Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel divides her time between A-Z West, located in Joshua Tree California, and A-Z East in Brooklyn New York. She is a co-organizer of the “High Desert Test Sites”, the “A-Z Smockshop”, and “The Group Formerly Known as Smockshop”.

Andrea Zittel was born in 1965 in Escondido, California. She received a BFA in painting and sculpture (1988) from San Diego State University, and an MFA (1990) in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design. In the early 1990s she first established her practice in New York. One of her most visible projects in NY was “A-Z East,” a small row house in Brooklyn which she turned into a showroom testing grounds for her prototypes for living. In 2000 she moved back to the West Coast, eventually settling in the High Desert region next to Joshua Tree National Park where she has now founded A-Z West. Andrea has also organized the smockshop, “an artist-run enterprise that generates income for artists whose work is either non-commercial, or not yet self-sustaining” by selling smocks, and High Desert Test Sites, “a series of experimental art sites” which “provide alternative space for experimental works by both emerging and established artists.”

Her work has been included in group exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale, Documenta X, Skulptur Projecte Münster, and both the 1995 and the 2004 Whitney Biennials. She has had solo exhibitions at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Carnegie Museum in Pitsburgh, The Diechtorhallen in Hamburg, The Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria in NY, The Museum for Gegenwartskunst in Basel and the The Louisiana Museum in Denmark. Her 2005-2007 survey show ”Critical Space” traveled to The New Museum in NYC, The Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, Texas, the Albright Knox Museum in Buffalo, New York, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Andrea Zittel’s work was highlighted in the exhibition 1:1 at the Schaulager in Basel Switzerland in 2010.

List of Works

Andrea Zittel, b. 1965, USA

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Connie Walsh and Chris Young WGNSTN”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum and Lexan, nylon awning, miscellaneous cables and hardware, indoor/outdoor carpet, nylon net, sleeping bag, knit hat, camp stoves with propane tanks, map, masking tape, plastic shovel, plastic jar with matches, mini camp light, yellow plastic object and water container
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Carolyn Castano”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum and Lexan, handmade acrylic and felt pillows, hanging bead and crystal decorations, flokati (shag wool)
rug, green sheet, air mattress, portable CD player with headphones and plastic bottle with fan
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Guy Green”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum, Lexan, metal boxes, bottles, candles, bullets, jar stones, candle holders, skull, tooth, knife, wooden monkey, copper kettle, sage bundle, multi-tool, bag of stones, bundle rust chains, folding chair, piece of camo net, wood stove and rocks
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Chuck Moffitt”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum and Lexan, wool felt pad, gold leathercovered rock sculpture, welded metal crystalline sculpture, steel seating structure, felt seating pads and pillows
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Jennifer Nocon”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum, Lexan, wool cape, cowboy hat, felt sculptures, pants, climbing shoes, headlamps, pencils and books
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Chris James, Climber’s Valise”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum, Lexan, salvaged wood, wax candle, resin lamp, nylon sunscreen, car awning, climbing equipment and rope
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”A-Z Wagon Station customized by Giovanni Jance”, 2003
Powder-coated steel, MDF, aluminum, Lexan, cushions, iPod Nano, headphones and solor Ipod chargers
Open: 231 x 208 x 145 cm
Courtesy Andrea Rosen Gallery, NYC

”Clasp”, 2010
Wool mohair yarn and plaster form
Variable dimensions
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Lay of My Land”, 2011
Wood, steel, metal mesh, wire, plaster, Styrofoam, sand
Courtesy the artist

”Material Manifestation: Single Strand Forward Motion”, 2010
Fir plywood, cotton yarn, flashe, burlap and urethane
124,5 x 246 x 7 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Material Manifestation: Single Strand Radiation”, 2010
Fir plywood, cotton yarn, flashe, burlap and urethane
124,5 x 246 x 7 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Native Experience and the Three Dynamic Orders of Its Expression #1”, 2010
Latex and vinyl on A/C plywood
124 x 125 x 5 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Native Experience and the Three Dynamic Orders of Its Expression #2”, 2010
Latex and vinyl on A/C plywood
124 x 123 x 5 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Raugh Bookshelf”, 2006
Laminated fir plywood, carpet, 4 crotcheted wool cones, 4 felt boxes, collection of rocks, framed gouache and books
Overall dimensions: 150,5 x 335 x 93 cm
Raugh element: 121 x 240 x 30 cm
Total carpet size: 241 x 335 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

“Rules of Raugh”, 2005
9 parts, etching and aquatint on chine collé
34 x 38 cm (each print)
Courtesy Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall

”Single Strand Shapes: Forward Motion (landscape #2)”, 2006
Crocheted wool
29 x 187 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Study for Ideological Resonator #1”, 2010
Gouache on bristol board
30,5 x 76 cm
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Sufficient Self”, 2004
PowerPoint presentation, ca 25 min
Courtesy the artist

”The Bodily Experience of a Physical Impracticality”, 2010
Bronze and wool
Dimensions variable
Courtesy Sadie Coles, London

”Wall Sprawl #2 (Las Vegas between Enterprise and Henderson)”, 2011
Xerography on non-woven wallpaper
270 x 678 & 270 x 761 cm
Courtesy the artist

LECTURE: ANDREA ZITTEL

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9 AT 4PM

The artist talks about her work and how she uses her home and studio A–Z West in Joshua Tree, California to explore ideas about what humans need for survival.

