a function of what one’s beliefs about an object are” (Danto 1981:98–9). The Junkman from Africa may Lisa Binder is an assistant curator at the Museum for African Art, New York. She is completing her PhD at the University of East Anglia in the make work from “junk,” talk to his “junks,” and perform Profes- School of World Arts, where she researches the contemporary arts of Africa sor Junks, but the resulting artwork should not be read as junk. in the UK art market. [email protected]

Notes I saved all the beer caps. November 22, 2003–January 7, 2004; the Harn Museum, I would like to thank El Anatsui for his continued 1 For more information on his work in clay see University of Florida Gainesville, August 16–October 16, support and friendship. He took time out of his extremely Oguibe 1998. For a description of several performances 2005; the Hood Museum, Dartmouth College, January busy work schedule to read and approve this article. Most done as artist in residence see El Anatsui in Ottenberg 6–March 4, 2007; and the Fowler Museum at UCLA, importantly, he opened his home to me during a period of 2002:117–22. His sculptural works in wood are discussed April 22–August 26, 2007. my fieldwork in 2006. By allowing me to stay with him, in Picton 1998. 4 The Tools for Arms project is thoroughly meet with his students, and visit his studio on numerous 2 In fact, a recent communication from the artist reviewed and discussed in Tester 2006:169–77. See also occasions, I was able to research his work and the work states, “I will prefer that the words are called sculptures The Trustees of the British Museum 2006. TheThrone of other artists in ways that would not have been possible and not cloths. I am beginning to think the cloth asso- of Weapons toured the United Kingdom from February otherwise. In addition, he not only made arrangements ciation tends to gloss over or cover so many things that 2005 until late 2006. It is now reinstalled in the Sains- for me to meet with artists and scholars throughout people should be thinking about the works.” Personal bury African Galleries at the British Museum. Nigeria, and took me to the hospital when kolanut got the communication, February 24, 2007 5 On the subject of working with found objects, better of me, but also provided many wonderful nights 3 The exhibition was on display at the October the artist has said, “Junk is simply defined as what peo- drinking beer at the Senior Staff Club at the University of Gallery, London, England, from February 10–March ple have thrown away; what is nonsense, what doesn’t Nigeria, Nsukka, where I learned “how to play this game.” 19, 2005, and traveled to the Oriel Mostyn, Wales, have value, what people can neglect or abuse without

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10112#AAM_p24-37.indd 36 10112_20802319 CMYK 4/9/2008 6:57:51 AM stepping on the toes of the law, what you can even pick “… artworks last longer than their makers, and no one from a Report.” In The Art of African Textiles: Technol- and people will thank you for picking it.” Personal com- interpretation can be considered as necessarily privi- ogy, Tradition, and Lurex, ed. John Picton, p. 43. Lon- munication, March 18, 2007. How the Taylor Died was leged, not even that supplied by the artist” (1998:22). don: Barbican Art Gallery. performed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 20 Personal communication. See also Silva McCrickard, Kate. 2006. “October 2006, Telephone September 30, 2005. Professor Junks was performed at 2006:171. Carol Brown has recognized this process of Interview with El Anatsui.” In El Anatsui 2006, ed. the Goethe Institute in Lagos in 2005. transformation in her mention of Society Women’s Cloth Bronwyn Law-Viljoen, pp. 6–7. New York: David Krut. 6 Personal communication from the artist, March from Dak’Art in 2006. She writes: “At least a third of the 21, 2007. For more on La Bouche du Roi see Vaitte 2006. exhibits of Dak’Art 2006 were digitally based, flying in Ogbechie, Sylvester. 