Michael Landy > Project Info

MICHAEL LANDY: Scrapheap Services
19.06.96 - 28

In 1993 Landy set about creating a fictitious cleaning company called Scrapheap Services. What started as a six-month project escalated into a large-scale venture spanning over two years. The resulting installation at Chisenhale Gallery had a strong visual impact. Small cut-out figures, made from old cans, fast food wrapping and household waste, were strewn across the floor or swept into piles awaiting collection. Life size mannequins dressed in colour co-ordinated workwear were the cleaners. Enamelled signs depicted an earthly paradise, idealised landscapes free from imperfection and clutter. These images of a problem-free world manifested Scrapheap Services’ ultimate goal: “to rid society of all its ills so giving a better quality of life” (Michael Landy, Scrapheap Services video, 1995).

The focal point of the installation was ‘Vulture’, an eleven foot purpose built shredder for disposing of all the cut out people. A twenty-five horse power engine and welded steel construction with self-sharpening blades inside ensured that Vulture “cuts through people instantly, leaving them torn apart”. The resulting pile of scrapheap (a huge pile of pulp) was the company product, symbolising wasted human potential. All this was accompanied by a promotional video complete with corporate jingle: “Scrapheap Services: We leave the scum with no place to hide”.