El Anatsui, 'In the World But Don’t Know the World'
El Anatsui, 'In the World But Don’t Know the World' Aluminum and copper wire, 560 x 1000 cm Peter Tijhuis
Stories
A monumental artwork made from thousands of bottle tops, each one flattened and connected to others with copper wire, then folded to form a huge wall sculpture. The refuse materials that El Anatsui uses hold within them many stories about trade, consumerism, and slavery.
Alcohol
The connecting factor throughout is bottled alcohol; as a stimulant, economic commodity, and symbol of exploitation and addiction; as a metaphor for cultural and economic exchange and oppression.
