Thesis Abstract

<p> Since the revolution earlier started with the emergence of the Renaissance in Europe, new<br>ideas of art creation, kept evolving as artists continued to show dissatisfaction with state-ofthe-art expression. The plethora of media for art expression spread beyond the boundaries of<br>Europe. More explorations and experiments kept intensifying, leading to discoveries and<br>inventions of other materials and techniques with the hope to present art forms that express<br>something better than previous creations. Different movements were formed in line with<br>their different ideologies. In the early 20th century, Western artists like Marcel Duchamp and<br>Pablo Picasso appropriated found objects as creative devices. People were shocked seeing<br>those kinds of art creation. The first and the second World Wars witnessed radical use of<br>waste in art expression. Transforming of waste and found objects into works of art not only<br>shows the boundless powers of human imagination, but also exposes the innate creative<br>potentials that such materials possess. In Africa, various artists like El Anatsui,<br>Dilomprizulike, Alex Nwokolo, among others, have critically engaged waste and found<br>objects as viable media for artistic expression. Groups like Bruce Onokbrapeya Foundation<br>(BOF), Art is Everywhere Project, among many, have organized seminars and workshops to<br>sensitize the public not only on the creative possibilities of unconventional materials, but<br>also on the use of found objects imbued with art works with peculiar aesthetics, which make<br>profound visual statements. The artists understudy, were individually motivated by nature<br>and their different models, but further acquired more skills and experiences through<br>explorations and experimentations. The choice of unconventional materials and the<br>techniques used by each of them for their art creations were marks of creative independence<br>attained by each of the artists. Most of their expressions were in the areas of paintings,<br>sculptures, installation arts, and mixed media exploration. Each of the works displays<br>exquisite expression, revels reinvention of new context. and ideation. Given the growing<br>global concerns on environmental degradation and climate change, the transformation of<br>waste and found objects into works of art imbued with new meaning is an important avenue<br>for having a sustainable environment. The artists derived different levels of satisfaction for<br>using the materials. This informed their courage and continuous creations in materials and<br>techniques that are unequaled. Based on the findings made after the analysis, one of the<br>major recommendations is the early exposition of students to the aesthetic potentials of<br>unconventional materials, preferable when they are still quite young. It is believed that they<br>will grow up to value the creative potentials inherent in the materials. Artists should always<br>seek out new challenges in order to task their creative skills, harness their uncertainty and<br>fuel their brilliant concepts. <br></p>

Thesis Overview

<p> INTRODUCTION<br>Background of the Study<br>Art expression in term of materials has experienced levels of changes as a result of the<br>revolution earlier started with the emergence of Renaissance Art in Europe. The rise of the<br>rich middle class, alongside people of means, supported scholarship. The initial method of<br>acquiring knowledge in art creation was through apprenticeship. Young aspiring artists<br>received the skills in the studios of established artists. Apprenticeship as a system faded out<br>with time. Schools being accepted as means of massive enlightenment started springing up<br>in different parts of Europe. Saxton (1981) notes that the first formal art school in the west<br>was established in 1562 in Florence, Italy, while in England, the Royal Academy was<br>established in 1768. By the eighteenth century, schools in Europe had increased to a<br>hundred. The author notes that irrespective of where the art school was located, the<br>emphasis was the need to stimulate the creativity of the individuals. The focus was the<br>development of the full imaginative potential of the aspiring artists by exposing them to a<br>wide range of media.<br>Explorations and experiments led to diversification of the media of expression. Colour as a<br>medium, for instance, with its different attractions to artists, occupied a commanding<br>position for the diversity in their individual expressions. The shades of colours in their<br>varieties were made to change and shift about in the quest by artists for greater dynamic<br>unity. Variety further offers different approaches in order to gain more satisfaction. The<br>desire for satisfaction was later extended to other media of expression. De la Croix and<br>Tansey (1980), having assessed the periodical changes, state thus:<br>2<br>For Europe, the nineteenth century was an age of radical change during<br>which the modern world took shape. In a world experiencing a population<br>explosion of unprecedented magnitude, revolution follows upon revolution,<br>punctuated by counter-revolution and conservative reactions … The<br>revolutionary shakeups of authority reverberate through the century,<br>carrying the hope of people for something newer, better, truer, and purer.