Thursday, March 11, 2010

This gallery looks like a tip

For the last couple of months Peter Robinson has been in the UK, in Wimbledon in fact. As part of a university exchange he was able to get some work done and end it with an exhibition featuring a signature polystyrene sculptural installation. One of the bugs in the polystyrene business is disposal, but not this time, thanks to UK artist Michael Landy. He has turned the South London Gallery into a 600m³ container for trashing unwanted works of art, as art, that is. Landy is not new to questioning consumption in his work. He once famously destroyed everything he owned, including a number of valuable YBA art works. This time his installation has been given media cred thanks to Damien Hirst turning up and dumping a large skull print. Emin, Wearing, Blake, Hume and a bunch of other well-known artists have pitched in too. As did Peter Robinson who tipped his polystyrene dust into Landy’s bin before leaving town and heading home.
Images: Top, two iterations of Peter Robinson's exhibition. Bottom, Hirst dumps a skull print into Landy's Art bin.