Andrea Zittel

Andrea Zittel is an artist who works with sculpture and installation. She transforms things that are necessary for life whether it is eating, sleeping, cleaning, being social, etc. She says, “People say my work is all about control, but it’s not really. I am always looking for the gray area between freedom—which can sometimes feel too open-ended and vast—and security—whichi may easy turn into confinement.” Zittel even likes to ‘reinvent’ her own life by changing up her domestic and social relationships. It has been said that Zittel is very interested in revealing the human need for order instead of making a single unifying design principle or style as an artist.

Untitled Island

Zittel made a 44-ton floating island off the coast of Denmark; this piece is her objective to attain a sense of freedom through this giant structure. This piece goes along with her ideas of contrasting domestic and social culture. It completely contrasts the extremes of a creative escape with the isolation that occurs when a person is removed from society. (Kinda like Hawaii after a couple weeks of vacation ;) ) In her island she has removed, figuratively, the things that people take for granted every single day. It’s brilliant and beautiful.

A-Z Escape Vehicle, 1996

Steel, wood, carpet, plastic sink, glass, mirror, stovetop, and household objects

Here Zitell is again playing with something that is everyday life. Why is it that we all want to create that separate life, that world where you can escape and have your own little life alien to the rest of humanity? We’ve all set up a blanket and dinner chair fort in the middle of the living room and some point in our life; Zitell has kept this house like alienation alive. These Escape vehicles are something that lets the human being escape into their own secret world with everything that they need. I personally would be quite Closterphobic…

Living Unit Customized for Eileen and Peter Norton, 1994

Steel, wood, paint, mattress, glass, mirror, lighting fixture, upholstery

93.3 x 213.4 x 96.5cm

This is another instance in which Zittel is taking everyday instances and placing them into one unit in which a human being relies on only what is necessary. Formally, the geometric patterns act somewhat like a puzzle here; seeing in what way the cubes will fit best for the customization and for functionality is a project in itself, and from that an art work emanates.

This piece reminds me of her untitled island piece. It is made entirely out of carpet. She has taken something that is jagged and unrelaxing like these rock like formations and turned them into a comfortable place to relax and live. The transformations she creates with everyday activities is something that is to marvel.