Max LambEcho

In 2021 Max Lamb presented 6 x 8 Western Red Cedar, a set of furniture that expanded from solid lengths of Western red cedar wood measuring 6 x 8 inches in cross section. Each piece begins as if a puzzle in reverse: marking and cutting every segment, rearranging the pieces, then mortise and tenon joining every fragment into a functional chair, stool, bench, or table. “Each cut is mapped out and the consequence of the cut is processed before the incision is made, every cut and part generated is essential.” Lamb began prototyping each of these puzzles first in polystyrene, learning and practicing each cut before transitioning into wood, offering each work his own unique solution.

“What is taken away cannot be too big or the grain is weakened, but each cut yields a positive and the benefit of the cut is potential for the block of wood to become something else with a larger surface area with more function.” Each iteration of the 6 x 8 series possess a visual complexity that prompts the viewer’s mind to try and piece together their assembly.

After the first set of 6 x 8 works were assembled each combination existed in both white polystyrene as a part of Lamb’s prototyping, and in Western Red Cedar. A nod to Claes Oldenburg’s Ghost versions of soft sculptures, Lamb expanded the 6 x 8 series to also encompass the original polystyrene ghost; a 1:1 scale prototype marked with notes and measurements – a set of answers hidden behind a rubber polymer coating, rendering it functional.

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