Credit crunch: Destroying machine makes a hit at London's Frieze

19 : 10 : 2011 Art : Michael Landy : Credit Card Destroying Machine

London – LS:N global attended Frieze Art Fair last weekend and was treated to young British artist Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine.

Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine
Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine
Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine Michael Landy’s Credit Card Destroying Machine

The installation is made from hundreds of components, including cogs, wheels, handsaws and goat skulls.

A visitor gives a working credit card to the machine’s operator, a pen is placed in an arm of the machine, and after being triggered by a foot switch, the machine jerks into life and creates a piece of abstract art on a pad of paper. The visitor’s credit card is then fed through a chipping machine attached to the installation and splintered into pieces.

This elaborate means of destroying a credit card is in keeping with the Anarconomy Decade. Although the components of the machine are elaborate, the installation provides visitors with a piece of art that is by proxy, made by the artist.

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