Dakota Jackson (born August 24, 1949) is an American

furniture designer This is a list of notable people whose primary occupation is furniture design. A * Alvar Aalto (1898–1976) * Eero Aarnio (born 1932) * Robert Adam (1728–1792) * Thomas Affleck (1745–1795) * Franco Albini (1905–1977) * Davis Allen ( ...

known for his

eponymous An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...

furniture brand, Dakota Jackson, Inc., his early

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

works involving moving parts or hidden compartments, and his collaborations with the

Steinway & Sons Steinway & Sons, also known as Steinway (), is a German-American piano company, founded in 1853 in New York City by German piano builder Henry E. Steinway, Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (later known as Henry E. Steinway). The company's growth le ...

piano company. Jackson helped establish the art furniture movement in 1970s

SoHo SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

, later becoming a celebrity designer in the 1980s. His background in the world of

stage magic A stage illusion is a large-scale magic trick. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illu ...

helped him get his first commissions and is often cited as the source of his point-of-view.

Early life

Dakota Jackson was born on August 24, 1949, and grew up in the

Rego Park Rego Park is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City. Rego Park is bordered to the north by Elmhurst and Corona, to the east and south by Forest Hills, and to the west by Middle Village. Rego Park's boundaries include Queen ...

neighborhood of

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Stage Magic

Jackson's father, Jack Malon, was a professional magician. Mr. Malon learned the trade from his own father, who studied

in early 20th century

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Jackson began studying magic at a young age and sometimes performed with his father. Jackson's name, in fact, grew out of a road trip to Fargo,

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. Throughout his adolescence and into his early 20s, Jackson immersed himself in the world of magic. In 1963, Jackson began to perform in talent shows at his junior high school, William Cowper JHS 73 (which is known today as The Frank Sansivieri Intermediate School), and at children's birthday parties. Jackson also began to build his own

props A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

, including large boxes for

sawing a woman in half Sawing a woman in half is a generic name for a number of stage magic tricks in which a person (traditionally a female assistant) is apparently cut or divided into two (or more) pieces. History There remains a debate about the origin of sawing ...

and small boxes from which doves would emerge in full flight. Jackson acknowledges the importance of these early experiences with magic to his later career as a furniture designer: "The demands of performance taught me how to discipline myself to achieve aesthetic ends." After Jackson graduated from Forest Hills High School in 1967, he continued performing as a magician, working in art galleries, night clubs, touring in the

Catskills The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province and subrange of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined a ...

, and giving private performances at society events. When he was 17, Jackson had studied with magician Jack London to learn the dangerous

bullet catch The bullet catch is a stage magic illusion in which a magician appears to catch a bullet fired directly at them ⁠— often in the mouth, sometimes in the hand or sometimes caught with other items such as a dinner plate. The bullet catch m ...

trick. "What appealed to me was the notion of doing things that appeared miraculous" Jackson once recalled. "I was interested in

spiritualism Spiritualism may refer to: * Spiritual church movement, a group of Spiritualist churches and denominations historically based in the African-American community * Spiritualism (beliefs), a metaphysical belief that the world is made up of at leas ...

. I was interested in things like bullet catching, things that really challenged individual sensibilities, that were frightening, on the edge." He didn't find the opportunity to perform the trick publicly until a decade later at Jackson's final professional performance as a magician. It was documented in

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

Interview (magazine) ''Interview'' is an American magazine founded by pop artist Andy Warhol and journalist John Wilcock in 1969. The magazine, nicknamed "The Crystal Ball of Pop," features interviews of and by celebrities. Background In 1965, pop artist Andy Wa ...

, in a story titled "Dakota Jackson bites the bullet." Jackson admits that he sometimes tires of references to his magician background, although he acknowledges it as an important part of his history.

The Downtown Arts Scene

In the late 1960s, Jackson moved into a

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

on 28th Street in Chelsea. Jackson became part of the

Downtown scene Downtown music is a subdivision of American music, closely related to experimental music, which developed in downtown Manhattan in the 1960s. History The scene the term describes began in 1960, when Yoko Ono, one of the early Fluxus artists, o ...

