Tabling
Tabling (“tafelen”) consists of a range of activities that take place around the table; to dine, to chat, to drink, to have guests over... It can take place at various locations, with various actors and in different time spans. The only parameter is the involvement of a table. Most of the tabling activities generally happen around a rectangular table with average height and proportions.
You draw a circle around your body. In this action, the swing of your arm incorporates the nearest space around you. The potential work space is in accordance to your reach. You materialise this area, resulting in a round table with a radius of 55 centimetres, the length of you arm. You cut out a hole to position yourself in the circle. By taking place at the table, the circle is closed and your body forms the point of reference for potential actions. Through the incorporation of your body, tabling becomes an embodied activity that is determined by the possibile interactions between your body and the table.
Imagine a table the size of a coffee cup. When drinking coffee together, several small tables would assemble in dynamic configurations. Instead of a fixed table that determines where to drink your coffee, the table would move around the house with you.
One could argue that writing only requires a table the size of a Din A4 paper. By stretching a paper between four iron bars, the surface would become stiff and a tabletop wouldn’t even be necessary. When the page is full, the paper could be changed, constantly regenerating the table.
Exhibition table. The surface of the wall extends into a table. This way, the exhibition table can be used to simultaneously hang and place artworks, in relation to each other.
