automatenbar is an extremly innovative bar concept. the room is very small, there is no staff to be seen. on one of the walls there are a number of old wending machines – hence the name: in german automaten – where the visitors can buy anything from beer to snacks to art. one coffee wending machine has been transformed into a mp3 jukebox, where you have to press the coffee button to change the selection and the tea button to start the music. the wending machines are old stock, that’s why they only run with Deutschmark. in a corner there is an exchange machine where one can change euro into DM. there are 4 surveillance cameras observing the room and the street outside. four tv’s display these images. a mix of the videofeeds gets streamed onto the internet, for the members only…
since they don’t have an alcohol-liscence the visitors have to become members in order to get in. each member receives a membercard with a barcode. at the entrance there is a barcode reader, which registers the users. the logged in users can then be tracked on the internet.
total surveillance aesthetic with a huge sense of humour as even the toilettes are equipped with a one-way mirror, where you can see the people outside while they can’t see you. nothing for men with pissing complex.
automatenbar in berlin, corner of münzstrasse und neue schönhauser strasse
mental note to self: start one of those in bern