In 2001 Michael Landy filled the ground floor of the recently closed C&A department with the installation Breakdown. Through a spectacular performance of mechanised destruction he hoped to critique the excesses of commodity culture.
Archive for the ‘Excess’ Category
Excess / e-waste
19/01/11
Planned or designed obsolescence of electronic goods has lead to large amounts ‘e-waste’ rapidly accumulating as part of the normal product cycle. A large amount of this material is sent to developing countries to be processed or recycled.
Excess / Bangkok’s Abandoned Skyscrapers
19/01/11
One victim of the implosion Bangkok’s financial exuberance as a result of the 1997-98 financial crisis in Asia are the numerous half-completed sky-scrapers and tower blocks. They now accumulate rubbish and graffiti.
Excess / The 11 Million Pound Christmas Tree
19/01/11
Christmas is the season of excess according to one Abu Dhabi hotel. On reflection the hotel management decided it was a bit gauche and swiftly issued a statement expressing their regret at ‘overloading’ their Christmas tree with over 11 million pounds of decoration including rubies, diamonds and a gold bar dispenser.
Excess / Damien Hirst : For The Love Of God (2007)
19/01/11
Many of Damien Hirst’s recent works aim to satirise the excess and opulence of his own work and status – we just think he’s an excessive arse hole.
Excess / Injured Student Protestor London December 2010
19/01/11
Since the G20 protest in 2009 there have been numerous criticisms of the police’s excess use of force and powers of detention in dealing with protest marches.
Excess / Pier Paolo Pasolini : Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)
19/01/11
Pasolini’s film ‘Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom’ confronts the self consuming excesses of political corruption, abuse of power, sadism, sexuality and fascism. In its most famous scene a group of captive young men and woman presented with a feast of human faeces.
Excess / Piero Manzoni : Artist’s Shit (1961)
19/01/11
Piero Manzoni’s Artist’s Shit satirises the excess value attributed to a ‘work of art’; pricing a can of excess food material (shit) at the then price of gold ($1.12 a gram – 1960).
Excess / Marmite
19/01/11
Excess yeast used in the beer brewing process that would spoil the beverage is re-purposed as yeast extract, it is produced exclusively in the UK.
Excess / Jammie Nicholas : Surplus Eau de Toilette (2010)
19/01/11
Surplus perfume is hand made using traditional perfumery techniques and the excess liquid and materials from the human body.
