60 chairs, 2020
In a three day span, Max Lamb transformed five 4” slabs of polystyrene into 60 chairs. To prepare, Lamb drew a meticulous cutting list where each slab yielded 12 chairs, with little material waste left behind. Each of the 60 Chairs has been hand cut, sprayed, signed, numbered, photographed, wrapped, and packed by Lamb. This is Lamb’s first editioned chair.
60 Chairs breaks down and elevates the human production line. A marathon performance lasting three days: repeating cuts, gluing, assembly, and finally spraying. “The making process was a constant counting game. 60 chairs meant 240 legs and 540 individual parts in total. So much repetition. So much counting. So much longing to get to chair number 60.” This edition is coated in un-pigmented polyurethane rubber, unaltered from the tin, the colorway is titled “resin.”
Throughout the design and production of 60 Chairs, Lamb methodically considered every step and decision. With limited space, Lamb rented a box truck to transport raw materials, and used the same truck as his onsite workshop. Including newly made hot wire tools, specifically designed to cut all 540 pieces of polystyrene, everything needed to produce, store, and transport 60 chairs, economically fit inside the truck.
Max Lamb has worked on his Poly and Scrap Poly works for 15 years. Cutting, carving, peeling, spraying, and up-cycling both virgin and scrap expanded polystyrene — Lamb is constantly innovating with processing techniques, coatings, pushing the boundaries of this modest material. 60 Chairs showcases Lamb’s comfort in working with expanded polystyrene, and radically challenged his capacity to produce, by hand, a large number of works in three days. Lamb’s efficiency comes with experience, and a decade long relationship with the materials and processes.
SCRAP POLY BLUE, 2019
October 25 - November 2
3 East 89th Street
Max Lamb’s ongoing Scrap Poly Furniture project continues with a new series of 23 pieces in high-gloss lapis blue.
A form of decluttering and cleansing, Lamb adds to his Scrap Poly series only as his studio fills up with polystyrene scraps. In this case, he is readying to move his London workshop. A meticulous hoarder, Lamb utilizes all his residue, as “every little bit of material is precious and has potential.” As assemblage of random offcuts, the nature of the scraps dictate each form. The 23 lightweight works - chairs, benches and planters, are a result of this exercise.
Once constructed, the works are sprayed in a high-density polyurethane rubber coating to form a permanent, waterproof exoskeleton over the fragile polystyrene, making these works functional both indoors and outdoors. Today he has chosen a primary mineral color - lapis lazuli. The blue is a standard “off the shelf” unadulterated colour - “straight out of the tin.” Lamb enjoys the duality of a practice that combines the fundamentals of nature with the synthetic.
This practice is also one of economy, speed and performance. Engineering and making furniture often relies on long lead times and research. The Scrap Poly project offers a satisfying and efficient way to circumvent time.
Born in 1980, Max Lamb is a native of Cornwall, England. Lamb cites his upbringing in this bucolic landscape as the source for his creative spirit and his deep appreciation for natural materials. He earned a degree in Three Dimensional Design from Northumbria University in 2003, and, in the same year, he was awarded both the Hettich International Design Award and the Peter Walker Award for Innovation in Furniture Design. In 2006, he completed his Masters Degree in Design Products at the Royal College of Art.
In 2016, Max’s work was included in the design triennial beauty at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. In 2018 the Art Institute of Chicago selected Max Lamb as their designer for the inaugural exhibition of the Franke/Herro design series, where curator Zoe Ryan highlights the work of important emerging talent.
Max Lamb’s Scrap Poly Blue will be on view from Friday October 25-November 2, 2019 at 3 East 89th Street, 2nd floor.