This is one of my favorite pieces at our art museum. (FTR, I consider it “ours” because I pay taxes here and it belongs to the state where I live.) It is freakin’ huge. 

The museum had an exhibition of Anatsui’s work a few years ago and there was a video showing his workshop. He goes through recycling to find bottle tops and cans and stuff which he brings back to his studio. He employs a bunch of people who flatten and shape his finds and he directs them to put together sections of same colors or same shapes. Then, he decides how they all go together.

One of the pieces had driven the curators nuts. It was around 20 “blankets” of gold pieces. The curatos were supposed to pick them up in the middle and let them settle into the shapes of peaks. The curator I talked to said “We don’t ‘create’ art! We hang it or set it up. This felt far too participatory.” And he thought that was Anatsui’s point, for them to be part of it. Which was complementary but a little unnerving.