1 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:12,380 [Andrea Zittel: "Wagon Station Encampment"] 2 00:00:42,860 --> 00:00:46,320 [WOMAN #1] I've only been here for about a week, 3 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:48,440 but I would like to spend two. 4 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,340 I think that would be a really good amount of time. 5 00:00:53,110 --> 00:00:57,690 A lot of my own work kind of corresponds with landscapes. 6 00:00:57,690 --> 00:01:01,290 This is kind of a research activity for me. 7 00:01:04,379 --> 00:01:06,620 Everybody comes out to the desert for different reasons. 8 00:01:06,630 --> 00:01:09,290 Historically, that's always been true. 9 00:01:19,580 --> 00:01:23,979 There's situations where the group will all go on a hike or something, 10 00:01:23,979 --> 00:01:25,459 or cook dinner together. 11 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:28,040 But then, people kind of hang out in their pods, 12 00:01:28,040 --> 00:01:32,299 which is what is so cool about the way that the wagon stations have been designed. 13 00:01:32,299 --> 00:01:34,909 You can have that private time 14 00:01:34,909 --> 00:01:38,209 without it seeming like you're defecting from the group or something. 15 00:01:41,480 --> 00:01:42,900 [LAUGHING] 16 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:44,500 [WOMAN #2] Somebody please enjoy that! 17 00:01:44,500 --> 00:01:46,200 [WOMAN #1] I would love to eat that. 18 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:47,480 [WOMAN #2] Do you want to just claim it? 19 00:01:47,480 --> 00:01:48,100 [WOMAN #1] Sure. 20 00:01:48,740 --> 00:01:51,360 [WOMAN #2] I also have an onion and apples. 21 00:01:56,140 --> 00:01:57,740 [WOMAN #3] And I'm totally jealous... [LAUGHS] 22 00:01:57,749 --> 00:02:01,399 I think it's such a brilliant idea in the way she's used the space. 23 00:02:01,399 --> 00:02:04,189 I also think it's a really interesting model. 24 00:02:04,189 --> 00:02:05,039 It's a private residence-- 25 00:02:05,039 --> 00:02:06,599 it's not an official residency, per se. 26 00:02:06,599 --> 00:02:09,848 But she opens it up twice a year to let people come. 27 00:02:09,848 --> 00:02:12,750 And it's a, I think, a really progressive way of having 28 00:02:12,750 --> 00:02:15,780 artists and creative people work together and meet-- 29 00:02:15,780 --> 00:02:18,950 with a no-pressure environment, too. 30 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,300 [WOMAN #1] I did a lot of hiking, 31 00:02:23,310 --> 00:02:25,590 and I did some filming, 32 00:02:25,590 --> 00:02:27,270 and some reading. 33 00:02:27,270 --> 00:02:30,760 Yeah, and then I'm working on a journal, as well. 34 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:34,010 So, Andrea was very generous in talking to me about that. 35 00:02:34,010 --> 00:02:36,290 [WOMAN #2] Generosity doesn't happen that often 36 00:02:36,290 --> 00:02:37,880 with regard to land these days, 37 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:40,440 so I think that's really radical. 38 00:02:41,180 --> 00:02:43,300 [ZITTEL] Okay, so the new problem 39 00:02:44,580 --> 00:02:48,440 is that the paper gets stuck under the letters. 40 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:54,380 I'm so drawn to the frontier mentality 41 00:02:54,390 --> 00:02:58,000 and that idea of having to figure everything out from scratch. 42 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,600 There have been two generations of wagon stations. 43 00:03:02,610 --> 00:03:05,890 In the first generation, I essentially gave to friends 44 00:03:05,890 --> 00:03:07,270 and people who I collaborated with 45 00:03:07,270 --> 00:03:10,020 who would come out here and stay for periods of time. 46 00:03:10,020 --> 00:03:13,180 But, it was always the same person visiting each wagon station, 47 00:03:13,180 --> 00:03:15,750 and they would customize them. 48 00:03:15,750 --> 00:03:18,740 In those instances, each wagon station was autonomous 49 00:03:18,740 --> 00:03:21,600 and it would have its own camp stove within it. 50 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:24,600 Then, at a point, we extracted those 51 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:28,330 because they were starting to fall apart in the elements. 52 00:03:28,330 --> 00:03:31,970 And they've sort of traveled to exhibitions since then. 53 00:03:31,970 --> 00:03:33,890 And with these, we've made them all... 54 00:03:33,890 --> 00:03:35,569 Like, they're all sort of the standard version, 55 00:03:35,569 --> 00:03:36,950 like, the way I designed them. 56 00:03:36,950 --> 00:03:40,819 [WOMAN #3] There's locks on either side for this to open up. 57 00:03:40,819 --> 00:03:44,370 And, there's like little strings up there to put your clothes on. 58 00:03:44,370 --> 00:03:46,740 There's also a door in the back that locks, 59 00:03:46,740 --> 00:03:49,230 so if you need any extra air, it's just a quick way out. 60 00:03:49,230 --> 00:03:52,090 And you can leave it open when you sleep. 