Meet Kenneth Smyte, although you may know him already as a prolific commenter to this blog [added: See for instance here, here and here].
This Synergistic Synthesis XVII Sub b 1 Chair was sold at Wright for $ 3,125 which is higher than the estimated $ 2,000 – $ 3,000. Congratulations Ken!
For one reason or another Ken refuses to maintain his own web presence (I mean other than as a commenter here and there).
USA, 2003
Linn birch Laminate, formica colorcore, latigo leather, Sunbrella acrylic, top grain leather, foam rubber, steel, maple dowels
32 w x 32 d x 32 h inches
San Francisco based designer, artist and scientist, Kenneth Smythe creates work originating from evolutionary models of nature. His furniture designs are essential forms derived from complex theories; the nature of Smythe’s process renders each work unique.
It was a very sad day for Wright and a sad day for me when this chair was auctioned off for $3,125. The high bidder bought this chair for a little over out of pocket cost to me. Today the seating alone would cost about $1,500. If the formica colorcore, in these colors, still existed, you would have to buy 6 sheets at over $300/sheet. The finn birch laminate, the steel rods and other consumables would add about $1,000 more. Over 250 hours of my time have not been accounted for in designing and making this chair. The SYNERGISTIC SYNTHESIS I-XXX chairs evolved over a 30 year period with this iteration coming into existence in the summer of 1998. The designing of the base and having it support the upper super structure in a balanced and uncontrived manner has been very difficult. After the IPOP I chair, auctioned off by Wright for $9,000 in 2007, delaminated I discontinued making designs using these materials. It is not possible to obtain a high enough price on designs using these materials to make a living. I exist today because my wonderful wife has let me eat for the past 40 years.
I am now designing for a material called RICHLITE (phenolic resin and paper). Check out richlite.com for samples and specs. I have many drawings of chairs, tables and lights for this material. I would be glad to email them to you if you are interested in reviewing them.
P.S. All my designs using RICHLITE are designed under the name Yaheba.
The sub title for SYNERGISTIC SYNTHESIS XVII chair is [Informed Intuition]. The ‘informed’ portion of the title took many years to arrive at and should probably now be called into question. Maybe in the near future I will sub title a chair [Informed Reflection].