<br>As search for fresh media and concepts to effect the change in expression was intensified,<br>Reid (1975), notes that some artists explored and experimented extensively and the outcome<br>of the explorations and experimentations was the exhibition of diversity on their works. For<br>instance, in 1786, one of the leading Neo-Classicist painters, John Zoffany, came out with a<br>completely different type of literary illustration titled ―Charles Macklin as Shylock‖, a<br>portrait study of an actor playing a part on the stage.<br>The range of art creation was expanding by the development of other more peculiar types of<br>art expression. By combining industrial and scientific subjects on one composition to<br>achieve the contrast effect of light, Joseph Wright of Derby‘s ―Experiment with the Air-Air<br>Pump‖ was a compelling art piece. In 1848, when Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was formed<br>by Holman Hunt and his colleagues, the author observes that the group felt dissatisfied with<br>the state of the art in England because it seemed to lack vigour, sincerity and seriousness.<br>This became obvious when the works were put in contrast with the quality of the art in Italy<br>and northern Europe before the time of Raphael. The artists attributed the weakness to<br>neglect of nature and over-dependence, instead, on academic conventions. To address this,<br>they initiated ―a child-like‖ reversion from existing schools to nature herself. The artists<br>displayed differing interests by evolving different media and techniques of art expression<br>which changed the face of art expression in England. This was as a result of Holman Hunt‘s<br>insistence on remarkable powers of observation and pictorial invention.<br>The emergence of Impressionists and the Post-Impressionists in the art scene witnessed the<br>exhibition of the most recent of the series of masterpieces of paintings from the thirteenth to<br>3<br>the nineteenth century. Their paintings, whose focus was to find a new truth, were derided,<br>hated or ignored purely on moral grounds. The artists deliberately evolved diversification<br>and innovation in the process of their art creation. This accelerated art in the way that is<br>comparable with the rate in the fields of science and technology. Cezanne, for example,<br>spent years working in isolation appropriating different media in order to reconcile his<br>perceptions with the relationships of touches of colour on the flat picture surface. The artist,<br>through experiment, understood that the appearance of objects change as the eye moves over<br>and around it. This was largely because of the media and techniques he devised to integrate<br>the picture-surface so that all the shapes on it were made to relate to one another, which<br>consequently led to Cubism, an abstract art of the century. Gauguin, another artist, turned<br>against the rationalism and materialism of his period and went to live in Tahiti, where he<br>was moved by the simplicity and mystery of the way of life of the peasants and natives. The<br>artist tried to find an equivalent to this in his diverse painting. Another artist who evolved<br>improvisations in his art production was Rodin. He strived to give his forms new freedom,<br>sometimes bridging them in space.<br>A group of painters (Henri Matisse, Andre Derain, and Albert Marquet, among many) came<br>together and staged an exhibition in 1905. The artists was named fauves (wild beasts)<br>because of their approaches. The painters rejected traditional rendering of three-dimensional<br>space defined by colours. They used vivid, non-naturalistic and exuberant media. Colours,<br>raw from the tubes, were applied and forms were aggressively manipulated to the point of<br>distortion. The work from Henri Matisse titled ―Woman with the Hat‖ is a typical example<br>of the characteristics of the works of the Fauvists. Their works displayed at an exhibition<br>were appalling to the viewers and were subjected to mockery and abuse at the time. Henri<br>Matisse developed an entirely new approach to art expression in terms of art materials and<br>4<br>techniques when he was ill. Different shapes of colours were cut from papers and coloured<br>in gouache. These were pasted on a ground by assistants under his watch. An example of<br>this is the work titled ―L‘Escargot‖, produced and exhibited in 1953.<br>In his study, Stokstad (1995) notes that Pablo Picasso joined a group of young writers and<br>artists, interested in progressive art and politics. He also gathered experiences from other<br>artists because of his frequent visits to their studios. In 1912 Pablo Picasso was preoccupied with creating works with more clearly-discernible materials. The approach led to<br>what was later known as ―Synthetic Cubism‖, particularly the work titled ―Glass and Bottle<br>of Suze‖, composed of separate elements pasted together. At the centre of the composition is<br>the combination of newsprint and construction arrangement of paper cut to suggest a tray or<br>round table upon which are glass and a bottle of liquor. The author observes that this<br>approach of art rendition was carried to the point of complete abstraction, although a few<br>allusions to objects still remained. Pablo Picasso‘s compositions started showing flat planes<br>being replaced by other flat materials. His focus was shifted to composing works with<br>machines and machine-made objects.