Break Down was an artwork created by Young British Artist Michael Landy in London in February 2001, as a reaction to the consumerist society.
It was selected from 700 bids by a panel that included Brian Eno, Rachel Whiteread, Richard Cork, James Lingwood and Michael Morris.
Over the previous three years he had catalogued all 7,227 of his possessions, from postage stamps, his passport and birth certificate, to food, clothes (including his father's 1970s sheepskin coat), works of art (including works by Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst), and his Saab 900 Turbo 16 S. The work was arranged into ten categories - artworks, clothing, equipment, furniture, kitchen, leisure, motor vehicle, perishables, reading material and studio material.
The process of destruction was like the reverse of an industrial assembly line, with items circulating in yellow trays on 160 metres (520 ft) long figure-of-eight conveyor belt.
Ten workers systematically removed each item from the convey belt and reduced it to its basic materials by smashing, shredding and pulverising them.