How we made Break Down

James Lingwood, May 2002

There are a very large number of 'dream' projects out there, projects which artists have spent a long time building in their minds or on paper. We set up The Times/Artangel Open to try and bring some of these paper projects in to the world. The two which we commissioned from this process, Jeremy Deller's The Battle of Orgreave and Michael Landy's Break Down arrived in very different forms. Jeremy's could not have been more concise - a one paragraph submission and a photocopy of a poster. Michael's came as an idea already developed through a series of drawings and blueprints.

So he had been living with the idea that he would systematically destroy all of his possessions in a kind of customised waste disposal facility for two or three years already. One of the key things that emerged from our initial conversations was his desire to make an inventory of everything he owned. We thought it might take a few weeks. In fact it took Michael and his assistant Clive Lissaman over a year. They itemised and categorised over 7000 possessions. This list of a lifetime's gatherings became an important part of the project, and it formed a mute counterpoint to all the destruction

The development of the installation took some time. Michael visited several disposal facilities and recycling plants. We then realised we needed to custom-build a mechanised structure – so that Michael could find the right form for the work. It needed to be circular with two figures of eight looping around four bays in which the operatives would work. The second problem was that we needed to commission the structure before we had secured the place in which to present the project.

It was difficult to find the right situation in which the full force of Michael's idea, now called Break Down, could be released. We had initially aimed for a high street presence at the time of the Christmas rush or the sales, but that proved impossible. Oxford Street had always been the prime site, but it quickly became apparent that there were very few places big enough to accommodate Michael's project. Then Tracey Ferguson, our Project Co-ordinator, found out that C&A were closing down their London stores and Artangel approached the head of their property company. They agreed to lend us the building for four weeks. There were some very nervous moments as the publicity began to kick in. The Evening Standard piece headed "Madman at C & A", which came out a few days before the opening, was particularly unhelpful...