<br>Cubism as a movement stimulated other similar movements. Prominent among these, was<br>Futurism, founded in Italy by a poet, Marinetti. Reid (1975), states that unlike other<br>previous movements, Futurism was propagandised in words, as well as in paintings and<br>sculpture materials. The artists of this movement created works with the sole aim of<br>destroying the art of the past which was seen as oppressive to the young artists, especially in<br>Italy. The Futurists hoped to substitute a new art based on speed, violence and machines.<br>The artists were deliberately and aggressively revolutionary in the use of materials and<br>techniques. They took materials from Pointillism and, much later, from Cubism, where they<br>came up with multiple images in one composition.<br>5<br>Radical approach to art creation was witnessed during the World Wars when some Swiss<br>artists under the Dada Art Movement sought to overturn what they regarded as ―outworn<br>aesthetic standard‖. The group individually appropriated large portions of unconventional<br>materials for art creation. They believed that art could be made of anything, even rubbish<br>(Reid, 1975). Gradually, the excitement that was expressed by the public at the emergence<br>of the movement lost its power to shock any longer. Other Dada artists like Max Ernst and<br>Ben Nicholson exploited the environment and came out with materials as mugs, jugs and<br>bottles as suitable materials which they used for their art expression. According to Getlein<br>(2002) the artists loved these materials because of their simplicity and the fact that they<br>were well known to everyone and could be understood from a simple profile. Artists<br>continued their search for the best means of expression as best as they could. For instance, a<br>French painter, Jean Dubuffet, developed a very different but distinct form of art expression.<br>His art creation was inspired by what he called ―Art Brut‖ (raw art), where materials of<br>uncommon backgrounds were mixed with tar, sand, and mud and manipulated to produce<br>works.<br>The tempo of radical changes in Europe and America opened up a modern epoch in art<br>creations. Artists from Europe who settled in America because of the World Wars continued<br>the quest for new concepts, materials, and techniques. New York School played a major role<br>in the emergence of new concepts of art expression in America and beyond. For instance,<br>Jackson Pollock, one of the outstanding abstract Expressionists, rejected much of the<br>European art tradition of aesthetic refinement for cruder and rougher materials, an approach<br>akin to Jean Dubuffet of France except for their materiality.<br>Gina (2007), states that where there is an idea, there is a way to express it (irrespective of<br>which part of the world the artist is coming from). To do this, artists exploited the<br>6<br>environment and created art out of non-regular materials just to portray their love for art and<br>the skills employed in its expression. For instance, Anastasia Elias used toilet paper rolls to<br>create miniature scenes of life. In a similar development, Erika Irish Simmons liked to<br>gather and preserve old technology such as cassette tapes that were no longer being used.<br>She used these unconventional materials to create popular celebrity portraits. Stanislav<br>Aristov from Russia used burnt matchsticks and bent them to his desired shapes before<br>editing photographs of them via Photoshop, where delightful scenes were created. In another<br>development, old watch parts were the most suitable materials used by Susan Beatrice to<br>create steam punk sculpture. She mainly used recycled parts which coincided with her love<br>for nature. Another innovative artist was Kseniya Simonova, who used sand to create<br>animated stories. From the pile of sand, the artist could push, rub and pinch sand into<br>accents that translated into beautiful depictions. Paul Vilinski is another visual artist that<br>used discarded materials such as beer cans to bring out his artwork in meaningful poetic<br>ways. The artist‘s concern for environment issues can be seen in his works, as he often used<br>recycled materials, giving them new breaths of life as art pieces.<br>Grant (2009) observes that with the introduction of new materials, the admixture of the<br>materials and the fair number of exploration, as well as experimentations by artists, fresh<br>reasons for new art movements were being stimulated. The author stressed further that<br>artists were in search of unique and best materials and techniques to express themselves, and<br>to communicate with the public. The new discoveries and inventions accelerated the pace of<br>art redefinition and development as newer and better media of expressions kept coming to<br>limelight.