Seoul-based artist Choe U-Ram’s sculptural performance piece titled Round Table is a head-turner…and a head roller. The kinetic artwork utilizes robotics to bring otherwise inanimate objects to life. It provokes thoughts on humanity and how scarcity can lead to confrontation, both internally and externally.
Round Table, which debuted in 2022, features 18 headless figures, made of artificial straw, carrying a circular surface on their backs. Sitting atop the large table-like structure is a straw ball. This, according to Choe, is the “head,” and essential to the performance aspect of the piece. The head rolls back and forth across the table, with each body trying to claim it as its own. But here’s the conundrum: as each straw figure stands up to catch the head, the sloping table causes the ball to roll further away. In this case, the straw bodies want something they'll never have. Like Sisyphus pushing the boulder, they are in a perpetual struggle.
In addition to an intriguing performance, Round Table is also a marvel of meticulous machinery and kinetic sculpture. The piece is programmed to make it seem as though the head is about to fall off the table—but not quite. There are no guardrails to keep the ball of straw from sliding off the surface, but Choe has made sure it won’t happen. A camera is attached to the ceiling to track the head’s location and communicates with a computer to decide where the ball will roll next.
Watch below to see Round Table in action.
Artist Choe U-Ram created a kinetic sculpture titled Round Table. It features 18 headless figures comprising artificial straw and carrying a circular surface on their backs.
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The head rolls back and forth across the table, with each body trying to claim it as its own. But as each straw figure stands up to catch the head, the sloping table causes the ball to roll further away.
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