, a community of "artists, dancers, performers, and musicians" who moved to the neighborhood for the cheap rent and social life. In October 1970, Jackson performed with the Japanese group Tokyo Kid Brothers at New York's

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (sometimes abbreviated as La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1961 by African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer Ellen Stewart. Located in the East Village neighborho ...

(also known as Café La MaMa) in a

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...

production called "Coney Island Play" ("Konī airando purē). The show explored themes of cross-cultural communication and understanding and was a follow up to the group's debut performance of "The Golden Bat" at La MaMa earlier that summer. Jackson played the part of a "clever conjurer." Over the next few years, Jackson became interested in minimalist dance and performed in the

dance companies This is a list of notable Dance troupe, dance and Ballet company, ballet companies. Notes References See also

*List of folk dance performance groups *List of ballet companies in the United States *List of dancers {{Dance Dance compa ...

of Laura Dean and

Trisha Brown Trisha Brown (November 25, 1936 – March 18, 2017) was an American choreographer and dancer, and one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater and the postmodern dance movement. Brown’s dance/movement method, with which she and her danc ...

. Jackson credits his exposure to

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

and minimalist dance in particular as having had a strong influence on his approach to design; in 1989, Jackson told the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'':

For me the essential fineness of a design is in the idea, not the object itself ... In minimalism, the object is pared down to its basic meaning by stripping away all the
excrescence Excrescence may refer to: * Excrescence (phonology), the addition of a consonant to a word * In medicine and physiology, an outgrowth, especially of this skin, such as occurs in carnosity * Excrescence (architecture), a term defined by the a ...
... —those elements that do not contribute to the pure idea.

Design career

In the early 1970s, as he experimented with performance and dance, Jackson began branching out as a

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

consultant to other magicians, film producers, and musicians such as

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

. The loft also gave Jackson an opportunity to apply his creativity and building skills: "These were times when lofts were not ... luxury condominiums. These were tough, tough raw spaces ... and we artists,

bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a f ...

, creative people, we created our environment. So I had to build". Recognizing his skills as a builder, Jackson decided to shift away from performance and become a full-time maker. He began making a variety of objects, including furnishings for other artists and magic boxes with hidden compartments for art collectors and galleries. Jackson's social connections helped spread word about his work and this led to his first commissions.

Early Commissions

In 1974, Jackson's career as a designer began when

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

asked him to build a desk with hidden compartments for husband

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

. "She wanted to make a piece of furniture that would be a mystical object; that would be like a

Chinese puzzle ''Chinese Puzzle'' () is a 2013 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Cédric Klapisch. It is the third and final instalment in the "Spanish Apartment" trilogy, following '' L'Auberge espagnole'' (2002) and '' Russian Dolls'' (2005 ...

," Jackson recalled in a 1986 interview published in the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

. The result was a small cubed-shaped writing table with rounded corners reminiscent of

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

era style. Touching secret pressure points opened the desk's compartments. This commission helped build Jackson's reputation and allowed him to merge his experience as a magician and performer with his developing interest in furniture. In 1978, a bed designed for

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

Diane von Furstenberg Diane may refer to: People *Diane (given name) Film * ''Diane'' (1929 film), a German silent film * ''Diane'' (1956 film), a historical drama film starring Lana Turner * ''Diane'' (2017 film), a mystery film directed by Michael Mongillo * ''D ...

garnered Jackson even more notoriety. Called "The Eclipse", the bed was described in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

as "large, astounding, sumptuous, with sunbursts of cherry wood and quilted ivory satin at head and foot." A lighting system positioned behind the headboard switched on automatically at sunset and spread out rays of light "like an

aurora borealis An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

," which grew brighter and brighter until turning off at 2 am. Commissions like these continued to come in and Jackson soon became known as a designer to the rich and famous. Some of his other clients from this period included songwriter Peter Allen,

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

creator and producer

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

publisher

Jann Wenner Jann Simon Wenner ( ; born January 7, 1946) is an American businessman who co-founded the popular culture magazine ''Rolling Stone'' with Ralph J. Gleason and is the former owner of '' Men's Journal'' magazine. He participated in the Free S ...

