Our limit is that of the desire and imagination of the human mind

1996
Landy, Michael
Between 1994 and 1996, Michael Landy collected aluminium drinks cans, food wrappers and cigarette packets for his major installation work Scrapheap Services. The installation was first shown at Chisenhale Gallery London, and later in the important exhibition Brilliant! at the Walker Art Gallery in Minneapolis, USA. Scrapheap Services imagined a fictional company designed to dispose of unwanted human beings. It was the artist's response to the then government's approach to the homeless and jobless in society, but coincided also with the wide emergence of the term 'ethnic cleansing' in the context of the war in the Balkans. This photograph is a self-portrait of the artist dressed as an operative of the Scrapheap Services company, engaged in clearing a 'litter' of human figures.
  • Artwork Details: Framed size: 101.5 x 58 x 3.5cm
  • Edition: 2 of 5
  • Material description: colour photograph in artist's frame
  • Credit line: © the artist.Gift of Karsten Schubert
  • Theme:
  • Medium: Photograph
  • Accession number: ACC10/2010

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

With more than 8,000 works by over 2,000 artists, it can be seen in exhibitions and public displays across the country and beyond. This website offers unprecedented access to the Collection, and information about each work can be found on this site.