Artwork of the month - video (60 sec).

Arcade Table

Year	2025
Size	200 cm × 200 cm × 87 cm
Materials	Concrete, red and white clay, glazes, Corten steel
Edition	1/1
For Sale	No
Share

Frank&Robbert Robbert&Frank have been working with curator / coach Pierre Muylle and Dertien12 architects since late 2022 to design and create art pieces for the Arcade project in Gistel, Belgium. The Arcade project provides care and shelter for over 40 young people, and four units have been built on the premises.

There will be three artistic integrations in Arcade: special tiling on the floors, a mural, and an outdoor temple made of two concrete circles that form a shelter with an inner table and a cortensteel circle of figures guarding a central fire.

The outdoor temple is the biggest project at the site. The inner concrete table is part of the right circle. It’s like an abstract sundial because it’s divided into 30 equal parts, each representing an equal slice of time. Each part has two inlay amulets: a circular white amulet and a rectangular red amulet. These symbols come from ancient languages that are no longer spoken and have never been fully translated, so they add an extra layer of mystery to the piece. They also connect to the floor tiles in the Arcade project’s indoor spaces.

The table is carried by seven large ceramic figures. These massive figures represent the transformation and the uniqueness of the young inhabitants, with each of the figures having a unique-shaped hole in their sculptural bodies.

The table is an active artwork. The symbols on the amulets were chosen together with the young people who will live there. The symbols on the amulets stick out from the table, making it like a bas-relief that you can use to make an imprint into clay, dough, or plasticine. This imprint can then be dried or baked, resulting in a copy that the youngsters can use to give as a gift to their beloved ones or to personalize cookies, personal items, and such.

In this way, the table becomes more than just a table; it’s an interactive object that can be used in play, workshops, therapy, and other social activities.

- - - - - - - - - -