<br>The impact of the artistic transformation went beyond the boundaries of Europe. This was<br>first felt in the regions colonized by the individual European countries. This became<br>7<br>possible because of the relationships established through the policy of colonization. The<br>non-European world began witnessing inflows of cultures strange to them. Gradually, the<br>western nations established their kinds of values in these territories. The world started<br>witnessing the interpretation of artistic issues from a western world view point. In Africa,<br>for example, and especially in Nigeria, one fact that seems settled is that the European style<br>of art expression as known today evolved with Aina Onabolu (1882-1963), who not only<br>excelled, but who also carved a niche for himself in pioneering art education in the country.<br>It is observed that before 1910, not much was going on in terms of modern (European<br>technique) art expression in the West African sub-region. Before then, Nigerians were<br>creating purely indigenous arts, free of influence by any outside art-making ideas. Works<br>interlaced with the basic materials to create art used as a vehicle to convey spiritual concerns<br>for survival (Egonwa 1994).<br>Babalola (2004) notes that Nigeria has a flourishing art history, and that before Onabolu<br>could venture into the European art expression, he had interacted with, and was used to, the<br>types of forms in Nigeria, as art was highly appreciated by the Nigerian people. Also,<br>Babalola posits that Onabolu knew that the Europeans did not believe in the art of the<br>people. Nonetheless, he was not deterred, but was committed and determined, to reproduce<br>the works as he saw them. This success ended the initial error held by Europeans that no<br>African person was capable of producing the kind of art works created by them. Onabolu‘s<br>effort earned him a scholarship to read art in England and France. At the end of his study, he<br>did not only excel as a painter par excellence, but carved a niche for himself.<br>When Onabolu returned from studying overseas, Art was introduced to be taught in schools<br>alongside other subjects. Despite initial difficulties faced as a result of lack of teachers,<br>Onabolu was determined to succeed by moving from one school to the other to be<br>8<br>personally involved in the teaching. Grillo in Ikpakronyi (2003) notes that Aina Onabolu<br>had sacrificed so much for the survival of the subject when states thus:<br>The period of inertia was during the period of Onabolu. Nobody appreciated<br>what he was doing. He was going from school to school teaching and getting<br>almost nothing and trekking from place to place. He lived more or less as a<br>pauper. Well, relatively he didn’t have much and he died more or less just<br>like a school teacher. His works of course are now being appreciated.<br>The initiative by Aina Onabolu and those who later worked with him (Kenneth Murray, H.<br>E. Duckwork, Dennis Duerden and J. D. Clarke), and the impact they made, perhaps<br>prompted Konate (2004) to refer to them as ―instrumental figures‖. This feat marked the<br>official use of conventional and academic European materials, techniques and styles of<br>executing art works in Nigerian schools. The combined efforts of these art teachers<br>produced budding and talented artists like J. D. Akeredolu, Akinola Lasekan, C. C. Ibeto,<br>Ibrahim Uthman, A. P. Umana and Ben Enwonwu. These artists individually made their<br>distinct landmarks in the propagation of visual arts. Aina Onabolu, however, apparently<br>dominated the contemporary Nigerian art scene for about two decades from the 1920s to the<br>1940s, and he continued to dominate until his death in 1963. Today, he is generally not only<br>regarded as the father of modern art and art education in Nigeria, but he lit the torch for a<br>dynamic contemporary art in modern Nigeria. The subject was further strengthened, when<br>Ben Enwonwu (1921-1994) who graduated from Slade School of Art in London, was<br>appointed the Federal Art Advisor. He, like Aina Onabolu, was exceptionally talented and<br>committed. He initiated and introduced a new concept (which was later known as natural<br>synthesis) in his art expression. He dominated the Nigerian landscape with innovative works<br>for about a decade (Babalola, 2004).