Dakota Jackson is an American furniture designer best known for his Dakota Jackson furniture line. He was a magician’s son, and by the time he was six, he became a professional magician. He performed in public until his early 20s.
Biography
Jackson began his career as a consultant to stage magicians and rock bands who wanted to incorporate illusion into their performances. He transitioned from magic to furniture; he was involved in building boxes in which assistants were placed to be sawn in half or levitated.
In the early 1970s, he created his first furniture design (commissioned by Yoko Ono for John Lennon). Yoko asked her to make a desk for her husband. She envisioned a writing table resembling a Chinese puzzle, complete with hidden compartments. He had never made real furniture before, so completing the desk took some time. He soon received commissions from other celebrities as a result of word of mouth.
He created a bar for actor Pete Allen, a desk for a television producer, and a vampish bed for socialite-fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. The bed, dubbed the eclipse, was created to depict the sun and moon in the sky at the same time. Behind the headboard were lights that turned on automatically at sunset, grew brighter throughout the evening, and then turned off at 2.30 a.m.
He designed and built his furniture. In 1991, he debuted his ‘Vikter’ furniture line, which included the Stacking Chair. He creates furniture that makes inventive use of new materials, and he gives his pieces unusual and sometimes unpronounceable titles.
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Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
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