Front

Sketch Furniture by Front, Tokyo, 2007, p. 7
Steven Skov Holt and Maria Holt Shov, "Please Don't Be Seated," ArtNews, December 2008, p. 109
"Das Schweinesystem," Das Kunstmagazin, October 2010, p. 61

Overall excellent condition. This piece should be handled with white gloves to prohibit any marks to the surface. A superb prototype from a well-published design co-operative. A number of examples from this series in museum collections. Please see the footnote published in the print and online catalogues for a description of process used to create this cutting edge work.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Swedish collective known as Front (Anna Lindgren, Katja Pettersson, Sofia Lagerkvist and Charlotte von der Lancken) took the international design world by storm in 2005 when they presented their "Sketch Furniture" series in London at the Design Museum. As seen in the photograph on pp. 6-7 of this catalogue, in a seminal combination of motion-capture technology and stereolithography, Front used motion sensors to sketch the furniture in the air, which was then mapped as 3D animation models, and digitally read by a laser, which then sintered the furniture in layers out of a vat of thermoplastic. There were two chairs produced in the series in editions of five; the round back chair, which was included in numerous exhibitions, such as the Museum of Modern Art's Design and the Elastic Mind and the Cooper-Hewitt's Rococo: The Continuing Curve 1730-2008 and which is now in the permanent collection of the Museé des Beaux-Arts de Montreal and the High Museum in Atlanta; and the square back chair, as seen in the present lot. Another example of this model was recently exhibited in Hasselt, Belgium. The present lot is one of two prototypes, with the other example being retained by the designers.  In 2007 Front Design was awarded the "Designer of the Future" award at Art Basel/Design Miami.