WEBVTT 00:00:37.320 --> 00:00:40.727 ANDREA ZITTEL: Painting and sculpture, they're  forms of representation. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.684 I don't think that anything that  I do is so dissimilar from that. 00:00:47.680 --> 00:00:51.480 In some way, these are all attempts to talk about 00:00:51.480 --> 00:00:54.320 my own subjective interpretation of the world, 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:59.150 and to also do something that will relate  to other people's experiences within it. 00:01:03.720 --> 00:01:06.472 I grew up in very suburban southern California. 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:09.160 I think my parents had this fantasy 00:01:09.160 --> 00:01:12.000 about building a country home  in the middle of nowhere. 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:15.680 So my dad built our home  on the edge of a mountain. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:19.473 By the time I was in high school, it was  completely built up, it was suburbia. 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.720 It was only after I moved to New York  that I realized what a gift it was 00:01:24.720 --> 00:01:26.982 to come from someplace so normal. 00:01:28.160 --> 00:01:32.640 I moved to New York in 1990,  and the first place I lived in 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.840 was this really tiny storefront, also in Brooklyn. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:38.000 At that time I was doing really different work. 00:01:38.000 --> 00:01:40.609 I was actually working with  animals and breeding them. 00:01:41.560 --> 00:01:44.760 For instance, a breeding unit,  not only would it influence 00:01:44.760 --> 00:01:46.800 the way that the animal would develop, 00:01:46.800 --> 00:01:50.960 But it would also have everything built into  it that the animal would need for living. 00:01:50.960 --> 00:01:57.240 So, you know, after doing this work and  living in this tiny space for a while, 00:01:57.240 --> 00:02:01.880 I think that it started to make perfect sense to 00:02:01.880 --> 00:02:05.800 try and create structures like  that for myself to live in. 00:02:05.800 --> 00:02:09.600 The living unit was meant to function  for every single thing that I needed. 00:02:09.600 --> 00:02:13.960 You know, I didn't have a shower or  bathtub, so it had this large plastic sink 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:17.160 that I could take baths in  as well as wash my dishes in. 00:02:17.160 --> 00:02:21.720 It had a built-in kitchen area, it had  a desk area, it had a sleeping area. 00:02:21.720 --> 00:02:24.640 It was sort of like building a house,  just something that I could own 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:26.967 and would be permanent and it would just go inside 00:02:26.967 --> 00:02:28.903 of the houses that other people would own. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:33.080 I literally believed that when I made that piece 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:34.880 and I had it completely perfected 00:02:34.880 --> 00:02:37.600 That it would solve all of my problems, you know? 00:02:37.600 --> 00:02:41.080 And it was this really wonderful  period in my life of feeling like 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:44.680 I was moving towards this concrete direction. 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:49.360 And the irony is that when I  finally finished the living unit 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:52.040 and it was perfect and there  was nothing left to do to it, 00:02:52.040 --> 00:02:59.040 I felt completely despondent and very  sort of, like, listless and depressed. 00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:03.440 And at that point, in sort  of gauging my own reaction, 00:03:03.440 --> 00:03:06.440 I had this revelation that no  one really wants perfection. 00:03:06.440 --> 00:03:08.400 We're obsessed with perfection, 00:03:08.400 --> 00:03:11.600 we're obsessed with innovation  and moving forwards, 00:03:11.600 --> 00:03:14.760 but what we really want is the hope of some sort 00:03:14.760 --> 00:03:18.019 of new and improved or better tomorrow. 00:03:21.212 --> 00:03:26.771 I think that my work's always been really  influenced by the places that I've lived in. 00:03:31.240 --> 00:03:34.480 In fact, if you look at every body  of work, you can trace it back to 00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:37.892 particular circumstances  that I've had to deal with. 00:03:41.040 --> 00:03:45.920 Well, I mean, the kitchen is a  good stop, sort of, on the A-Z tour 00:03:45.920 --> 00:03:50.160 because what I said about the  kitchen and how I used the kitchen. 00:03:50.160 --> 00:03:54.240 Andrea is not a cook, right? 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:58.360 Which is really obvious because she's  got a teeny, tiny refrigerator and – 00:03:58.360 --> 00:03:59.720 my chicken lived in the kitchen. 