<br>The first set of students in the persons of Uche Okeke, Demas Nwoko, Bruce Onobrakpeya<br>and others, were admitted into the Nigerian Collage of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria<br>9<br>(now Ahmadu Bello University) in 1957. Art courses were made professional, based<br>entirely on the conventional academics of the European approach. Ikpakronyi (2009) notes<br>that the Europeans formed the bulk of the teaching staff and the programme came into real<br>focus. The students who were not satisfied with the European style of expression sought to<br>discontinue with the conventional approach. They gradually continued to distance<br>themselves from the Western artistic concepts and historical experiences that were alien to<br>them. They felt the need to create an identity to the African artists. Those who spearheaded<br>the desire for the change included Uche Okeke, Bruce Onobrakpeya, among others. On what<br>appears to be a justification for the step they took, Onobrakpeya (2003), one of the frontiers<br>of the Zarianists, states that the whole idea behind their activities was to save Nigerian<br>civilization and to salvage the personality of her people from the inferiority complex which<br>was the outcome of colonialism. He singled out Uche Okeke, who had experience in the<br>documentation and collection of folk art pieces, as their leader and states thus:<br>With his background, we were not surprise that Uche became the leader the<br>now famous society while still at the college. The members of the society<br>were guided by the synthesis concept, he advanced. Synthesis was recourse<br>to the root of our timeless values, which should be married to equal good<br>foreign values… It was in short, to create a rich artistic presence and a<br>hopeful future. As the Zaria Art Society left the college and dispersed to<br>different parts of Nigeria and abroad, the Synthesis Theory became cardinal<br>in their practice as painters, sculptors, teachers, media artists etc. This<br>widespread new artistic energy created a new renaissance, with respect to<br>the artist and the art in general.<br>Uche Okeke confirms their instructors‘ relegated Nigerian cultural values to the<br>background. He affirmed his leadership position of the Zaria Art Society when he also states<br>thus:<br>I was myself a member of the Zaria Art Society and its chairman from 1958<br>to 1961,…when most of its founding members graduated…The majority of<br>our instructors were British or British trained and we students opposed to the<br>system of teaching art subjects that ignored Nigerian cultural values,<br>10<br>restricted their method of imparting art knowledge and their preoccupation<br>with the study of nature, which in our view, was superficial.<br>When the Zaria Art Society was formed, the group used to meet formally and informally to<br>discuss the socio-cultural existence of the creative artists in the throes of change. Again, the<br>leader (Uche Okeke) in an interview granted Chika Okeke on the 31st August 1997 stated,<br>―We wanted to show Nigerian art and also have a distinct Nigerian character rather than<br>posturing as colonial transplant.‖ In another development, Oshinowo (2008), notes that the<br>formation of the Zaria Art Society was founded on a profound desire for political freedom.<br>He believes the formation fuelled the spirit of individualism in all members, and also<br>infused in their minds national consciousness and cultural pride. The author explains further<br>that the spirit of individualism culminated into a synthesis of indigenous and Western ideas.<br>The philosophy of natural synthesis was intensified, which later influenced almost all<br>succeeding generations of Nigerian artists and their art creations. Perhaps the doggedness of<br>the students in creating new consciousness, which ushered in what Filani in Konate (2004),<br>refers to as ―New African‖. In his study of the works of the graduates, Oloidi (2009)<br>observes that the pioneering students had acquired aggressive artistic radicalization of the<br>Zaria revolutionaries between 1958 and 1961. He observes that it prepared the foundation<br>for a solid artistic standard in modern Nigerian art.<br>Generations of artists keep expanding the boundaries of art expression as they seek new<br>vocabularies, materials, and techniques that enable them address new concerns. Diarra<br>(2017) contends that Africa‘s art scene is characterized by innovation and conceptual<br>profundity which has paved way for the next generation. Materials of different backgrounds<br>are used to create works to interpret and portray the society‘s socio-economic realities,<br>political challenges, rich tradition and diverse beauty. For instance, the Zaria Art Society<br>11<br>advocated Natural Synthesis for Art Expression which was a fusion of African motifs,<br>concepts and techniques with Western ideas (Ekpo, 2010). This concept led to other<br>experiments that developed with time. Individual artists over the years have appropriated<br>different unconventional material and techniques to express their feelings. Explorations and<br>experiments, earlier started in Zaria, brought radical reformation in art expression in<br>Nigeria. Nwoko‘s sculptural work with other artists of the Zaria Art Society caught the<br>attention of other contemporary Nigerian visual artists, who appropriated relevant materials<br>to address issues of the moment. Worthy of note is the Nigerian civil war, one sad event that<br>inspired artists with the Zaria Art Society members, particularly from the Eastern part of the<br>country (such as Uche Okeke, Obiora Uchechukwu, Chike Aniakor) who used their creative<br>abilities to react to the avoidance and the waste of the war.