, and

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

actress Christine Jones.

The American Art Furniture Movement and the Industrial Style

In the late 1970s, Jackson was among a small group of artists and artisans producing and exhibiting hand-made furniture in New York. Jackson and his peers were part of the "American Art Furniture Movement," a group sometimes called the "Art et Industrie Movement," named after the leading art furniture gallery of the era, Art et Industrie, founded by Rick Kaufmann in 1976. In a 1984 Town & Country article titled "Art You Can Sit On," Kaufmann said he created the gallery to "serve as a locus to the public for artists and designers creating new

decorative arts ] The decorative arts are arts or crafts whose aim is the design and manufacture of objects that are both beautiful and functional. This includes most of the objects for the interiors of buildings, as well as interior design, but typically excl ...

." The works on display were "radical objects" that drew from a number of fine art traditions, including " Pop art, Pop,

Surrealism Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

Pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism ...

and

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

hich were"thrown together with the severe lines of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

and the

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

, mixed with

Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He was one of the pioneers o ...

's color and filtered through a video sensibility—all to create a new statement." The article described Jackson as a "ten-year veteran of the genre" and pointed to the "clean forms and quiet colors" of his furniture. Jackson showed a variety of industrial-looking lacquer, metal, and glass works at Art et Industrie, including his Standing Bar (also known as the Modern Bar), a lacquered cabinet that Jackson designed in 1978 for his wife (then-girlfriend) RoseLee Goldberg. Other works from this period include the T-Bird Desk, Self-Winding Cocktail Table, and the Saturn Stool, which became one of Jackson's most recognizable works after being included in exhibitions at The Whitney, the International Design Center, and the American Craft Museum (now known as the

Museum of Arts and Design The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

), and in advertisements for

Diane von Fürstenberg Diane von Fürstenberg (born Diane Simone Michele Halfin; 31 December 1946) is a Belgian fashion designer best known for her wrap dress. She initially rose to prominence in 1969 when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg ...

and

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer. In 1968, he launched the company that later became Calvin Klein. In addition to clothing, he has also given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and jewellery. ...

The

Sun-Sentinel The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Broward County, an ...

described the Saturn Stool as "a pink planet seat surrounded by a pale green ring on an aluminum hydraulic lift..." The anodized aluminum and lacquered wood stool became synonymous with Jackson's work and, a decade later, it was used in an ad for

Absolut Vodka Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 (equivalent to € in ) from the Swedish state. Absolut ...

titled "Absolut Jackson". Jackson called this body of work the Deadly Weapons series. In concept and style, these works straddled the worlds of art and design and drew inspiration from the cutting-edge technology of the day, such as the

Rockwell B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). , it is one of the United States Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with t ...

, or B1 Bomber as it was commonly known. In 1984, ''The New York Times'' described the connection between the fighter jet and another of Jackson's Deadly Weapons designs, the B1 Desk: "Like the airplane, whose wings shift in flight, the desk has parts that slide open and unfold, including a secret compartment." Jackson's work during this period became associated with the industrial style for home furnishings, a new design trend that was documented in Joan Kron's and Suzanne Slesin's 1978 book "High-Tech: The Industrial Style and Source Book for the Home." In the catalog for The Whitney exhibition "High Styles: Twentieth-Century American Design," curator Lisa Phillips pointed to Jackson's Saturn Stool as an example of contemporary products with a "high-tech hardware look."

