We were selected by the Walker Art Center as one of several design firms and artists to propose a Telematic Table design.

We chose to work with the spaces for communication opened by the archetypal form of “the table.” We noted common expressions, such as when we say that we bring things “to the table,” or place things “on the table,” to express sharing and negotiation, respectively. We also “put food on the table,” expressing, through the need for nourishment, our contribution to, and maintenance of, the relationships and larger communities we form. Such expressions attest to the cultural importance and metaphoric possibilities of “the table.”

We embraced this archetypal image juxtaposed with three newer forms: “software,” “hardware,” and “network.” Our design reflects our desire to preserve the elevated horizontal surface of the table, while at the same time relocating it within the age of telematics.

Our design for the Walker’s telematic table is based on a set of units that can be connected to each other according to need and exhibition context. The kit refers to the variability of the Walker typeface designed by Matthew Carter, as well as toward the modularity of software. The table’s aesthetic program is intended as an interpretation of the aesthetics of software. Creating “configurations” using table “primitives” such as “buffet,” “dim sum,” “storytime,” etc., we create different orders of social space. In other words, rather than prescribing a single program for the Walker's Telematic table, we turn the gallery itself as a laboratory for telematic experimentation.