AVL Prize for Pigheaded Artists

AVL Prize for Pigheaded Artists

Atelier Van Lieshout

November 11, 2003

AVL Prize for Pigheaded Artists

ATELIER VAN LIESHOUT (AVL)
Keilestraat 43e
3029 BP Rotterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: +31-(0)10-244 09 71
Fax: +31-(0)10-244 09 72
info@ateliervanlieshout.com

www.ateliervanlieshout.com

Why a New Prize?

This years jury and winner

Atelier Van Lieshout

New work

Links

AVL Prize for Pigheaded Artists

This year, Atelier Van Lieshout invented the AVL Prize for Pigheaded Artists. Since all the money goes to the winning artist this is the most efficient of all prizes ever awarded in the world. There is only one jury member to select a winner without any compromise. The aim of the award is to recognise an artist who is not only the most self-determined but also the most uncompromising. The prize consists of a polyester trophy and an amount of 7.000,- in cash.

Why a New Prize?

Atelier founder Joep van Lieshout is regularly active as an award jury member. Almost all prize ceremonies are a kind of circus, which often uses up the financial resources of the organization so that there is little left over for the prize itself. Secondly, juries generally consist entirely of various figures, each with their own preferences, so that selecting a winner often ends in a compromise. And finally, it is becoming more and more difficult for an artist to create original works, unhindered by conventions and limitations. The extensive commercialisation of the public sector and its new, misplaced feelings of responsibility have made this increasingly difficult. These are good reasons why changes are needed in a typical AVL do-it-yourself approach.

This years jury and winner

Wayne Bearwaldt, the pigheaded director of The Power Plant in Toronto, chose Neil Minuk as this years winner. Minuk is the most pigheaded artist in 2003 with his special project The House which he built for his own family a dangerous house for his family and other visitors because it jeopardises peoples safety to create an experientially-rich and aesthetically-pure environment. The work also puts the finger on todays building practises that are limited by too many regulations and misplaced concerns for public health and order. For more details about the prize, check out Waynes jury report about the winning artist in our second newsletter. If you are interested to receive AVLs newsletter on a regular basis, you can browse to the news section of our website: www.ateliervanlieshout.com

Atelier Van Lieshout

Founded in 1995, Atelier Van Lieshout (AVL) is a multidisciplinary company that operates internationally in the field of contemporary art, design and architecture. The name Atelier Van Lieshout emphasises the fact that the works of art do not stem solely from the creative brain of Joep van Lieshout, but are produced by a creative team. The artworks are practical, uncomplicated and substantial; they vary from sculptures and furniture, bathrooms and mobile home units to complete architectural refurbishments. In the year 2001 Atelier Van Lieshout realised AVL-Ville, a free state in the port of Rotterdam. AVL-Ville was highly successful but closed down because of a clash with the local authorities. Already in 2002 AVL built AVL-Villes first Franchise Unit in Belgium. Since then, AVL is looking for new Franchise takers.

New Work

AVL developed a style where the absence of design has become an important issue, using industrial materials such as galvanized steel tubes used for scaffolding and unfinished wood. Their raw functionality stands in contrast with the series of colourful polyester sculptures such as stylized human figures in various postures and actions along with a complete series of human internal organs, ranging from heart, and brain to liver, rectum and the male and female sex organs. AVLs most recent work: The Feeder, is part of an even larger installation named The Technocrat. The Technocrat consists of The Feeder, a biogas installation, an industrial alcohol production unit and bunk beds for at least 1000 people. The Feeder is a big machine that automatically produces a maximum output of faeces. Food and alcohol are administered in measured and calculated quantities that will be pumped through hoses into the 1000 people. At the other side the faeces will be sucked out of the human bodies to meet the needs of the biogas installation. The human is reduced to a production unit in order to keep the food chain going. Everything is designed to supply the biogas installation with enough raw material to keep it producing.

Links

For more information about Atelier Van Lieshout you can check out our website at www.ateliervanlieshout.com

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