Shift to Manufacturing

Curator, poet, and art critic

John Perreault John Lucas Perreault (New York, New York, August 26, 1937 – September 6, 2015, New York, New York) was a poet, art curator, art critic and artist. Early life Perreault was born in Manhattan and raised in Belmar and other towns in New Jersey. H ...

included the Saturn Stool in the exhibition "Explorations II: The New Furniture" at the American Craft Museum in 1991. In the exhibition catalog, Perreault linked Jackson's approach to design with those used in various avant-garde art practices but he also noted Jackson's reluctance to be labeled as an artist. "In the best of Jackson's work," Perreault wrote, "industrial design, craft, and sculpture merge, providing a controversial template for future possibilities." In a review of the exhibition, New York Times art critic

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position at the Times. Education and early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawre ...

observed that Jackson's stool was one of the few objects in the exhibition that seemed ready for mass production. "I have always wanted to be associated with the craft world, but craft has always been confined to what the hand can do," Jackson told the Chicago Tribune in an interview about the exhibition. "One-of-a-kind design has a limited appeal to a limited group of collectors," he continued; "the day of the patron-client relationship is behind us." Jackson has often stated that he was inspired by

industrialists A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie ( , ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the History of the iron and steel industry in the United States, American steel industry in the late ...

to increase production output and create designs that could be manufactured in multiple. When he started building in the early 1970s, Jackson was able to complete six pieces a year with the help of a single assistant. In 1976, he relocated from his Chelsea loft and workshop to a larger studio in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

, hiring five assistants. After sales grew to over 100 pieces a year in 1978, Jackson moved again, this time to a 12,500 square foot factory in

Long Island City Long Island City (LIC) is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered by Astoria to the north; the East River to the west; Sunnyside to the east; and Newtown Creek, which separates Queens from Greenpoint, Brook ...

with a staff of 15. The move to Long Island City allowed Jackson to set up a

design studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

that was part

atelier An atelier () is the private workshop or studio of a professional artist in the fine or decorative arts or an architect, where a principal master and a number of assistants, students, and apprentices can work together producing fine art or vi ...

and part

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

. Although he was still making one-of-a-kind commissions, Jackson also designed with production in mind, simplifying forms and eliminating moving parts and hidden compartments. This allowed him to start making lower priced furniture in small production runs.

New Classics Collection

The first collection based on this assembly line approach was the New Classics, which Jackson introduced for the residential furniture market in 1983. "I've extracted the signature elements from my work and am moving into a more affordable price range," Jackson told ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''. Known for "art-world" priced custom furniture, Jackson likened this reach into a new market to the introduction of a "ready to wear" collection by a "haute couture" designer in the fashion world. New Classics took aesthetic cues from the

Post-modern architecture Postmodern architecture is a style or movement which emerged in the 1960s as a reaction against the austerity, formality, and lack of variety of modern architecture, particularly in the international style advocated by Philip Johnson and Henry- ...

Movement, which was a reaction to the sparseness of

modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

and design. Jackson—along with architects

Robert Venturi Robert Charles Venturi Jr. (June 25, 1925 – September 18, 2018) was an American architect, founding principal of the firm Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates. Together with his wife and partner, Denise Scott Brown, he helped shape the way that ...

and

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, and principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Group and ...

—helped to define the new style with works that referenced traditional architectural features such as classical proportions, columns, and arches. The collection included a dining table, buffet, armoire, coffee table, and desk, each in a post and lintel design that was easier to reproduce than Jackson's other more sculptural works. To help market New Classics to architects and designers serving the residential market, Jackson opened a

showroom A plumbing fixture showroom, Canada, 1921 A showroom is a large space used to display products or show entertainment. Marketing location A showroom is a large space used to display products for sale, such as automobiles, furniture, appliances ...

in Manhattan at the Interior Design Building in 1984.

Ke-zu Collection

In 1989, Jackson entered the

mass-produced Mass production, also known as mass production, series production, series manufacture, or continuous production, is the production of substantial amounts of standardized products in a constant flow, including and especially on assembly lines. ...

contract furniture market with the Ke-zu seating collection, which started with an "angular"

chaise longue A chaise longue (; , ) is an upholstered sofa in the shape of a chair that is long enough to support the legs of the sitter. In modern French, the term ''chaise longue'' refers to any long reclining chair, such as a deckchair. In English, ...

and grew to include a range of leather-covered arm chairs, side chairs, club chairs, ottomans, and sofas. Like the Saturn Stool, the Ke-zu Chaise came to define Jackson, earning a place in the permanent collection of the

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

and in fashion advertisements of the day.

