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Speaking, Reading and Vocabulary El a Read the article about Michael Landy. Write
a title for the article. Then work with a partner and
II Work in groups. Discuss these questions.
tell each other your title and why you chose it.
1 How many possessions do you think you own?
b Read the article again. Tick the true sentences.
2 Which do you really need? Which don't you need?
Correct the false ones.
3 If you were only allowed to keep three of your possessions,
1 It took Landy most of his adult life to plan the Break
which would you choose and why?
Down exhibition.
2 The exhibition was well attended.
3 He decided to keep a few possessions as souvenirs.
4 There was a mixed reaction to the exhibition.
5 At the end of the exhibition he regretted what
he'd done.
6 Landy kept his agreement with his financial backers.
7 His girlfriend doesn't know he's destroying her things.

• HELP WITH VOCABULARY Homonyms
•
•
• • Homonyms are words with the same spelling and
•
• pronunciation, but different meanings (light, last, etc.) .
•
a Look at the words in pink in the article. Then
• fill in the gaps in these pairs of sentences with the
•
• same word. The first sentence in each pair shows
•
• the meaning of the word as it is used in the article .
•
• 1 a He's in no ____ to go to work. He's very ill.
•
•
rtist Michael Landy once destroyed all his possessions in • b Which US is Hollywood in?
a work he called Break Down. The exhibition, which was • 2 a He can most problems on his own .
•
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•
A held in an empty department store in central London, cost • b I broke the on the window .
£100,000 to put on and lasted for two weeks. Landy had spent •
•
three years cataloguing the 7,226 separate items. More than • 3 a It was a typical of food poisoning.
•
45,000 people came to watch him and his ten helpers destroy • b Have you seen my camera ___ ?
everything he'd ever owned, right down to his last sock, his • John made .
• 4 a That was an interesting
passport and even his beloved car. •
•
Many of those who came to the exhibition applauded and • b At that I left the meeting.
•
encouraged Landy in his two weeks of destruction, but his mother • 5 a He was the person I wanted to see.
•
wasn't one of them. "I had to throw my mum out," said Landy. • I really don't like him.
"She started crying and I couldn't handle those emotions. She • b I went to see Landy's new exhibition
•
had to go." • week .
•
Many other people were equally upset, especially those in •
•
the art world who thought it was unacceptable to destroy famous • b Work in pairs. Compare answers. Explain the
•
artists' work. Landy destroyed pieces of art given to him by people • different meanings of each word.
such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst. But on that point Landy c Work with your partner. Look at the words in
said he felt no guilt. After all, he had destroyed all his own work -
blue in the article. Discuss what these words mean
a collection that spanned 15 years. "After we finished," Landy said,
"someone came up to me and handed me a Paul Weller record. in this context. Then think of another meaning for
I must have been the owner of absolutely nothing for about ten each word.
minutes. Some things I had to go straight out and buy again - a
d Check in lllitij:lllf!m'iil• p147.
toothbrush, for example. I hated having to do that. The last thing
I wanted to do is go into shops and buy things." -..
Landy said that Break Down was an examination of II Fill in the gaps with the words in blue in the article.
consumerism, buying more than we need. Others said it was 1 Have you got for a pound?
a case of madness. However, Landy's description of his state of 2 This magazine article doesn't make any
mind at that time was very different. "When I finished I did feel
an incredible sense of freedom," he said, "the possibility that I 3 The doctor gave him a complete and he
was fine.
could do anything."
Landy was supposed to give the remains of his possessions 4 Would you opening the window, please?
(sacks of crushed metal, plastic and paper) to the people who had 5 We'll have to him. He's always being rude
given him financial backing for the project and each sack would to customers.
have been worth £4,000. But he had a change of heart at the last
minute and ended up burying it all. And since the exhibition his m
Work in pairs. Turn to p112.
destruction of possessions hasn't stopped. "I've started to get rid
of (my girlfriend) Gillian's things secretly too. She's got no idea! "