Label Text
The liquor distilleries of Nigeria, where Anatsui lives, recycle bottles but throw away their metal tops as they are marked with competing brands’ logos. A discovery of a discarded bag of aluminum bottle tops inspired the artist to make works like Basin. When cut and bent, the flexibility of these small metal pieces, combined with their bright colors, allows for endless combinations of pattern and shape. Anatsui now purchases these caps for use in his studio. In linking the scraps of metal, he feels he connects with the individuals who have previously touched the materials. Anatsui’s hanging metal artwork embodies the artist’s goal of making a "non-fixed" form. The work has similarities with both painting and sculpture but is not quite either. Because of its fabric-like texture, it cannot be hung exactly the same way twice. Its patterns are abstract and the meaning open-ended.
DimensionsOverall: 134 × 160 in. (340.4 × 406.4 cm)
Accession Number 2014.8
Classificationssculpture
Collections
Images (5)
