The Table Childhood, 1984-2002

The Table Childhood is a collaborative work by Max Dean and Raffaello D’Andrea that was shown in the Arsenale section at the 2001 Venice Biennale. This fully autonomous robotic table selects a viewer and then attempts to form a relationship with that person. In this installation, Max Dean and Raffaello D’Andrea orchestrate a scenario where a spectator, selected by the table, becomes a performer and is not only an “object” of the table’s attention, but also of the other viewers’. Although the table tries to persuade the visitor to interact with it, the visitor must decide whether or not to commit to the piece. The behavior of this everyday object can be described as playful teasing or courtship and is, in a way, reminiscent of children’s games.

video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QavoKfrm1hw