2004. “Wonder Masquerade: Trans- The piece was on display at The Menil Collection in the face of the stereotypes of Africa that are still held by figuration and Embodiment in the Art of El Anatsui.” Houston Texas from January 29–August 5, 2005, the many of the prominent Western collectors and curators In El Anatsui: Gawu, pp. 11–15. Wales: Oriel Mostyn Musée du Quai Branly from September 12–November who visited the Biennale hoping to capture some of Gallery. 13, 2006, and the British Museum from March 22–May the African romanticism demonstrated by many of the Oguibe, Olu. 1998. “El Anatsui: Beyond Death and 13, 2007. It will tour various locations in the United exhibiting artists. This romanticism was manifested by Nothingness.” African Arts 21(1):48–55. Kingdom until 2009 as part of the country’s commemo- the incorporation of elements such as recycled materi- ration of the British Parliament’s 1807 passing of the act als, soil surrounding the exhibits, African print fabrics, ______. 2004. The Culture Game. Minneapolis: Uni- abolishing the Atlantic Slave Trade. and references to ‘traditional’ art forms or materials— versity of Minnesota Press. 7 Conversely, Harney describes the problems in practices that have successfully and calculatedly brought Okeke, Chika. 1995. “The Quest from Zaria to Nsukka.” translating Agit-Art’s performance-based work to the many African artists into the international arena. El In Seven Stories About Modern Art in Africa, pp. 38–75. Western gallery space. The group (comprised of Issa Anatsui’s work was an outstanding example of depar- London: Whitechapel Art Gallery. Samb, El Hadji Sy, and Souleymane Keita) was included ture from the stereotypes, his use of aluminum bottle in the 2005 exhibition “Seven Stories about Modern tops and copper wire raising these materials to the level ______. 1999. “The Quest for a Nigerian Art: Or Art in Africa” at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, of a transformative experience…” (Brown 2006:60). a Story of Art from Zaria and Nsukka.” In Reading as part of the United Kingdom’s “Africa 95” season. the Contemporary: Contemporary African Art from The work, titledS.O.S. Culture, was not well received Theory to the Marketplace, eds. Olu Oguibe and Okuwi References cited critically. Harney writes, “While some in the audience Enwezor, pp. 144–65. London: inIVA. may have compared S.O.S. Culture to their experiences Akyeampong, Emmanuel. 1996. Drink, Power, and Ottenberg, Simon. 2002. The Nsukka Artists and with European performance arts, they would not have Cultural Change: A Social History of Alcohol in Ghana, c. Nigerian Contemporary Art. Washington DC: National grasped the full significance of the synthesis of local and 1800 to Recent Times. Portsmouth: Heinemann. Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. international concepts that informed the Laboratoire” Ambler, Charles. 2003. “Alcohol and the Slave Trade in (2004:140). León, Dermis Pérez. 2005. “Africa Remix: Breaking with West Africa 1400-1850.” In Drugs, Labor, and Colonial 8 ��According to the exhibition catalogue for Exoticism with a Visual DJ.” ArtNexus 58 (4):100. Expansion, eds. William Jankowiak and Daniel Brad- “Gawu,” “Ga’ contains allusions to many things includ- burd, pp. 73–88. Tuscon: University of Arizona Press. Picton, John, 1998. “‘Patches of History’ Patching up ing metal, and Wu’ references a fashioned cloak. The my Art History: Some Reflections on the Sculpture of word encapsulates the medium, process and the format Anatsui, El. 1993. “’Sankofa: Go Back an’ Pick.’” Third El Anatsui, 1998.” In El Anatsui: A Sculpted History of of the works, and I think it is appropriate for a show in Text 23:39–52. Africa, John Picton et al., pp. 17–25. London: Safron. which I am for the first time featuring works in metal, ______. 1997. “Colorful Woods and Dark Lines.” In sewn into exclusive sheets.” (Houghton, 2004:6). ______. 2004. “Laughing at Ourselves.” In Double New Traditions from Nigeria: Seven Artists of the Nsukka Dutch, pp. 45–62. Rotterdam: NAi. 9 ��Personal communication, Nsukka, Nigeria, Group, ed. Simon Ottenberg, pp.156–80. Washington March 2, 2006. DC: Smithsonian Institution Press. ______. 2001. “Colonial Pretense and African Resis- 10 This idea came about through a discussion with tance, or Subversion Subverted: Commemorative Tex- Professor John Mack, to whom I am indebted for his ______. 