El Anatsui is a sculptor who lives and works in Nigeria. He makes large sculptures out of small, element pieces, transforming the world around him into new forms.
We have selected 3 videos below to share with pupils. They are most suitable for year 6 in KS 2 and KS 3 and 4.
Video 1 – Studio Process
The first video shows El Anatui’s studio. He has a team of workers helping him construct his pieces, and the element of “playful exploration” is key.
Questions you may like to explore:
How far does El Anatui control what is being made? How does he leave space for chance discovery?
Video 2: “The Energy of the Community”
In this video, El talks about how it is important to him that other people are involved in the creation of his pieces, and that they are rooted in a sense of place and culture. “The energy of the community becomes a part of what you are doing.”
Video 3
In this video, Nana brings us up close to one of El’s pieces, showing us the elements of its construction in detail.
See This Resource Used in a Pathway…
Transforming Materials into Sculpture
This pathway shares how teachers might take inspiration from El Anatsui and encourage pupils to think how they might disassemble objects around them to transform them into sculptural pieces. Read More.
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“This activity is a great example of how we can use paper as the focus of creativity. Often we use paper purely for drawing or painting on, but here, it is central to the activity itself. While these particular folded sculptures have their roots in Turkish culture, you could still deliver the activity if looking at things like Origami too, thus linking it across different cultures” – Rachel, AccessArt
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“It’s really interesting to hear how the interest Liz has in the quality of light comes from a personal place and is something she has responded to since childhood. Seeing how her work has developed over the years is therefore a really positive re enforcement that individual creative journeys, where nurtured, are so central to a rich arts education. We also love hearing Liz is always on the ‘quest for knowledge’ – meaning she is open to her ideas constantly evolving and the process of gathering new information and inspiration never stops!” – Rachel, AccessArt
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“This project links poignant subject matter with meaningful art processes and local history. What we learn about the re purposing of materials, (in this case spent ammunition) re affirms how we can use what is around us as a starting point to making and creating. You could extend or adapt this project by looking at broken pottery, re purposing that into new sculptures that link with Roman or other local historical cultures” – Rachel, AccessArt
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“It’s interesting to hear Theresa describe Printmaking as a social activity, with the shared use of materials and equipment so central to the practice. This could be a positive way of working for lots of children in school, where instead of just working on individual art work, they can collaborate and embrace the creative sharing experience!” – Tobi, AccessArt.
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“The sentiment behind this resource idea is lovely and it provides an opportunity to really develop some fine motor skills as well as independence of approach. Taking ownership of the medal design means the sense of achievement is heightened beyond the children just being given one. You can really imagine the positive energy that would surround this activity within a classroom, with each child working on a shared project but embarking on their own creative journey.” – Rachel, AccessArt
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“You can get a real sense of the environment in this post and how this could provide so much inspiration for creative projects. We are aware there the challenges to exploring the outdoors when many schools are in towns and cities. A way around this could be to have a regular collection of natural objects within the classroom and using them as a stimulus to respond creatively in sketchbooks or in extended projects” – Andrea, AccessArt
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“It’s always so inspiring to hear how different artists work and we particularly like the detailed references Jake makes to his process – marking out the composition using neutral tones; adding and taking away compositional elements and gradually building in more colour and detail. Delivering a still life session in a classroom could begin with this process and encourage the practice of looking at positive and negative space. Some suggested resources below also touch on this”. – Rachel, AccessArt
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“It’s really interesting to hear how Su’s career path evolved organically, and how experimenting with different disciplines such as ceramics and sculpture whilst studying Textiles at the RCA began her journey towards paper craft and books. We really like how the small book sculptures inspired the larger scale set designs for The Snow Queen. They transfer so effectively to the stage and you can imagine how engaging it would be for a young audience to recognise letters and words on lampposts and other scenic elements”. – Rachel, AccessArt
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“It’s really interesting to see the combination of hand and digital work in Rachel’s work, and particularly how her hand stitched embroidery is scanned before being used to create patterned products. We love that lots of Rachel’s work begins in sketchbooks and how this really underpins her creative process. For children in school, learning to utilise a sketchbook and discover their potential though drawing and mapping ideas is invaluable. We have a whole Sketchbook Journey section on the AccessArt website (linked below) which explores this in more detail”. – Rachel, AccessArt.
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“The sense of journey and feeling of movement is such an interesting part of Cas’ textile work here. We love how location and place is communicated through the variety of fluid and meandering textile marks used. Cas’ Romani background as well as early experience living in Japan make for a rich cultural backdrop to her work. The themes here could be explored in the classroom by asking children to use memories of places they’ve visited to produce a creative response using fabrics and mixed media” – Rachel, AccessArt
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“We’re really grateful to Jake from Draw Brighton for sharing this activity which became so well received during lockdown 2020.
This is the perfect reminder that wherever we are in the digital or physical world, we have our eyes, hands and faces, and drawing provides a wonderful opportunity to come together in small groups to make sketches of each other. Use this activity as an ice breaker before a workshop, or as a transition activity between classes or events. Thank you Jake!” Paula, AccessArt
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“These are such beautiful and evocative images – certain to inspire. There is a lot of potential for schools to explore Gabby’s work as a way to inspire pupils to create their own imagery inspired by literature, or inspired by imaginative writing by pupils.
Although etching might not be particularly accessible to many schools, there are low tech ways of approaching the process (see below) which mean pupils can explore similar ways of working in the classroom.” Paula, AccessArt
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