Post-Modern Dakota Jackson Self-Winding Coffee Table Chrome 1978 Vintage Chrome

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Post-Modern Dakota Jackson Self-Winding Coffee Table Chrome 1978 Vintage Chrome

About the Item

Iconic postmodern design by Dakota Jackson. The steel base features three levels of thick glass. Referencing the self-winding clock, the two “hands” of the table shift under and around the round top like the hands of the clock that hover ever so slightly apart from the clock’s face. This work is often described as “semi-functional,” which is not exactly what it sounds like. This table is fully functional as a coffee table, and, yes, it can take a number of shapes depending on the placement of its “hands” ... but it also looks like it is supposed to do something more than what it actually can do. In other words, Jackson is poking holes in the haughty Modernist tenet that ‘form follows function.’ He shows us that something can look functional, have the functional aesthetic, and not necessarily function in the way that the aesthetic indicates. There is no “minimal” essential form that any essential function dictates. So to put postmodernism in a nutshell: one can sit on a chair and use a barstool as a table. One can sit on a barstool and use the chair as an ottoman. What makes the chair a “chair” and the stool a “stool” is not essential to what they are... The chair is a chair because it looks like a chair “should” and then we use it based on what we believe it to be. Of course what is so profound about postmodernism is not that the table might look like a clock or look industrial and glamorous at the same time, it is that design, literature, art, etc. can wake us up, inspire us to reconsider and perhaps set aside even for a glorious second all of the notions, identities, labels, memories, ideologies to which we cling and to experience the sweetness of the moment, the endless possibilities of now. 36” diameter x 17” h; 48” diameter movement

Creator:
Dakota Jackson (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 17 in (43.18 cm)Diameter: 36 in (91.44 cm)
Style:
Post-Modern (Of the Period)
Materials and Techniques:
Chrome,Glass,Wood
Place of Origin:
United States
Period:
1970-1979
Date of Manufacture:
1978
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Very good vintage condition. Rotating mechanism works well. No breaks or cracks. No major visible scratches apparent. No pitting or patina to chrome visible at this time. Presents extremely well. Minor age appropriate wear to be expected.
Seller Location:
Brooklyn, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU4190312449153

Shop All Dakota Jackson

Dakota Jackson

Today, Dakota Jackson’s luxury chairs, sofas, tables and other pieces are known for their stylish and expressive forms, so it’s perhaps not a surprise that the American contemporary furniture designer has spent a lifetime immersed in the arts.

Born to a family of professional magicians, Jackson was raised in a household that had a flair for the dramatic. A young Dakota moved to Manhattan and mingled with the bustling creative scene. There, he studied minimalist dance at multiple companies, performed with an experimental theater group and worked in special effects. His fascination with illusion and drama seeped into his creative inclinations, especially when he decided to shift his artistic energy toward furniture.

Jackson’s foray into design began in the 1970s when he got his hands dirty during the build-out of his loft apartment in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood back when lofts weren’t quite the heavenly residences of today. He constructed his own walls and bathroom fixtures and worked with a variety of materials that included lacquered wood, leather and chrome-plated steel, crafting intriguing seating and case pieces that would later end up in museums. (His famed Library chair is part of the collection at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.)

Jackson’s work became so well known throughout the buzzing art scene that he garnered the attention of reputable antique dealers who enlisted him to restore their own pieces of furniture. In 1974, Yoko Ono became a client. She commissioned Jackson to design a desk for John Lennon’s birthday. After he finished the former Beatle’s custom piece — an unconventional Art Deco–style writing desk that mirrored a Chinese puzzle box with secret compartments and hidden drawers — celebrities flocked to Jackson like bees to honey, and his name became synonymous with immaculate craftsmanship as well as the era’s radical American Art Furniture movement, which drew on Surrealism, Pop art and other traditions.

Even Belgian fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg asked Jackson to create the now-famous Eclipse bed, a sensual, striking structure framed in glossy cherrywood and upholstered in satin. In 1978, the lifelong arts lover paired a piano factory with his furniture manufacturing company and collaborated with Steinway & Sons on the design of several limited-edition pianos over the years. Today, Dakota Jackson, Inc., counts massive corporations among his clients and continues to design new collections.

Find a collection of Dakota Jackson furniture on 1stDibs.