Vik-ter Chair

In 1991, Jackson introduced the "biomorphic" Vik-ter Stacking Chair (commonly known as the Vik-ter Chair) at the third annual

International Contemporary Furniture Fair ICFF, the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, is an annual design show in New York City that showcases trending furniture and industrial design. Each year since its founding in 1989, the ICFF has hosted hundreds of international exhibitors, ...

at the

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, commonly known as the Javits Center, is a large convention center on Eleventh Avenue between 34th Street and 38th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by architect James In ...

in Manhattan. The chair's "highly production oriented" design included a curving welded-steel frame and a tapered laminated cherry

plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...

seat that could be produced in seven minutes. Dakota jackson vik-ter chair

The Vik-ter Chair was Jackson's first design that could be mass-produced and priced competitively. It received a silver award for environmental design in the 1992 Industrial Design Excellence Awards, awards from ''I.D.'', ''

Metropolis A metropolis () is a large city or conurbation which is a significant economic, political, and cultural area for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections, commerce, and communications. A big city b ...

'', and ''

Interior Design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a Creativity, creative flair, an ...

'' magazines, and was shown in exhibitions at the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, the American Craft Museum (now known as the

), and the

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facili ...

. Both the American Craft Museum and the Cooper-Hewitt obtained the Vik-ter Chair for their permanent collections, and the Cooper-Hewitt also owns a collection of models and drawings relating to the chair's development. In the catalog for the exhibition at the Weatherspoon Art Gallery, which was titled "The Chair: From Artifact to Object," curator Trevor Richardson gives context to Jackson's achievement with the Vik-ter Chair:

Between the severity of
Minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...
on the one hand, and the exuberance of
Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Mem ...
on the other, there emerged a new breed of designer who chose to work within the constraints of traditional design languages, while seeking new ways to enrich their existing vocabulary. Far from appearing tired and shopworn, this reworking has, in the hands of individuals such as Jonas Bohlin, Dakota Jackson and
Bořek Šípek Bořek Šípek (14 June 1949 – 13 February 2016) was a Czech architect and designer. Biography Born in Prague, he was renowned for his individual, unusual, colorful, and rich style. He experimented with unexpected and often opulent shapes. ...
, attained a new level of refinement and sophistication.

Although the Vik-ter Chair was designed for the contract market, its popularity led Jackson to make it available to the residential market and for sale directly to buyers through the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

Design Store Catalog.

The Library Chair

In 1991, Jackson began work on a chair for use in

libraries A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

and other educational institutions. Inspired by

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

-style office chairs, as well as by the plywood seating collections of

Charles and Ray Eames Charles Eames ( Charles Eames, Jr) and Ray Eames ( Ray-Bernice Eames) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of ...

, Jackson spent five years developing and testing his design for what became "The Library Chair" and one of his most ubiquitous works. Dakota jackson library chair

Jackson wanted to engineer a strong, comfortable wooden chair that could be mass-produced cost-effectively. To achieve this, he turned to

Computer Numerical Control Computer numerical control (CNC) or CNC machining is the Automation, automated control of machine tools by a computer. It is an evolution of numerical control (NC), where machine tools are directly managed by data storage media such as punched ...

cutting technology, or CNC as it is more commonly known, and became one of the first independent furniture manufacturers in the US to acquire the equipment. Although "deceptively simple-looking," Jackson's design for the Library Chair features compound curves, a hidden

Tongue and groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. A strong joint, it allows two flat pieces to be joined strongly together to mak ...

joint between seat and back planes that bend in different directions, and arms that are joined to both the back legs and seat back on either side. The CNC cutter's ability to move though complex cutting operations, switching tools as needed, enabled Jackson's woodworkers to shape the chair's components efficiently and with precision. Doing this work in-house at his factory in Long Island City allowed Jackson to produce the chair at a low

unit cost The unit cost is the price incurred by a company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture ...

and sell the chair at a competitive price. After Jackson exhibited the chair at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in 1993, Metropolitan Home described it as "simplicity itself" and observed that it marked "design's new austere mood." Metropolitan Home also recognized the Library Chair with a "Best of Show" award at the furniture fair, and Jackson received the ICFF Editors Award for Best Body of Work. The Library Chair was first specified for the

San Francisco Public Library The San Francisco Public Library is the public library system of the city and county of San Francisco in United States. The Main Library is located at Civic Center, at 100 Larkin Street. The library system has won several awards, such as ''Libr ...

