Dusasa

I came across this in the metropolitan museum of art in NYC and it really appealed to me. I liked the idea of a 'communal patchwork' and thought it would be interesting to use this idea in the classroom. Pupils could each bring / make something of personal significance and these could be incorporated into one giant communal piece.

El Anatsul, Ghanian, (b. 1944)

'Dusasa II’, 2007

Found aluminium, copper wire, and plastic disks.

El Anatsul, widely considered today's foremost African sculptor, assembles his wall hanging sculptures from found materials - thousands of aluminium caps and seals from liqueur bottles - that he flattens, shapes, perforated, and assembles with copper wire. While he considers himself a sculptor, he meticulously orchestrates his materials like a painter working with oil on canvas or the director of a tapestry workshop. His work is anchored in his traditional culture (Ghanian kente cloth); Western art (mosaic, tapestry, chain mail armour, the paintings of Gustave Klimt); and contemporary life (alcohol consumption, the detritus of consumerism). Dusasa may be translated as a 'communal patchwork made by a team of townspeople', like his assistants.









I took photogaphs of the artwork while in the museum and the basic information noted above was copied whilst there. It can also be accessed online at http://www.moma.org/m#art_main by searching the collection with the painting title.