Cafe's one-way mirror allows peeks into restroom

[October 23, 2012]  VIENNA (AP) -- An Austrian artist has installed a one-way mirror in a Vienna cafe that allows men to peek from their restroom into the ladies room.

Alexander Riegler told the daily Heute newspaper Monday that the mirror is an attempt to "stir people into a discussion of voyeurism and surveillance," in an era when almost everyone is being watched.

Cafe employee Alexander Khael-Khaelsberg says the mirror only shows women at the sink and does not offend anyone's private sphere. He told the daily Heute newspaper Monday that women will get their turn in January, when the mirror is reversed to let them look at men's faces while they stand at the urinal.

After complaints, the restaurant recently put up a sign advising women that they are part of an "art project."

[Associated Press]

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