's new Main Library location, which was designed by architect

James Ingo Freed James Ingo Freed (June 23, 1930 – December 15, 2005) was an American architect born in Essen, Germany. After coming to the United States at age nine with his sister Betty, followed later by their parents, he studied at the Illinois Institut ...

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Pei Cobb Freed & Partners is an American architectural firm based in New York City, founded in 1955 by I. M. Pei and other associates.

and the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

architecture firm of Simon Martin-Vegue Winkelstein Moris. The new facility opened in 1996 and required more than a thousand chairs overall, including 722 side chairs and 154 arm chairs for main reading rooms, and 165 upholstered armchairs for the Library's special collections rooms. Before Jackson's chair could be accepted, however, it had to undergo testing at the Forest and Natural Resources Product Laboratory at

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

to ensure it could withstand institutional use. It was performance tested twice at Purdue before passing the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

's LTR standard, which certifies a performance that's equivalent to 10 years of use in a busy library without failure. One of the tests involved a 250-pound weight, which was dropped on the chair 175,000 times in a row. To increase the strength of the chair, Jackson "experimented with different woods and reinforced the frame with dowels, tenons, finger joints and threaded steel inserts." The precision-carved parts kept joints between arms, legs, and seat tight. In 1995, the Library Chair received the ICFF Editors Award for Best Craftsmanship and, in 1997, it was included in the

Metropolitan Home ''Metropolitan Home'' is an interior design magazine published by Hearst Magazines. The magazine focuses on "high-end modern design and interiors, blended with intelligent reporting, to connect with a progressive reader mindset." History and pr ...

"Design 100," a list of the "World's Best Ideas and Products." In 1999, the Cooper-Hewitt added the Library Chair to their permanent collection. In a 2008 interview with the New York Daily News, Jackson described a moment when he visited a library and saw his chair. "I picked it up to examine it and fresh gum stuck to my hand," Jackson recalled. It was then that he realized his design was "just a chair—a simple, dumb chair," and that he had created an institutional chair with longevity. "...It'll be here a lot longer than I will," he said.

Steinway & Sons

Jackson has collaborated with

to produce several

Limited edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

pianos A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal tempe ...

. The first project began in 1998 when Steinway asked Jackson to design the Tricentennial Artcase Grand Piano to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the instrument's invention. In 2014, in honor of Steinway's 160th anniversary, Jackson and Steinway introduced the 160th Anniversary Limited Edition Arabesque Grand Piano at

Steinway Hall Steinway Hall (German: ) is the name of buildings housing concert halls, showrooms and sales departments for Steinway & Sons pianos. The first Steinway Hall was opened in 1866 in New York City. Today, Steinway Halls and are located in cities suc ...

. The design, with twisting legs that were inspired by the

Arabesque (ballet position) Arabesque (; literally, "in Arabic fashion") in dance, particularly ballet, is a body position in which a dancer stands on one leg–the ''supporting'' leg–with the other leg–the ''working'' leg– turned out and extended beh ...

, became the first Steinway & Sons piano to receive a

Red Dot Design Award The Red Dot Design Award is an international, annual design competition for product and industrial design, brand and communication design as well as design concepts, in which the Red Dot quality label is awarded to winners. The Red Dot Design A ...

for Product Design.