2002. “Recent Installations/Sculptures.” In tiles in Sub-Saharan Africa.” In The Short Century, ed. continued support and guidance. John Picton notes this The Nsukka Artists and Nigerian Contemporary Art, ed. Okuwi Enwezor, pp. 159–62. London: Prestel. concept of “weaving together” in a similar way when Simon Ottenberg, pp. 117–22. Washington DC: National discussing context and memory in Anatsui’s practice Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution. ______, and John Mack. 1979. African Textiles: Looms, (Picton 1998:22). Weaving and Design. London: The British Museum Anon. 2006. “Art of Africa: The Fifty Greatest Cultural Publications. 11 ��His original plan was to “have people stand on Figures Shaping a Continent.” The Independent Arts and the bridge as if on a boat” during the performance. Per- Books Review (December 1):4. Ross, Doran. 1998. Wrapped in Pride. Los Angeles: sonal communication, Nsukka, March 2, 2006. UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History. 12 This quote is from the exhibition brochure in Brown, Carol. 2006. “A Global Africa at Dak’Art 7.” Afri- the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, 2005. can Arts 39(4):54–67. Rubinstein, Raphael. 2006. “Full Metal Fabrics.” Art in America 94(5):158–62. 13 Personal communication, June 15, 2005. Cook, Greg. 2007. “Dartmouth Showcases Sculptor 14 The “boat” was was destroyed destroyed in a inrain a rainand wind- and wind- Who Turns Junk into Precious Metals.” The Boston Sainsbury Centre for the Visual Arts. 2005. Out There. storm after being on display for several days. Globe, February 24. Norwich: East Publishing. 15 Personal communication, March 3, 2006. Savage, Polly. 2005. “El Anatsui: Texts, Contexts, Tex- 16 Personal communication via e-mail, August 12, Danto, Arthur. 1981. The Transfiguration of the Com- tiles and Gin.” Moving Worlds: Postcolonial Cities in 2006. monplace. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Africa 5(1):173–5. 17 This is very different from Anatsui’s “Broken Diduk, Susan. 1993. “European Alcohol, History and the Pot” series in the 1970s where he worked in clay. The State in Cameroon.” African Studies Review 36(1):1–42. Silva, Bisi, et al. 2006. Dak’Art 2006: Agreements, Allu- pot shards were meant to retain the memory of the sions and Misunderstandings. Dakar: Biennale de l’Art original utilitarian piece. For in the clay sculptures, “the Harney, Elizabeth. 2004. In Senghor’s Shadow: Art, Africain Contemporain de Dakar. fragment in these pieces assumes a different function. Politics, and the Avant-Garde in Senegal, 1960–1995. Steiner, Christopher B. 1985. “Another Image of Africa: It becomes a new work, a new object. Yet the shard or Durham: Duke University Press. Toward an Ethnohistory of European Cloth Marketed fragment retains a metonymic reference to the original Houghton, Gerard. 2004. “An Interview with El Anat- in West Africa, 1873-1960.” Ethnohistory 32(2):91–110. entity, becoming a reliquary of memory, the encryption sui.” In El Anatsui: Gawu, pp. 21–5. Wales: Oriel Mostyn of a history” (Oguibe 1998:54). This agency can also be Gallery. Tester, Frank James. 2006. “Art and Disarmament: found in the sculptures that form part of his perfor- Turning Arms into Ploughshares in Mozambique.” mance pieces. In this way, his consideration of the logs Iversen, Margaret. 2004. “Readymade, Found Object, Development in Practice 16(2):169–77. as separate from Signatures is a departure from his usual Photograph.” ArtJournal 63(2):44–57. Trustees of the British Museum. 2006. Throne of practice. Kraamer, Malika. 2006. “Ghanian Interweaving in the Weapons: A British Museum Tour. London: The British 18 On several occasions Anatsui has discussed Nineteenth Century: A New Perspective on Ewe and Museum. these artists and the similarity of their work to his own. Asante Textile History.” African Arts 39 (4):36–53. Personal communications. Vaitte, Germain. 2006. Romuald Hazoumé: La Bouche Kwami, Atta, 1995. “Textile Design in Ghana: Extracts 19 However, as John Picton rightfully points out, du Roi. Paris: Museé du Quai Branly.

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