Since the early 1990s, I have used the arena of my day to day life to develop and test prototypes for living structures and situations. By using myself as a guinea pig I often use my own experiences to try to construct an understanding of the world at large. The experiments have at times been extreme – such as wearing a uniform for months on end, exploring limitations of living space, living without measured time. However one of the most important goals of this work is to illuminate how we attribute significance to chosen structures or ways of life, and how arbitrary any choice of structure can be. I do not mean to deny the personal significance of these decisions, instead, I use my work in order to try to comprehend values such as “freedom,” “security,” “authorship,” and “expertise.” I am interested in how qualities, which we feel are totally concrete and rational, are often subjective, arbitrary or invented.
/Andrea Zittel

Date: Friday September 9, at 4pm.
Venue: Bio Rio, Hornstull, Stockholm.

CURATOR TOUR

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2 AT 2PM

Curator Richard Julin shows Andrea Zittel ­”Lay of my Land”. In Swedish.

EXHIBITION CATALOGUE NR 45
Andrea Zittel
Lay of My Land

Produced by Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall in collaboration with Prestel, 2011.
160 pages, colour. Richly illustrated with 120 images. Hard cover.
Language: English
ISBN 978-3-7913-5153-7 (Trade edition) ISBN 978-3-7913-6373-8 (Museum edition)
Buy the book from Prestel here

Content
An extensive new monograph on the artist accompanies the exhibition ”Lay of My Land”. It includes exclusive new photography taken in spring 2011. The text is based on conversations between Andrea Zittel and curator Richard Julin at the artist’s home and studio, A–Z West. The book is published by Prestel, one of the leading international publishers of art, architecture, photography and design books.

I believe that you learn about the world by having experiences, not by being told things. That’s how I want my work to function too. – Andrea Zittel

EXTRACTS FROM THE CATALOGUE

Richard Julin and Andrea Zittel in A-Z West, 2011

Andrea and Richard are walking around the parcel

Richard: The “Wagon Stations” that we are going to bring to Magasin 3, they spent around eight years out here, right?
Andrea: I think the whole project was ten years, so yes, eight years on this parcel sounds about right.
Richard: When I was here in the fall and we discussed the “Wagon Stations,” you were saying that this was the right time to remove them. Another winter out here and they would be destroyed. They’ve lived a life and have a certain something that is hard to describe: they look vital instead of worn down.
Andrea: Exactly. When I see some of my earlier pieces that don’t have this residue of a life well lived (or hard lived), they seem so dead and lifeless. As we discussed, the seven “Wagon Stations” that are the most lived in, are going to be shipped to Magasin 3 and seven new “Wagon Stations” here will replace them at A–Z West. Oh, over here is where I’m going to build the outdoor kitchen. My land ends right around there. Originally I was going to build the kitchen closer to the house because it would be easier to get water to it. But we realized it’s really nice being back here in the wash, in the middle of the “Wagon Stations.”
Richard: Your plan is to create a situation here where one can live in the “Wagon Station” area for some time.
Andrea: I want to create a central meeting-cooking-hanging out area for people staying in the “Wagon Stations” so that they can use them for extended periods of time. The units are great in the evening and nighttime because they are so small. I want to make a big shaded area with some seating and a refrigerator, and with a sink and water for drinking and cleaning up.
Richard: Are you also going to create a bathroom and a shower?
Andrea: The bathroom will either go next to the outdoor kitchen, or will be nested into these rocks somewhere. We’ll probably just do a solar shower. It’ll be very simple. And composting toilets.
Richard: So, the “Wagon Stations”: how did that whole project start?
Andrea: The “Wagon Stations” first came about when I created the High Desert Test Sites. We had artists coming out here to do projects, and because everything is self-funded there is no money to cover the cost of hotel rooms. So I was trying to come up with accommodations for people. One of my first ideas was to build a big bunkhouse and I ran into the problems with building and safety that we’ve been talking about before. I then became interested in what kind of structures I could do without having to get permits.
Out here you can build a portable — a 10×10 foot structure — without having to pull a permit. I’ve been experimenting with different structures that fit those criteria.