<br>Sowole (2013) observes that Alex Nwokolo metamorphosed from the use of one medium to<br>the other in his quest to be unique. The years of experiments in different media like Jean<br>Dubuffet of France, has made his art expression stronger. The author sees Alex Nwokolo<br>among the generation of Nigerian artists who have transited from one radical media to the<br>other, yet is still making impact. Sowole quotes Nwokolo thus:<br>The desire for change and the need to have a global perspective in my art<br>instigated a stimulus for this current direction in the evolution of my work.<br>The new experiment and materials offered me yet another opening to<br>contribute to an existing international calligraphy…and media derived from<br>everyday socio-cultural signs and symbolism, where elements are assembled<br>and dissected on to a surface resulting in a hybrid painting and sculpture.<br>In 1990, some young artists who christened themselves as Nogh-Nogh Art Group, a group<br>which included Danjuma Kefas, Babalola Tunde, Ayo Aina, Lasisi Lamidi, among others,<br>from the Fine Arts Department of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria became worried because<br>of the attitude of the public towards the types of artworks created by them, as they mostly<br>12<br>appropriated unconventional materials found in the environment. The group is experimental<br>in nature, and has embarked on organizing periodic workshops, seminars and exhibitions of<br>their works, with participants coming from all over the country. The peculiar nature of their<br>art creations attracted sympathy from other members of the community. Most of those who<br>shared in their ideology joined them in their regular meetings (Jari, 1994). It was in one of<br>the meetings that the group adopted the name Nogh-Nogh Art Movement. The word ―NoghNogh‖ is a derivation from the Nupe language, and means ―nonsense‖ (Jari 1994).<br>According to Danjuma (2002) one of the leaders of the movement, stated that from<br>inception the movement has always had unconventionality as its main goal. As the<br>movement kept growing, other goals such as creation of forums for discussion, and for the<br>propagation of the works of the members, were developed. Different found objects were<br>adopted by the participants in their art creations. This policy of freedom of expression<br>adopted by the movement has not only popularized the movement, but also attracted more<br>members. Members are further encouraged to appropriate materials and styles they think can<br>best express their feelings, and it did not seek to influence the adaptation of a particular<br>approach by its members. The group encourages simplicity of materials in all aspects of its<br>operation. Danjuma (1994) in his assessment of the activities of the group, contends that<br>their activities have positive effects on the artistic thinking of people who have come into<br>contact with them.<br>Another artist known for his experimental work in various materials within Nigeria and<br>beyond is the Ghanaian born sculptor, El Anatsui, who resides in Nigeria. Angie (2017) and<br>Diarra (2017) have individually written and alluded that El Anatsui is one of Africa‘s most<br>influential mixed-media artist, although he was trained as a sculptor. The artist has spent<br>much time in Nigeria, teaching at the University of Nigeria Nssuka. He uses different<br>13<br>unconventional materials as he could find them suitable and makes exquisite objects of<br>stunning visual impact. More recently, El Anatsui turned to installation and more complex<br>sewing techniques, which enable him to create art using unconventional materials like liquor<br>bottle caps and discarded pieces of metals for his large-scale assemblage art.<br>A Non-Governmental Organization striving hard to increase and develop the creative<br>abilities of artists in Nigeria is the Bruce Onokbrakpeya Foundation (BOF). It is an artist-led<br>organization formed in 1985, with a mission to engender the growth of art culture through<br>the provision of opportunities for artists to improve themselves through skills acquisition<br>and empowerment. Ekpo (2010) observes that since its inception, the Bruce Onokbrakpeya<br>Foundation has been an enduring player in the visual arts scene in Nigeria. The Foundation,<br>through its Annual Harmattan Workshop, encourages artists to use their creative powers<br>through appropriating any materials and techniques at their disposal to create. Works<br>produced at the end of the workshops are exhibited in different places. For example, it has<br>organized the Amos Tutuola Show, Lagos (2000), participated in the Commonwealth Heads<br>of State and Government Meeting (CHOGM) Exhibition, Abuja (2003), Art and<br>Democracy Exhibition, Asaba (2004) and the Harvest of the Harmattan Retreat Exhibition<br>organized in collaboration with the Pan Africa University, Lagos (2004). In 2012, the<br>Foundation featured the works of 20 artists at the Exhibition Bruce and Harmattan<br>Workshop Experiment at Kajino Station in Dakar, Senegal during the 2012 Biennial<br>Conference.