Photograph courtesy of Tom Dixon
The artist has arrived. British designer Tom Dixon will be in town at Switch Modern on February 26 as part of the Atlanta leg of his Big Fat American tour. The tour is to kick off the release of Dixon’s latest furniture collection, dubbed FAT. Always an innovator, the collection explores a fresh take on shape and texture. Dixon is known for his playful work with materials and general approach to design. He is also responsible for the design of Himitsu in Buckhead.
Below, we chatted with him about the new collection.
Photograph courtesy of Tom Dixon
You can be called a designer, artist, engineer, maker, perhaps a futurist, and more. I find this kind of deep curiosity and fluidity makes for the most interesting outputs. How do you self-identify, if you choose to at all?
It would be a shame to limit the opportunities to play in all of these fields—in the end, being a designer means that you have to be interested in all of these things and many more (Politics? Manufacturing? Communication? Craft?) just to be effective in design. I’m probably as much a design entrepreneur as anything though.
What is it that makes your work easily and instantly relatable?
Oooh. That’s a difficult question. I mean, it’s a nice compliment. I guess we spend a lot of time trying to strip out complexity. We like our objects to feel substantial and honest.
What excites you most about this new collection?
We haven’t produced a new furniture collection for a while, and the FAT chair has been created to fulfill a personal need—for our own restaurant in London. So we tested these in our own space and they work as a collection of simple, comfortable, minimal-yet-expressive, and sculptural furniture.
What leads your design process? Materials? Concept? Shape?
Yes, yes, and yes again, but also manufacturing process, function, originality.
How did your collaboration with Himitsu come about? Will you be found at Himitsu during your Atlanta leg of the tour?
Obviously! We are going to hold a music and design event there—should be fun. The Himitsu collaboration came about simply because [owner] Farshid [Arshid] contacted us out of the blue with a very clear vision of what he wanted. It sounded like such a crazy mix of elements, and he has an infectious enthusiasm in everything that he does, so we were delighted to be able to crystallize that vision. It is so nice to see that it’s working well and has become a fixture on the Atlanta scene.
Where is home now? How would you describe your home and what is your favorite space? Of course we need to know what is your favorite piece of furniture in the home?
I live in London during the week and in Brighton at the weekend. I live in a circular tower with a flat roof, and my favorite space is lying down on the roof terrace where all you can see is a round portion of sky. It is a bit like having a private James Turrell.
