max lamb uses sand, sea, and molten metal to cast pewter desk

max lamb uses sand, sea, and molten metal to cast pewter desk
all images by max lamb, gemma holt and peter doubleday / courtesy of max lamb

adopting the sand and sea as the parents for an organically formed object, london based designer max lamb has cast ‘pewter desk’ from molten metal laid into the surface of the earth. the significance of process and procedure bring about an almost performance art-like execution, as laborous hand-crafted techniques and hours of waiting for the proper result are responsible for the sculptural outcome of the piece. after calculating which day would allow for the lowest tide for the longest amount of time – granting them ample opportunity to craft the furniture object — lamb and his team carved a geometric pattern of contiguous triangles out from the sandy shoreline. 180 kg. of pewter was melted down in 30 stainless steel saucepans on gas camping stoves and poured into the sculpted depth. over an hour of cooling solidified the desk, before it was excavated and lifted out of the beach. while the grainy texture of the noisy sand granules appear on the legs and underside, the smooth liquefied surface of the pewter remains on the top of the desk.

the process results in a pewter cast desk

the finished piece on the sandy shoreline

max lamb carves a triangular geometric pattern into the surface of the sand

the team prepare to pour melted pewter into the depth

waiting for the molten metal to cool and solidify

a detail of the liquid metal material

lamb pours sea water over the surface of the cooled and solid structure

the desk on the beach overlooks the ocean