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.
