The Table

Karbido

PPA production: Michał Litwiniec, Beata Szczepańska

Cast: Paweł Czepułkowski, Igor Gawlikowski, Michał Litwiniec, Marek Otwinowski

This is not an ordinary table made of pine and maple. And this is not an ordinary anniversary. Nineteen years have passed since Karbido’s performance that won them the OFF Toucan Award and launched the quartet’s international career — just enough time for the audiovisual show to pass into legend, and exactly enough to retain its rebellious vitality.

Czepułkowski, Gawlikowski, Litwiniec, and Otwinowski, together with their engineer-minded collaborators, transformed a trivial piece of furniture into a multifunctional instrument — acoustic, yet equipped with sound-processing electronics and a complex microphone system. On it, they conjure musical spells of ethnic rhythms from around the world, rock riffs, and ambient marvels alike. The limit — and sometimes another instrument — is the floor; the upper one is the sky of imagination.

After Karbido’s performance in Edinburgh, The Guardian wrote: “The table sounds magnificent when the musicians throw razor blades at it, spin coins on it, or tap out rhythms with knitting needles.” That was a long time ago — but the worn tabletop still has plenty left to sing.