PROJECT 24

MICHAEL
LANDY

Project Summary

In Sydney’s busy Martin Place and at two hundred locations across the city, Michael Landy’s Acts of Kindness, realised in partnership with Art & About Sydney, explored the meaning of kindness in today’s fast-paced world, focusing on the simple everyday gestures of compassion and generosity that often go unnoticed as they occur throughout the city streets.

Born in London, Landy is recognised as one of the Young British Artists of the nineties. His work investigates the experience of life in a consumer world, reflecting on contemporary values, from economic worth to the importance of human relationships.

Landy is best known for his monumental 2001 project Break Down, in which he systematically destroyed all of his personal belongings, from his birth certificate to his car, in a former department store on London’s Oxford Street. A two-week deconstruction of his life, and a personal and public interrogation of materialism and consumerism, it attracted an estimated 45,000 visitors. It was there that John Kaldor met Landy.

After ten years of discussions, including a proposal to make the Sydney Opera House disappear, Landy brought Acts of Kindness to Sydney in September 2011, two months after its debut in London’s Art on the Underground.

A talented draftsman, Landy adapted the visual language of maps, store logos and street signage that characterises Sydney’s Central Business District to present his interpretation of the city for Acts of Kindness. More than six hundred stories recounting acts of kindness were collected from Sydneysiders and visitors. Landy created a 13 × 7 metre jigsaw-puzzle map in lower Martin Place, charting the CBD between Market and George streets and Circular Quay. Two hundred selected stories, presented as jigsaw puzzle pieces, were placed throughout the city, as close as possible to where the acts took place. Hanging on street signs, attached to street furniture, the puzzle pieces occupied unexpected and intimate sites.

Connecting the impermanence of his work with the momentary act of kindness, Landy added, “An act of kindness is … something exchanged fleetingly between strangers. You will probably never see that person again”.

Michael Landy

born 1963 in London, England
lives and works in London, England

Acts of Kindness
23 September – 23 October 2011
Installation in lower Martin Place and 200 sites across the CBD, Sydney

A large white puzzle piece, showing the fragment of a street map, hangs on an ornate metal grate outside the window of a sandstone building. On the map is written a short story, which reads, “I found a men’s wallet on the road as I was walking with my son in a pram. I picked it up and drove it to the police station and returned it. Later that day the police contacted me and asked if they could pass on my details to the owner of the wallet. I agreed. The owner gave me a reward of money and a box of chocolates.”

A large white puzzle piece, showing the fragment of a street map, hangs on a pole in the city. On the map is written a short story, which reads, “I once saw a very frail old lady pacing around near a bench and calling out. I was worried about the lady, she looked lost and confused. I asked her if she needed any help and she told me she had lost her son and she seemed very anxious to find him. I tried to help her and together we located a middle-aged man in a nearby shop with his wife and children. The old lady was very relieved but the family seemed irritated with me. I realise they had left her on the seat nearby to wait for them but she must have forgotten.”

A large white puzzle piece, showing the fragment of a street map, hangs on an ornate metal fence. On the map is written a short story, which reads, “My work driveway is on Pitt Street and getting out at peak hour can be tough, as commuters rush to Wynyard Station to head home at the end of the day. Most nights I rely on an everyday act of kindness to get out of the driveway – a busy commuter stopping at the drive and ushering me on so I can get my car out. Thank you!”

A large white puzzle piece, showing the fragment of a street map, hangs on an ornate metal fence outside a sandstone building. On the building is a plaque which reads, Department of Lands.

A large white puzzle piece, showing the fragment of a street map, hangs on a metal grate inside the niche of an old brick wall.

A hand-drawn street map of the Sydney CBD area, around Martin Place, Pitt Street and Centrepoint. The map is dotted with small, comical pictograms – showing human figures merging with icons of city life, including traffic lights, street signs and shopping trolleys.

A man walks across a large, hand-drawn street map of the Sydney CBD area. The map is dotted with small, comical pictograms of human figures and icons of city life, including arrows and traffic lights.

A large, hand-drawn street map of the Sydney CBD area, installed on the paving of a large, open outdoor space. A small crowd of people of around 40 people is gathered around the map.

A small, diverse crowd of people walks across a large, hand-drawn street map, in an open outdoor space, during the evening. The people are pointing and looking down intently at the map. Some are dressed in business clothes, some in casual attire.

The legs of a small crowd of people, dressed in business attire, walking across a large, hand-drawn street map of the Sydney CBD.

Play Video

Michael Landy: Episode 1

Play Video

Michael Landy: Episode 2

Play Video

Michael Landy: The Making of Project 24

Play Video

Michael Landy: Overview

Play Video

Michel Landy: Submit for Project 24 (now closed)

MICHAEL LANDY

Michael Landy is one of Britain's best-known artists and is recognised as having created some of the most significant public art projects of the past decade. Landy's practice ranges from the monumental and epic to the intricate and meticulous.

Over the course of his career Landy has offered critiques of society, consumerism and the alienation of self. One of the Young British Artists of the 1990s, Landy became famous for his monumental project Break Down in 2001, in which he systematically destroyed all of his personal belongings, from his birth certificate to his car, in a former department store in London’s Oxford Street.

Education Kit

This Education Kit explores Michael Landy’s eclectic practice, which includes drawing, collage, installation, performance, etching, sound and video, and reflects on the contemporary values of consumerist society.

LEARNING STAGES: Primary (Stages 2-3) | Secondary (Stages 4-6) | Tertiary

Download the education kit

ARCHIVE for Project 24 - Michael Landy

The Kaldor Public Art Projects archive has been collected over more than 50 years, and features rare and original documentation on the process of realising large-scale, temporary art projects. With thousands of items accessible online through the Digital Archive, it serves as a valuable resource for artists, students, teachers and researchers.

Spanning 602 objects, the archive for Project 24 tells the story of Michael Landy’s Acts of Kindness, presented in Sydney in 2011. Emails, brochures, maps and press clippings are complemented by Landy’s original sketches and postcards. The archive reveals the process of collecting public submissions, the collaboration with Art & About Sydney, and the planning and realisation of the work in Martin Place and at 200 different sites across the city CBD. Highlights include a series of photographs and montages, outlining Landy’s proposals for a number of unrealised projects for Sydney and central Australia.

VISIT PROJECT 24 IN THE ARCHIVE

John Kaldor shares his personal recollections of working with artist Michael Landy to realise the 14th Kaldor Public Art Project at Martin Place and Sydney CBD, in 2011. (8:05, Kaldor Public Art Projects, 2021)

Click to view in archive

PROJECT 24

MICHAEL LANDY

Project Summary

Michael Landy

MICHAEL LANDY

Education Kit

ARCHIVE for Project 24 - Michael Landy

SUPPORTERS

MICHAEL
LANDY