Notable projects

* 2014, 160th Anniversary Limited Edition Arabesque Piano (

) * 2007, Scatter Chair (first publicly available Dakota Jackson product) * 2001, DB-1 and DB-2 Tables (exhibited at the

Cooper-Hewitt Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facili ...

in 2002) * 2000, Tri-Centennial Piano (first collaboration with

) * 2000, Dumb Box, P.A. * 1999, Boutique showroom for jewelry designer

David Yurman David Yurman is a privately held American jewelry company, founded by David Yurman (born October 12, 1942 in New York City) and Sybil Kleinrock Yurman (born December 10, 1942 in New York City). It is headquartered in New York City. History ...

on Madison Avenue * 1999, Kips Bay Show House * 1998, Collaboration with architect

Peter Eisenman Peter David Eisenman (born August 11, 1932) is an American architect, writer, and professor. Considered one of the New York Five, Eisenman is known for his high modernist and deconstructive designs, as well as for his authorship of several archi ...

on the Dakota Jackson Los Angeles showroom * 1997,

Bombay Sapphire Bombay Sapphire is a brand of gin that is distilled by the Bombay Spirits Company, a subsidiary company of Bacardi, at Laverstoke Mill in the village of Laverstoke in the English county of Hampshire. The brand was first launched in 1986 by Engli ...

Goblet * 1996, Golder Chapel, Temple Jeremiah, Winnetka, Illinois (AIA Religious Art & Architecture Design Award) * 1995, The Library Chair (acquired by the

in 1999) * 1995, The Coda Chair for Lane Home Furnishings * 1992, Absolut Jackson ad for

* 1991, Vik-ter Chair (acquired by the

in 1991 and the

in 1993) * 1988, Ke-zu Chaise (acquired by the

in 1990) * 1984, New Classics Desk (acquired by the

in 1990) * 1979, Self-Winding Cocktail Table * 1976, Saturn Stool (exhibited at The Whitney in 1985 and acquired by the

in 1990) * 1974, Desk for

and

(first major commission)

Permanent collections

Museums

, Brooklyn, NY * Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design, Chicago, IL * Colorado Ski Museum, Vail, CO *

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a design museum at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in Manhattan, New York City, along the Upper East Side's Museum Mile. It is one of 19 Smithsonian Institution museums and one of three Smithsonian facil ...

, New York, NY *

Design Museum The Design Museum in Kensington, London, England, exhibits product, industrial, graphic, fashion, and architectural design. In 2018, the museum won the European Museum of the Year Award. The museum operates as a registered charity, and all fund ...

, London, England *

German Architecture Museum The Deutsches Architekturmuseum (English: German Architecture Museum), or DAM, is located on the Museumsufer in Frankfurt, Germany. Housed in an 18th-century building, the interior has been re-designed by Oswald Mathias Ungers in 1984 as a set ...

, Frankfurt, Germany *

, New York, NY *

, New York, NY * Spiritmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden * Wolfsonian-FIU, Miami Beach, FL

Corporate collections

Nike, Inc. Nike, Inc. (stylized as ''NIKE'') is an American athletic footwear and apparel corporation headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon. It is the world's largest supplier of athletic shoes and apparel and a major manufacturer of sports equipment, ...

, Beaverton, OR *

Bloomingdale's Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain founded in 1861 by Joseph Bloomingdale and Lyman Bloomingdale. It was acquired by Federated Department Stores in 1930, which purchased the Macy's department store chain in 1994, ...

, New York, NY *

Revlon Revlon, Inc. is an American multinational company dealing in cosmetics, skin care, perfume, and personal care. The headquarters of Revlon was established in New York City on March 1, 1932, where it remains. Revlon was founded by brothers Charle ...

, New York, NY * The Gap, Inc., San Francisco, CA *

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

, Culver City, CA *

Oprah Winfrey Network The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN, also known as the OWN Network) is an American multinational basic cable television network which launched on January 1, 2011, effectively replacing the Discovery Health Channel, which one month later merged with ...

, Chicago, IL * The Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, CA * Arista Records, Inc., New York, NY *

Bad Boy Records Bad Boy Entertainment, doing business as Bad Boy Records, is an American independent record label. The label was founded in 1993 by rapper and record producer Sean Combs. During the mid-1990s, the label signed hip-hop and contemporary R&B, R&B a ...

, New York, NY *

EMI Music EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), c ...

, London, England *

Four Seasons Hotel Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is a Canadian luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.David Se ...

