MICHAEL LANDY
(United Kingdom, 1963)


Break Down, 2002
DVD video documentation, 16:36 min. loop
Courtesy Thomas Dane Gallery, London
and Karsten Schubert, London







Michael Landy belongs to the generation of the so-called Young British Artists. In a radical self experiment, the artist systematically destroyed all his possessions including his birth certificate, his car and cherished personal souvenirs, such as a sheepskin coat that belonged to his father. In a vacant shop space every single item was placed on a conveyor belt and transported to its final destruction in a grinder. The video documents the elimination of all his material possessions. It reveals the hidden relation between the individual, its belongings and its identity, indicating that there is more than a material side to possession. If in our consumerist society the objects define the individuality of their owner, the question arises – what happens to his own identity when all theses objects are eliminated? Alluding to the Christian message of renouncing to worldly possessions as a tool for one’s spiritual liberation, the radical performance of Michael Landy acquires a symbolic meaning.









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