Andrea Zittel facts for kids

Andrea Zittel (born 1965) is an American artist known for her unique approach to art. She lives and works in Joshua Tree, California. Her art explores big questions like "How should we live?" and "What makes life meaningful?"

Her work often mixes art, architecture, and design. She creates special spaces, objects, and even ways of living. Andrea Zittel turns everyday activities, like eating, sleeping, and bathing, into artistic experiments. She wants to find new and interesting ways for people to live.

Early Life and Education

Andrea Zittel was born in Escondido, California, in 1965. She finished high school in 1983.

She studied art at two different universities. In 1988, she earned a degree in painting and sculpture from San Diego State University. Later, in 1990, she received her master's degree in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Her Art and Career

Exploring Daily Life

In the early 1990s, Andrea Zittel started making art based on her own daily life. She created useful objects like furniture, clothing, and shelters. She wanted to understand human nature better and how our needs are shaped by society.

She began working under the name "A-Z Administrative Services." This later grew into "A-Z Enterprise," which covers all parts of daily living. Things like home furniture, clothes, and food all became part of her artistic studies. Zittel believes that what seems normal or fixed in our lives might actually be quite random. She wants each person to think about their own goals and talents. Then, they can invent new ways to meet their needs.

Zittel once wrote:

"What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom, but rather living in a set of limitations that we have created and prescribed for ourselves."

A-Z East and Personal Uniforms

In the early 1990s, Zittel's studio in Brooklyn became a testing ground called "A-Z East." Here, she would try out her experimental designs for living. For example, in 1991, she started making her "A-Z Six-Month Personal Uniforms." These were clothes she wore every day for six months at a time.

Like the uniforms, many of Zittel's projects involve strict rules for living. However, she suggests that these rules can actually lead to more freedom and creativity. She believes that true freedom comes from choosing your own limits.

Andrea Zittel, Living Unit

Living Units and Escape Vehicles

In 1992, Zittel created her first "Living Unit." This was an experimental structure designed to fit everything needed for living into a small, simple system. She used it in her tiny 200-square-foot apartment in Brooklyn. The unit included a small dining area, a sink, a stovetop, a closet, a bed, and a stool. It met all her basic needs for eating, sleeping, cleaning, and storage.

Even though they might look like things you could buy in a store, Zittel's Living Units are very personal. They are made to fit each person's specific needs. Her art encourages people to think about their own needs and daily routines. She wants us to redefine the objects we use based on what we truly need.

Andrea Zittel, A-Z Escape Vehicle, 1996. as exhibited in 2022 at OPEN HOUSE, Geneva, courtesy Vitra Design Museum.

Some of her designs aimed to make daily life simpler. Others, like her "Escape Vehicles" from 1996, were about the idea of getting away from the world. In 1998, Zittel developed her "Rules of Raugh" (pronounced raw). This led to new living spaces and furniture. Unlike her earlier focus on simplicity, the "Raugh" works looked unfinished and were easy to maintain.

A-Z West: Living in the Desert

In 2000, Zittel moved her home and studio from Brooklyn to the California desert, near Joshua Tree National Park. She bought five acres of land there. This place became "A-Z West," a huge project where she tests her ideas about living. The environment itself helps shape the experience.

A-Z West now covers over 50 acres and includes many projects. These include Zittel's home, the Wagon Station Encampment, and a weaving studio. There are also twelve "Wagon Stations" scattered around A-Z West. These are small, portable shelters for one person. People can stay in them each spring and fall.

Zittel also explores the idea of "panels" or "planes." These are the basic flat surfaces that make up our world. Through her art, she questions what horizontal and vertical surfaces mean to us.

Art for Public Spaces

In 1999, Andrea Zittel created her first public art project for Central Park in New York. It was called "Point of Interest." She made two giant, fake rocks out of steel and concrete. They looked like they were coming out of the ground. This art piece reminded people that the park is a carefully planned natural space. It also gave visitors a unique place to sit.

That same year, Zittel created "A-Z Pocket Property." This was a 44-ton floating concrete island off the coast of Denmark. Zittel lived on this "fantasy island" for one month. It was an experiment about escaping and being alone.

In 2010, she created "Indianapolis Island." This was another floating island at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It explored ideas of independence and privacy. Zittel said that islands represent freedom and individuality in our culture.

In 2014, she created a large outdoor art piece called "Planar Pavilions" for the Denver Federal Center in Colorado.

Working with Others

Andrea Zittel is a co-founder of High Desert Test Sites. This is a non-profit group that creates experimental art sites in the California desert. These sites allow artists and thinkers to have close experiences and share ideas. They offer trips, projects, workshops, and residencies.

From 2006 to 2010, Zittel also helped organize the A-Z smockshop in Los Angeles. This was a business run by artists to help other artists earn money. Artists would sew smocks (loose dresses or coats) designed by Zittel, adding their own creative touches.

Teaching Art

Andrea Zittel teaches a special art seminar once a year at A-Z West. This program is called The Institute for Investigative Living. It focuses on how art and life connect. It asks how artists can live a life that is smart and important, without worrying about money or other outside pressures. Zittel also visits Columbia University regularly to teach art students.

Exhibitions

Andrea Zittel's art has been shown in many important art events and museums around the world.

She was part of the Venice Biennale in 1993, and Documenta X in 1997. Her work was also in the Whitney Biennial in 1995 and 2004.

She has had solo exhibitions (shows just for her art) at places like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1995) and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York (2006). A big show of her work from 1991-2005, called "Andrea Zittel: Critical Space," traveled to several museums, including the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York (2006) and the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (2007).

Awards

Andrea Zittel has received many awards for her art.

• In 1995, she received a DAAD fellowship.
• In 2005, she won the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Lucelia Artist Award.
• In 2006, she received the Distinguished Body of Work Award from the College Art Association.
• In 2007, she won the AICA Award for Best Architecture or Design Show.
• In 2012, she was awarded the Austrian Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts.
• In 2015, she received a Guggenheim Fellowship for Fine Arts.

Collections

Andrea Zittel's art is part of the permanent collections of many famous museums. These include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Museum of Modern Art in New York owns 33 of her artworks.

See also

• List of artists from Brooklyn