John Kostick Geometric Synergetic Wooden Sculpture. Artists website: http://www.kosticks.com/star-history.html Consignor bought the item from a high end estate in Kansas City Heights in 1976. He wrote to the artist to confirm its authenticity. His art can be found in many venues including in movies such as good will hunting in the academic offices on the desk of Stellan Skarsgards desk at Harvard. Email Response from the artist to the Consignor: "John here. Yes, that is my work, as a design. It is from 1971, in NYC. I can't really say what the value would be, as it is unsigned, as most of my work has been. At the time, I operated with the business name Omniversal Design, and various people learned to make the design/art objects that I discovered and developed. This is such a piece. I could not say if I personally made this one, or someone that I taught did in the workshop. It is a larger scale rendition of an original design that was in bronze rods, about a foot long in its' open position. It is called a double tetra helix composed of Tetraxis joints. These wooden versions were made as window display racks for a department store, they would drape items of apparel on the frame. It is made of birch dowels and balls, oil finished. They were foldable enough to be easy to transport or store, but had enough structural integrity to have a relatively stable open state which could support a bit of weight. It's nice to see that this one is in as good a condition as it is. I would point out, though, that some of the joints have got shifted, so that the "beam" of 3 sticks is extending further on one end than the other. This is most apparent in the first picture you sent, in the top right of the image. You could, if you want to, push the beam through the joint to get a more balanced look. It was intended to be flexible enough for the whole thing to fold like an accordion, but this means that the beams can slide through the joints. If it were intended to be fixed, inflexible, the joints would have been glued. As far as appraised value, I can only say that this could be called a "limited edition," there were only a few made, less than a dozen, but they weren't sold as signed art, and the original price was pretty modest. The value would be as a collector's item for something unusual. Good luck with it, and thanks for reaching out. John" Size: 74 x 43 x 35 in. #5771