STUFF - do we need it?
We live in a consumerist society. We are urged to purchase much more than we need. And when fashion changes, we just buy something else - whether or not the thing we have is still functioning.
Michael Landy, a British artist, catalogued and destroyed all 7,226 of his possessions in a 2001 art installation called Break Down, which was held in a vacant C&A clothes store on Oxford Street in central London.
Landy stood on a platform overseeing a production line staffed by ten assistants. Every single one of his possessions was first catalogued and then destroyed - his passport, his keys and his credit cards, right down to a last dirty sock. The objects were shredded or ground up, and then put into plastic trays and sacks for disposal.
The things Landy valued most he had left until last. One of the last objects to be destroyed was his father's sheepskin coat.
...or are we better without?
More about Break Down
Over 45,000 people came to see what was happening, and the final day attracted a crowd of 8,000.
When I finished I felt an incredible sense of freedom, the possibility that I could do anything. But that freedom is eroded by the everyday concerns of life. Life was much simpler when I was up on my platform.
The event got a huge amount of publicity. Sermons were preached on the morality of consumerism. Michael Landy was attacked for wanton destruction. Some saw it as an attack on capitalism. And others saw it as an act of madness and offered counselling. Landy described the event as an 'examination of consumerism'.
Since then, Landy has been drawing street flowers. These are flowers that live in the cracks in paving stones in the street. They don't need many nutrients. They can survive in harsh conditions.
Take Action
Maybe, like Michael Landy, you could experience a sense of freedom by ridding yourself of possessions - maybe not all of them, just those you no longer need.
Make a catalogue of everything you own.
Think about each item on your list - about how and why you came to acquire it, whether you still use it (or indeed ever used it), whether you still need it (or think you need it), and whether you really do want to keep it.
Set aside everything that you don't need or want. Then either take these to a charity shop or sell them on eBay. Or, if they are completely worn out or of no use to anybody, then throw them away (in a recycling bin, of course).
Keep your list. In five years' time, repeat the exercise and see if you have continued your consumerist ways, buying more than you need.
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Find Out More
Find out more about Michael Landy at: www.tate.org.uk/magazine/issue3/michaellandy.htm
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Find out about the man who destroyed everything he owned.
