various works by ghanian artist and sculptor el anatsui (born 1944). his tapestries highlight west africa's rich visual culture, and are made out of found materials such as bottle caps, recycled aluminum, and copper wires.
my professor got to meet him! his tapestries are often specifically made out of the caps and pieces of metal from liquor bottles, and some of them are so large that they actually overflow onto the floor. if i remember correctly, the use of liquor caps and pieces stems from how often anatsui encounters them as litter; after hard liquor was brought over by european colonizers, many people began to develop alcohol addictions due to the relative cheapness and availability of it and because it helped numb the pain of uh. being colonized
