Flickr Widget

Showing posts with label Tom Dixon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Dixon. Show all posts

Monday, June 11, 2012

Fifty years from now: Tom Dixon

A shoo-in for a place as an important designer fifty years from now, Tom Dixon (1959- ) was born in Sfax, Tunisia, to a French/Latvian mother and an English father, but moved with his family to Great Britain at the age of four. He attended Chelsea Art School for six-months, but a motorcycle accident in 1980 ended his studies and left him in the hospital for three months.

After dropping out of art school, he played guitar in a band for two years, until another motorcycle accident left him unable to play, but he remained involved in the London club and warehouse party scene for another couple of years, leaving him daylight hours to learn to weld on his damaged motorcycles.

Once he learned the skill, he began to experiment with decorative welded structures made of recycled materials and industrial scrap. His pieces evolved with no need for design sketches, and indeed he considered what he was doing "industry," rather than design. Soon his creations began to attract attention, and commissions and exhibitions followed.

Dixon gained acclaim when the Italian furniture manufacturer Cappellini began to produce his work. The S chair made his reputation. At first, it was made of woven rubber covered with rush, but in 1989, Cappellini introduced a felt-upolstered version, and the S chair reached iconic status and earned a place in New York's Museum of Modern Art.

In 2002 he and David Begg started Tom Dixon Ltd. Then in 2004 they formed a partnership with the venture capital company Proventus, forming Design Research, which today owns and manages both the Tom Dixon company and Artek, the Finnish furniture manufacturer established by Alvar Aalto in 1935. Dixon is creative director for Habitat, as well as Artek.

In 2000 Dixon was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to British design.

From tomdixon.net and designmuseum.org


S chairs
store.eckhard.nl

Rubber Band  chair
tomdixon.net

Fan chair
tomdixon.net

Bean sofa
bonluxat.com


Flash table
tomdixon.net

Link easy chair
woont.com

Spot table
janinevesta.com


Jack Light
furnitureonthemove.co.uk

Fluoro floor light
tomdixon.net
Beat lighting
stylenorth.ca
Etch lighting
trendir.co
Void light
dwell.com
Pipe light
chictip.com

Friday, January 20, 2012

Mid-century style pendant lights

While catching up on some old Retro Renovation posts a few days ago, I ran across information about three amazing Tom Dixon style pendant lights at a price so low I couldn't believe my eyes. Since the post was from 2010, I felt sure they would no longer be available, but, as luck would have it, two of the three styles are still in stock at the same regular low price...$29. If that weren't amazing enough, when I checked back yesterday, I found them on sale for $24!

They are from Patriot Lighting and are available online at Menards. While I think the pendant styles would be spectacular hung in a group at varying heights over a mid-century dining table, hung singly over a kitchen sink or in a row over a bar, the line also includes a $24.99 three-head track light in the same finish. I haven't seen any of these, so I can't speak to the quality, but at that price, what do you have to lose? If nothing else, they'd be perfect placeholders till you find a great bargain on a vintage fixture or win the lottery and buy the one on 1stdibs that you keep fantasizing about owning.

I really like the oxide bronze finish, but I can also picture these painted white, red, turquoise, yellow or chartreuse. The possibilities are limitless.

Oxide bronze pendant - Reg. $29
On sale for $24
8" diameter x 13" high
menards.com
Oxide bronze pendant - Reg. $29
On sale for $24
7" diameter x 16" high
menards.com