, New York, NY *

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, Cambridge, MA

Public institutions

, San Francisco, CA *

Santa Monica Public Library The Santa Monica Public Library (SMPL) is the public library serving residents of Santa Monica, California and surrounding areas. SMPL is directed by a City Librarian, who reports to the Santa Monica City Manager's Office and is overseen by a Lib ...

* West Hollywood Public Library

Exhibitions

* 2006, "Take a Seat",

Neuberger Museum of Art The Neuberger Museum of Art (the NEU) is located at the centre of the Purchase College campus in Purchase, New York. With a collection of nearly 7,000 works of modern, contemporary and African art, it is one of the nation's largest academic mus ...

, Purchase, NY * 2002, "Skin," curated by

Ellen Lupton Ellen Lupton (born 1963) is a graphic designer, curator, writer, critic, and educator. Known for her love of typography, Lupton is the Betty Cooke and William O. Steinmetz Design Chair at Maryland Institute College of Art. Previously she was t ...

, New York, NY * 1992, "The Cooper-Hewitt Collections: A Design Resource: Designs for Seating", Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, NY * 1992, "Initial Concepts: Dakota Jackson", Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, NY * 1991, "Explorations II: The New Furniture," curated by

American Craft Museum The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), based in Manhattan, New York City, collects, displays, and interprets objects that document contemporary and historic innovation in craft, art, and design. In its exhibitions and educational programs, the ...

, New York, NY * 1991, "The Chair: From Artifact to Object", Weatherspoon Art Gallery,

University of North Carolina at Greensboro The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG or UNC Greensboro) is a public research university in Greensboro, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina, University of North Carolina system. It is accredited by the S ...

, Greensboro, NC * 1990, "Mondo Materialis," curated by Jeffrey Osborne and George Beylerian, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, New York, NY * 1987, "The Chair Fair," organized by

Architectural League of New York The Architectural League of New York is a non-profit organization "for creative and intellectual work in architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construct ...

, International Design Center, New York, NY * 1985, "High Styles: Twentieth-Century American Design," curated by Lisa Phillips, et al.,

The Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a modern and contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. The institution was founde ...

, New York, NY * 1980, "Further Furniture," curated by Nicholas Calas, Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, NY

Awards and honors

* 2014,

, Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen * 2012, Design Icon Award,

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU, or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...

, San Francisco, CA * 2010, AD 20/21 Lifetime Achievement Award,

Boston Architectural College The Boston Architectural College (BAC) is a private college in Boston. It is New England's largest private college of spatial design. The college's main building is at 320 Newbury Street in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. History Boston Arc ...

, Boston, MA * 2006, SCAD Style Étoile Award,

Savannah College of Art and Design Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private art school with locations in Savannah, Georgia; Atlanta, Georgia; and Lacoste, France. It was founded in 1978 to provide degrees in programs not yet offered in the southeast of the United ...

, Savannah, GA * 1997, Design 100 Hall of Fame,

, New York, NY * 1997, Good Design Award, The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, Chicago, IL * 1995, AIA Religious Art & Architecture Design Award,

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

, Washington, D.C. * 1995, ICFF Editors Award: Craftsmanship,

, New York, NY * 1994, Design 100 Hall of Fame, Metropolitan Home, New York, NY * 1993, ICFF Editors Award: Body of Work, International Contemporary Furniture Fair, New York, NY * 1992, Annual Design Review Award, I.D., The International Design Magazine, New York, NY

References

External links

Dakota Jackson Website
*
Interview regarding changes in the high-end furniture industry caused by the Great Recession

Profile of Jackson as Honorary Chair of Furniture Design at SCAD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Dakota 1949 births Living people American furniture designers Businesspeople from Queens, New York 20th-century American Jews People from Rego Park, Queens American magicians 21st-century American Jews

Early life

Stage Magic

The Downtown Arts Scene

Design career

Early Commissions

The American Art Furniture Movement and the Industrial Style

Shift to Manufacturing

New Classics Collection

Ke-zu Collection

Vik-ter Chair

The Library Chair

Steinway & Sons

Notable projects

Permanent collections

Museums

Corporate collections

Public institutions

Exhibitions

Awards and honors

References

Further reading

External links