Atelier Van Lieshout proposes collectively organized forms of working and living that circumvent conventional categories. The most radical implementation of this principle was the proclamation of a “free state” in the Rotterdam harbor area in 2001, an experiment which the city council terminated six months later.

Designed to achieve maximum profits through rationalism, their The Disciplinator is a gigantic cage-like construction for 72 inmates.

The sleeping department with 24 beds can be used in three shifts; the food department has 24 places at a table with 24 plates, mugs and spoons; there are 36 places in the labour area where inhabitants perform intensive labour tasks and produce sawdust from four tree trunks using the 36 files; there are 4 toilets, 4 showers, 4 sinks and 8 toothbrushes. Everything is calculated and standardised, and because the AVL refrains from making any kind of moral statement, the Disciplinator communicates an unadulterated vision of the horrors of the principle of exploitation.

At the MAK Exhibition Hall, Vienna, till October 2, 2005.

AVL is currently working on a sinister utopian project that is highly efficient and profitable (2,8 billion euro net profit a year). Call Centre is an up-to-date concentration camp made out of the latest technology and with the newest management insights. The inhabitants (called participants) work 7 hours a day on tele-service and after that they work 7 hours on the fields or workshop in order to keep the Call Centre working. Their efficiency is monitored and appropriate measures are taken if it drops under a set level.

The town is ‘zero energy’ and functions without imported mineral fuel or electricity. The energy needs are covered by using biogas, solar and wind energy and bio-diesel. Everything is recycled, even the participants. Of course it will count with the necessary infrastructure and service buildings: sumptuous head office, safe and cozy village for the higher employees, education, health centre, brothel and art centre.

AVL also seems to have a certain fascination for the digestion system. For the Triennial of Yokohama, which opens on September 28, 2005, AVL created the Bar Rectum, an organically shaped construction of which the last part is inflated to humongous dimensions. The bar is 16 meters long and 4 metres wide and it can be accessed trough the rectum. It functions as a real service point for drinks and snacks.