Atelier Van Lieshout

Saw Mill/Cheese Maker

2013

Steel, wood
2350 x 600 x 420 cm

Central part of the Saw Mill/Cheese Maker is the hand-powered Saw Mill. The Cheese Maker, an extremely crude, organic, rustic, indestructible barrel made from a tree trunk and used for curdling, is an extension to the Saw Mill. Both machines are connected to a central axle, driven by a tread wheel which is to be operated by humans. The Cheese Maker is also connected to the Milking Machine, which provides the milk for the cheese, directly from the cow, creating a closed circuit. The cheese production process is rudimentary, unhygienic, smutty even, making the Cheese Maker both an addition to and a denial of the modernist ideology of the Saw Mill, which represents the utopia of building a new world, of cooperation, of efficient, clean production. Generally, the process of making cheese is also a very hygienic one, but in this case bacteria get a free rein and everything will be sticky and smelly.

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com