61 00:03:52,090 --> 00:03:54,970 It gets a little cold, though, so I usually close it. 62 00:03:54,970 --> 00:03:57,650 And, there's a shelf for everything that you need. 63 00:03:57,650 --> 00:03:58,750 And that's pretty much it! 64 00:03:58,750 --> 00:04:02,490 [WOMAN #2] I watched the full moon arc across the entire sky 65 00:04:02,490 --> 00:04:04,580 over the course of the evening. 66 00:04:04,580 --> 00:04:07,160 You're inside, and you can see the environment 67 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:09,220 framed by Andrea's designs, 68 00:04:09,220 --> 00:04:11,750 really consciously and intentionally. 69 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,519 [ZITTEL] Now, we have the communal kitchen, 70 00:04:17,519 --> 00:04:18,870 and the outdoor showers, 71 00:04:18,870 --> 00:04:21,608 and the composting toilets. 72 00:04:21,608 --> 00:04:24,439 This is a sort of communal living situation 73 00:04:24,439 --> 00:04:27,300 that only works because it's a certain amount of time 74 00:04:27,300 --> 00:04:30,849 and we send people all of these protocol sheets out before they come. 75 00:04:30,849 --> 00:04:36,659 Okay, so if you want to follow Dean and do that on every one-- 76 00:04:36,659 --> 00:04:37,939 the double layer. 77 00:04:38,980 --> 00:04:42,940 And, if you want, you could take that, too, 78 00:04:42,949 --> 00:04:46,809 and then just put a like little edge four inches in. 79 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:53,110 I think that the Wagon Station Encampment was sort of 80 00:04:53,110 --> 00:04:58,120 slowly walking into a situation of inviting other people to come be here. 81 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:01,499 We always say it's sort of a cross between a retreat and a residency 82 00:05:01,499 --> 00:05:03,199 and a normal campground. 83 00:05:04,060 --> 00:05:06,680 It would be redundant to create, like, 84 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:10,380 another art residency when there's so many of them. 85 00:05:17,699 --> 00:05:20,909 Everybody has their desert fantasy. 86 00:05:20,909 --> 00:05:27,639 And so my particular fantasy was probably living on an alien landscape. 87 00:05:27,639 --> 00:05:30,590 When NASA tests habitation on Mars, 88 00:05:30,590 --> 00:05:32,229 they have a station in the Mojave Desert, 89 00:05:32,229 --> 00:05:34,050 and I always thought that was so interesting, 90 00:05:34,050 --> 00:05:36,930 that this is the landscape that was chosen 91 00:05:36,930 --> 00:05:39,449 to be most representative of another planet. 92 00:05:39,940 --> 00:05:41,980 I think the aesthetic of these was, sort of, 93 00:05:41,990 --> 00:05:44,090 a sci-fi pioneer aesthetic. 94 00:05:44,090 --> 00:05:46,439 And I don't know if that's my aesthetic now, 95 00:05:46,439 --> 00:05:48,999 because it's constantly changing. 96 00:05:52,129 --> 00:05:54,279 My great grandparents were pioneers just south of here, 97 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:56,539 and they settled in the Imperial Valley. 98 00:05:56,540 --> 00:06:00,400 The temperatures in the Imperial Valley are about ten degrees hotter than here-- 99 00:06:00,409 --> 00:06:02,409 and this gets pretty hot. 100 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:05,540 When I feel like complaining, I keep thinking about them. 101 00:06:05,550 --> 00:06:07,080 They would live in a tent, 102 00:06:07,080 --> 00:06:08,839 and I guess they poured water over the tent 103 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:10,779 to cool things off. 104 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,580 It's so funny, I get upset when people say there's nothing here. 105 00:06:23,940 --> 00:06:24,560 [ZITTEL] Okay! 106 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:25,920 [WOMAN #2] Thank you so much! 107 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:26,480 [ZITTEL] Sure. 108 00:06:26,480 --> 00:06:28,920 [WOMAN #2] It was really magical and inspiring and awesome. 109 00:06:28,930 --> 00:06:29,610 [ZITTEL] It was good to meet you. 110 00:06:29,610 --> 00:06:31,240 [WOMAN #2] You too, and what an honor. 111 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:31,640 [ZITTEL] Bye! 112 00:06:31,660 --> 00:06:32,380 [WOMAN #3] It was really nice to meet you. 113 00:06:32,380 --> 00:06:33,700 Thank you so much. 114 00:06:33,700 --> 00:06:34,760 It was awesome. 115 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,539 [ZITTEL] Have a good trip! Bye! 116 00:06:36,539 --> 00:06:38,789 [ZITTEL] But, there's something about the space 117 00:06:38,789 --> 00:06:41,680 that I think really calls to people who want to try 118 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:45,040 and invent their own structures for living.