by Aleida Strowger for Time Out Amsterdam

Amsterdam WCs are fast becoming the hottest seat in town. You'll soon be able to sit - bowels permitting - and admire art from the likes of Herman Brood, Peter Diem, and Jasper Krabbe instead of the usual lewd graffiti. They're just three of the 150 artists taking part in a new AIDS awareness scheme that is set to convert select toilets across the city - and eventually across Holland - into mini-art galleries.

This novel way of bringing art to the masses is the idea of It's An Art To Use It and Design Bureau. They have invited artists to participate in an art walk by way of painting on the condom machines and toilet doors of Holland's bars, cafes, and hotels. If you want to find out where to piss and shit your way through the best Dutch art has to offer, you can buy a T-shirt (f25, from selected museums and Horeca establishments) with a map of the art walk route.

The art works themselves are foil sheets that are painted on and moulded over a condom machine. The sheets are then photographed and shopped around the venues so proprietors can choose a style in keeping with their interior decoration. Van Daelen, De Korte Golf, and Oibibio are just three of the many who have already installed either a one-off Durex dispenser (f1530) or individual door (f3400) These are pennies well spent - the money is shared between AIDS Fonds and the artists themselves.

By the middle of November machines and doors will have been placed in Amsterdam, The Hague and Breda, with more art toilets to follow in Utrecht, Rotterdam, and the rest of Europe. Hopefully, these eye catching additions will raise AIDS awareness and encourage people to be more responsible when passing other bodily fluids by using a condom. For more information call +31 (20) 420 3909.

by Sally Swingewood

Peter Doeswijk used to stick to sculptural furniture - wobbly-shaped, house-inspired shelves; interlocking curvy tables; and the like - then one day he painted his own computer and telephone. He liked the results so much that his Vijzelgracht shop is now stuffed with sunflower-adorned, denim-wrapped, or Flintstone-covered phones, all of which are new (but discarded by PTT) and in perfect working order. Since his first batch of 30, which he sold on Queen's Day, Peter has been going from strength to strength. Artists occasionally drop in to paint a couple, just for the hell of it; tourists get their names painted on phones and take a tour of Peter's home (which is crammed with self-styled furniture made from old recycled wood). The man himself has a permanent smile. The phones are all around f49, but the price goes up if he takes a commission, which involves a lot of work. He is quite happy to paint anything plastic and keeps the costs low: "I do it for fun rather than money. I don't drink so much," he informs me.He has no objection to people ringing his bell and getting him downstairs to take a closer look when the shop is ostensibly shut: "Just don't call at 3:00 a.m.," he requests. Vijzelgracht 11 (+31 (20) 420 3133) Monday - Saturday, 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.