One Trick Stool

2025
Stool
Maple, Suede, Arrow







This stool presents itself as an open-ended story, one that relies on the audience’s interpretation to become complete.

Built on three legs, one of which takes the form of an elephant’s leg, the piece brings together conflicting ideas of calmness, strength, vulnerability, and violence. In Krystal’s eyes, the elephant represents a mild and gentle presence, yet it also carries immense power and the potential to become destructive.

An arrow pierces through the elephant-shaped leg and continues upward into the seat. At first, this gesture feels almost impossible—can an arrow truly penetrate such thick skin? Yet does this apparent strength also coexist with vulnerability? Elephants often cover themselves with mud and dust to protect their skin from sunburn, heat, and insect bites. Their toughness does not eliminate their need for protection.

On this stool, the arrow breaks through that assumed toughness. It pierces the elephant’s skin, passes through the structure, and reaches the surface of the seat, where the audience becomes physically aware of its presence.

Through this tension, One Trick Stool resists a fixed reading. It becomes less of a completed statement than a question left open to the viewer.

So, audience, what story do you see in it?