Accelerated Change reclaims plastic pollution—symbols of consumerism and crisis—and reshapes it into a large-scale installation that speaks to rapid industrialization and resilience. The work channels African traditions of transformation and renewal, using discarded materials as metaphors for loss and rebirth. This tension between destruction and healing reflects Clottey’s deep spiritual connection to nature and cultural memory.

Clottey coined “Afrogallonism” to name his long-running practice of transforming Ghana’s ubiquitous yellow plastic jerrycans (“Kufuor gallons”)—containers that circulate through oil, water, and fuel economies—into stitched, patchworked tapestries, sculptures, and performances. Developed over years of working with these gallons, Afrogallonism treats the material as both medium and message: a way to talk about consumption and necessity, material migration, and the environmental and social pressures that plastic waste and scarcity place on everyday life.