<br>In 2005, another art group christened Art Is Everywhere emerged at the Nigerian art space.<br>The leader of the group is Ayo Adewumi, a lecturer at the Institute of Management and<br>Technology (IMT), Enugu. Membership of the group is made up of students and staff of<br>different institutions who share their ideology. As the name implies, they believe that art is<br>14<br>found everywhere and the environment has to be properly exploited. The group encourages<br>its members to scavenge the aquatic, creeks, mountains and the streets for materials for art<br>expression. Sowole (2003) in his study of the group, notes that their approach to art creation<br>is at sharp contrast to the regular art studio environment. The author observes that their<br>materials range from the wastes of electronic and electrical materials being assembled into<br>sculptural pieces to the plastic waste combined with other materials into figural renditions.<br>The emphasis of the content of the art of the group is on waste recycling and providing<br>avenues for training young artists and the less privilege on how to make a living from<br>recycling items. Since its inception, the concept has gained much acceptance and is<br>expanding in scope. The group has adopted A Travelling Workshop Policy to create public<br>awareness. The workshop has spread to places like Enugu, Jos, Kaduna, Zaria, Lagos, and<br>Port Harcourt.<br>Contemporary Nigerian artists who appropriate unconventional materials strive to sensitize<br>the public on the viability of waste and found object as potent creative resources. They also<br>facilitate its practical engagement to budding artists. Artists have continued in the search for<br>the newest material and techniques using any kind of materials, including unconventional<br>media and techniques, to create new aesthetics. Some sections of the public still see the use<br>of unconventional media as a revolt against established standards of art creation (Gushem<br>2005).<br>Statement of the Problem<br>It true that bad economy of a country is one of the factors that affect creativity, but even<br>when the economy is good, some artists enjoy expressing themselves appropriating waste<br>products as their first choice. Today in Nigeria, art produced in unconventional materials<br>largely comes from waste and discarded materials. Works in these materials are subjected to<br>15<br>different interpretation. Odoja, Makinde, Ajiboye and Fajuyibe (2013) have expressed the<br>view that ―waste or junks are considered to be useless, discarded materials that are no longer<br>good enough and, therefore, need to be disposed as unwanted.‖ In the society, some people<br>have developed a mind-set that any material found in a location designated as rubbish is<br>concluded to have outlived its usefulness and is, therefore, irrelevant. People with that kind<br>of mind-set see such work as inept and a fraudulent means of art creation. They consider the<br>products as works without any artistic effort, even when elements and principles of design<br>are applied.<br>Gushem (2005), notes that, the use of waste for art creation (by people who have<br>preconceived thoughts on what art should be), is contradicting and against established<br>standards. Saliu (2005) admits that art products are capable of generating excitement as well<br>as controversy. Vigorous enlightenment embarked upon (by art historians through their<br>write-ups, groups like Bruce Onobrkpeya Foudation (BOF), Nogh-Nogh Art Group, Art is<br>Everywhere Project among others, to draw attention to the potential of waste materials for<br>art expression.<br>The problem of the study is that there are still arguments for and against works of art created<br>using unconventional materials in Nigeria. The conflicting views for or against art<br>productions in these materials are clamoured by some viewers including some artists. This<br>indeed is a controversy in the creative landscape. The study is therefore set to analyze, using<br>the works of the artists under study, in order to come up with a clear position on the<br>opposing opinions.<br>16<br>Aim and Objectives of the Study<br>The aim of the study is to encourage upcoming artists to be open-minded in the use of<br>materials in their creative expression, while the specific objectives are to:<br>i. examine the backgrounds of the artists being studied;<br>ii. investigate the motivation for their use of unconventional materials in art<br>creations;<br>iii. interrogate what informed the artists‘ courage in art creations with<br>unconventional materials;<br>iv. find out the relevance of the thematic concerns in their individual compositions;<br>v. make comparative analysis of the materials the artists individually used; and to<br>vi. draw conclusion from the findings and suggesting direction of which creation of<br>art work should take as regards to the use of materials.<br>Research Questions<br>The study makes use of research questions for the collection of the data. The following<br>questions are formulated to guide the researcher towards the solutions to the problem, as<br>recommended by Leuizinger (1976) and Egonwa (2012).