Michael Landy

Since the early 1990s Michael Landy has built a reputation as one of the most exciting and challenging artists working in Britain. Until Semi-detached, he was best known for Break Down 2001, in which he systematically and publicly destroyed all of his possessions. Created at Tate Britain, Semi-detached is a life-sized replica of Landy’s family home in Essex, inspired by the artist’s father, a former tunnel miner who was injured in an industrial accident in 1977 and has never been able to return to work. Photographs of this piece are complemented by essays written by Judith Nesbitt and John Slyce that examine the relationship between Semi-detached and Landy’s practice to date, particularly his other major site-specific projects.