Globalisation, materials and installation

Introduction: Art Without Borders

Welcome to one of the most exciting parts of AP Art History! In this chapter, we explore how art has changed since 1980. We aren't just looking at paintings in frames anymore. Artists today use non-traditional materials (like trash or sunflower seeds) and create installations that you can actually walk through. Because our world is more connected than ever—a process called globalisation—artists use their work to talk about trade, the environment, and how different cultures collide.

Don't worry if some of these works look "weird" at first. The "art" is often in the idea and the material, not just the finished look!

Key Concept 1: Globalisation and Trade

Globalisation is the way people, ideas, and goods move around the world. In art, this often means looking at how "Western" culture affects other parts of the world, or how historical trade routes (like the slave trade or colonial shipping) still impact us today.

Required Work: Old Man’s Cloth

Artist: El Anatsui
Date: 2003 ce
Materials: Aluminum and copper wire

At first glance, this looks like a shimmering gold textile or a tapestry. But look closer! It is made from recycled liquor bottle caps flattened and wired together.

• The Material: The bottle caps represent the trade history between Europe and Africa (alcohol was traded for slaves and other goods).
• The Form: It is flexible. The artist wants the museum curators to hang it differently every time, meaning the "shape" of the art is never fixed.
• The Meaning: It links the past (history of trade) with the present (consumption and waste).

Required Work: Pisupo Lua Afe (Corned Beef 2000)

Artist: Michel Tuffery
Date: 1994 ce
Materials: Mixed media (flattened corned beef tins)

This is a life-sized sculpture of a bull made entirely from recycled corned beef cans.

• The "Pisupo" Connection: In the Pacific Islands, "pisupo" (a version of the word "pea soup") is a general term for any canned food.
• The Message: Tuffery is critiquing how imported, processed foods have replaced traditional diets in the Pacific, leading to health issues and environmental waste (the empty cans).

Quick Review: Both El Anatsui and Michel Tuffery use mass-produced "trash" to comment on how global trade changes local cultures.

Key Concept 2: The Power of Installation Art

An installation is a work of art that is created for a specific space. Instead of looking at it, you often feel like you are inside it. These works are frequently site-specific, meaning they were designed for one exact location.

Required Work: The Gates

Artists: Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Location: New York City, U.S.
Date: 1979–2005 ce
Materials: Mixed-media installation

For two weeks in 2005, 7,503 orange (saffron-colored) fabric gates lined the pathways of Central Park.

• The Experience: The artists wanted people to see the familiar park in a new way. The fabric moved with the wind, creating a "golden river" of color.
• The Process: It took 26 years of planning and permits to get it done! The art isn't just the gates; it's the process of making it happen and the temporary nature of the experience.

Required Work: Shibboleth

Artist: Doris Salcedo
Location: Tate Modern, London
Date: 2007–2008 ce
Materials: Installation

Salcedo created a massive 548-foot-long crack in the concrete floor of a museum gallery.

• What is a "Shibboleth"? A shibboleth is a custom or word that distinguishes one group of people from another (often used to exclude "outsiders").
• The Meaning: The crack represents borders, the gap between the "Third World" and the West, and the feeling of being excluded. Even though the crack is now filled in, a "scar" remains in the floor forever.

Key Concept 3: Materials as Social Commentary

In contemporary art, the medium (what it's made of) is just as important as the subject. Artists use materials that have their own history or political meaning.

Required Work: Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds)

Artist: Ai Weiwei
Date: 2010–2011 ce
Materials: Sculpted and painted porcelain

The artist filled a massive hall with 100 million sunflower seeds. But they aren't real seeds—each one is individually handcrafted from porcelain by artisans in Jingdezhen, China.

• Individuality vs. Mass Production: From a distance, they look identical. Close up, each is unique. This comments on the "Made in China" stereotype and the value of the individual within a massive population.
• Cultural Memory: In China, during the Cultural Revolution, Chairman Mao was often depicted as the sun, and the people were the sunflowers turning toward him. Ai Weiwei is reclaiming this symbol.

Required Work: A Book from the Sky

Artist: Xu Bing
Date: 1987–1991 ce
Materials: Mixed-media installation

Imagine walking into a room filled with books and scrolls, but you can't read any of them. Xu Bing invented 4,000 "fake" Chinese characters that look real but have no meaning.

• Materials: He used traditional woodblock printing techniques, giving the "nonsense" characters an air of authority and history.
• Meaning: It challenges how we find meaning in text and critiques how language can be used by governments to manipulate or confuse.

Summary Table for Quick Study

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Don't call them "random" materials: In the AP exam, never say an artist used a material because it was "handy." Always explain that the material was chosen for its symbolic meaning (e.g., El Anatsui chose bottle caps because of the slave trade).
• Installation vs. Sculpture: A sculpture is an object; an installation is an environment. If you can walk through it or it takes up a whole room, call it an installation.
• Mixing up Artists: Remember that Ai Weiwei (Seeds) and Xu Bing (Book) are both commenting on Chinese culture/history, but through very different methods.

Tip for the Exam: If you get a Free Response Question (FRQ) about materials, Old Man’s Cloth is an excellent choice to discuss because it connects visual elements (the shimmer) to deep historical context (trade).

Cross-Reference Note

For more on how contemporary artists use the body or digital technology, see the chapters on "Identity, body and representation" and "Contemporary architecture and new media."