<br>i. What are the artistic backgrounds of the artists being studied?<br>ii. What motivated their use of unconventional materials their creations?<br>iii. What informed the artists‘ continuous art creations in unconventional materials?<br>iv. How relevant are the thematic concerns in their individual works?<br>v. How similar or different are the materials and techniques the artists used?<br>vi. Which material is most suitable for art expression?<br>17<br>Justification of the Study<br>One of the challenges of the moment in art creation, is that imported art materials are<br>expensive in the market. Artists who continuously depend on these imported materials are<br>likely to be creatively frustrated and consequently rendered out of practice due to the cost of<br>the importating the materials. The experience of the French Expressionist painter, Jean<br>Dubuffet (1901) is a good example, when he explored and experimented with new and<br>crude materials that were not popular at that time. The works were derided, hated and<br>rejected. He and his colleagues took courage and kept exploring and experimenting. At the<br>end, they came up better and stronger. It therefore, takes the courage of an artist to gather<br>materials from unaccustomed environment and combine them in a new context.<br>From the experience of Dubuffet (1901) the French Expressionist painter whose works were<br>only later appreciated, Nogh-Nogh brought on those that come in contact with the group as<br>expressed by Kefas (1994), and the success of the Art is Everywhere project, expressed by<br>Odoh, George, Odoh, Nneka, Anikpe and Ekeke (2014), show art expression matures with<br>constant explorations and experiments. The copiousness of the unconventional materials<br>creates an opportunity for continuous experiment and exploration. Therefore, artists need to<br>exploit their aesthetic potentials for their art creations. The artists would freely exercise their<br>rights to freedom of expression, and discover new ways of transforming and representing<br>new concepts.<br>Significance of the Study<br>The significant of the study is that manipulating waste and found objects (which constitute<br>major materials used by the artists under study) into works of art, shows the innate creative<br>potentials that such materials possess. Unconventional materials exist in diverse forms and<br>18<br>are either man-made or naturally occurring. Generally, waste materials anywhere command<br>global attention as a result of its role in environmental degradation. Growing concerns on<br>climate change have made waste generation and management a topical issue. Perhaps this<br>made Ganiyu (2011) to state that one of the concerns of the environmental scientist is the<br>management of waste products, while another concern is to draw the attention of artists to<br>the realization that every geographical location is rich in the copiousness of materials for<br>artistic expression. Olbrantz (2006) is delighted that artists have explored the use of<br>different industrial wastes in producing art forms that are not only visually appealing, but<br>also environmentally friendly.<br>In the search for creative fulfillment, artists who have seen the creative potentials of these<br>materials have consistently explored the environment as a useful source of materials for<br>creative concepts. The materials are available and obtained with ease; the cost of production<br>is less; the materials provide new aesthetic windows for visual activities, thereby<br>encouraging entrepreneurship among adherents of the concept. Also, recycling of materials<br>into new contexts is encouraged.<br>Scope and Delimitation of the Study<br>In the search for self-expression and creative fulfillment, the artists have consistently<br>experimented with wide range of materials as useful sources of ideas and materials. This<br>indeed is a wide subject considering the number of artists practising with different media.<br>Therefore, to carry out a comprehensive study of materials, there is the need to restrict the<br>study to a manageable scope, hence the choice of unconventional materials. The study is<br>further restricted to artists who remain consistent in using the unconventional materials for<br>their expressions. Nine (9) artists trained as painters and now using unconventional<br>materials to express themselves were selected. The study is delimited to their works in<br>19<br>unconventional media that are accessible within Nigeria, most especially those in their<br>studios, homes and galleries.<br>The selected artists are Ayo Adewunmi, Ayo Aina, Ikechukwu Francis, Jerry Buhari, Mabel<br>Chukwu, Ndidi Dike, Nkechi Nwosu Igbo, Nsikak Essien and Sussan Ogenyi Omagu. The<br>reasons for the choice include: (i) constancy in the use of wastes in artistic production (ii)<br>creativity use of waste materials into new and unique context (iii) courage in the continuous<br>use of unconventional materials; and (iv) the fact that works produced addressed sociopolitical, religious, economic and environmental issues that impact on the lives of Nigerians. <br></p>