Get Creative at Home: Turning Scraps into Sculptures with El Anatsui
Bring out the beauty in colorful bottle caps, printed labels, and other recycled or found objects.
By Melissa Katzin, Manager of Family Programs, and Meg Williams, Coordinator of School and Teacher Services, High Museum of Art
El Anatsui (born 1944) is a Ghanaian artist who currently lives and works in Nigeria. He is known for creating large metal sculptures called “bottle-top installations,” but he has also created artworks using clay, wood, and other found objects.
In works like Taago, the artist creates what he calls “metal-cloth.” Look closely at Taago. What about it seems like cloth or fabric to you?
In this work and many of his other metal sculptures, El Anatsui joins discarded bits of aluminum bottle tops to form glittering works in the tradition of woven textiles, called kente cloths, that have been made in West Africa for over one thousand years.
Kente cloths are often worn wrapped around the shoulders and waist of both men and women. Look closely at the kente cloth in the High’s collection. How is it different from Taago? How is it similar? Pay close attention to the shapes, colors, and lines in both works.
Hear more about El Anatsui’s Taago in the video below.
Get Creative at Home
Create your own found-object sculpture! Take a look around your home. What interesting objects can you find?
Do you have recycled paper, cardboard tubes, or plastic bottle caps? (Make sure recycled materials are clean and safe.)
Gather your objects and arrange them in front of you. What shapes and colors did you collect? Can you create a pattern with the objects?
Take this project outside and see what patterns you can create with sticks, leaves, acorns, and other natural objects. Paste your objects to a piece of paper, or use string, wire, or paper clips to connect them like El Anatsui.
Are you currently teaching or homeschooling? Scroll for corresponding Georgia Standards of Excellence.
Relevant Georgia Education Standards (Grades K–5)
This project addresses Georgia Standards of Excellence in Visual Arts for grades K–5 by helping students develop manual dexterity and fine motor skills through craft techniques, as well as explore creative materials, spatial concepts, and basic color theory.
VAK-5.CR.3 Understand and apply media, techniques, and processes of two-dimensional art.