00:03:59.720 --> 00:04:01.320 And her chicken lived in the kitchen. 00:04:01.320 --> 00:04:05.200 But you have this huge table  in the presentation room 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:07.760 which facilitates big dinner parties. 00:04:07.760 --> 00:04:11.920 we did stay strict to Andrea's, you know, 00:04:11.920 --> 00:04:16.920 sort of utilitarian bowl system of  the small, medium, and large bowls. 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:18.880 –So you just used bowls for your dinner parties? 00:04:18.880 --> 00:04:20.720 There were times when we just used – 00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:22.440 –I've always wondered if you cheated. 00:04:22.440 --> 00:04:24.040 –Oh, yeah. 00:04:24.040 --> 00:04:27.920 I think it's a really nice thing  to talk about, is this floor. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:33.520 I always felt it was this modernism  put into a domestic framework. 00:04:33.520 --> 00:04:34.480 One of the things, too, 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.920 that I wanted to do with this house was to sort of 00:04:37.920 --> 00:04:41.120 reflect the earlier generations of modernism. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.000 I usually point to the outside,  because that's really one of 00:04:44.000 --> 00:04:46.080 the most beautiful parts of the house. 00:04:46.080 --> 00:04:48.722 Particularly a garden in Brooklyn. 00:04:53.840 --> 00:04:56.920 The bathroom at the A-Z, Andrea's house, 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:00.120 is the tour de force of the house. 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.920 It's sort of the epitome of  organization, comfort, and utility. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:10.560 I mean, the floor is really particular in  that Andrea hand-laid every tile, right? 00:05:10.560 --> 00:05:11.220 Painstakingly. 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:14.880 Well, they come in square foot  sections, but I did that by myself. 00:05:14.880 --> 00:05:18.880 And then you'll notice that the medicine  cabinets, instead of throwing all of your stuff 00:05:18.880 --> 00:05:20.760 under the sink abyss, 00:05:20.760 --> 00:05:24.400 is organized in "Correction,"  "Tools and implements," 00:05:24.400 --> 00:05:26.280 "Subtraction," and "Addition." 00:05:26.280 --> 00:05:29.880 And "Addition" is sort of obvious things of – 00:05:29.880 --> 00:05:32.880 cosmetics, skin lotion, deodorant. 00:05:32.880 --> 00:05:34.320 And "Subtraction"? 00:05:34.320 --> 00:05:37.760 Is things for cleansing and taking away. 00:05:37.760 --> 00:05:41.680 And then everything on top is  organized, labeled accordingly. 00:05:42.812 --> 00:05:45.480 That's sort of it for the bathroom, huh? 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:49.680 For nine years I've been  doing the uniform project, 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:52.880 where I have one garment  that I'll wear for a season. 00:05:52.880 --> 00:05:55.360 Originally it was for a six-month season, 00:05:55.360 --> 00:05:57.297 now it's for a four-month season. 00:05:58.520 --> 00:05:59.680 Oh, this is a really good one. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:02.480 This is from last spring. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:05.347 And it's rayon. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:10.680 They kind of get worn out and tattered by the end, 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:12.717 after wearing them for four months. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:17.160 It started because I had an office job 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.640 and I was supposed to wear  something respectable to work 00:06:20.640 --> 00:06:22.400 but I didn't have that much money. 00:06:22.400 --> 00:06:25.680 Sort of colorful spring dress. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:29.160 You know, most of the time, we can  afford, like, one fabulous outfit 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:30.880 that you really love to wear. 00:06:30.880 --> 00:06:34.960 But there's some sort of social stigma 00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:38.480 against wearing the same thing two days in a row. 00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:41.840 So I decided that, you know,  in my case, actually, like, 00:06:41.840 --> 00:06:46.152 variety seemed more oppressive  or restrictive than continuity. 00:06:47.080 --> 00:06:51.520 So this is basically your standard personal panel. 00:06:51.520 --> 00:06:53.560 For several years, I could wear anything, 00:06:53.560 --> 00:06:55.280 as long as it was made out of a rectangle. 00:06:55.280 --> 00:07:00.109 It ties in the back, and  the top ties behind my neck. 00:07:00.400 --> 00:07:04.400 The Russian constructivists made  clothing that was very geometric. 00:07:04.400 --> 00:07:07.840 They felt like when you weave  fabric, it's in a rectangle. 00:07:07.840 --> 00:07:11.720 So when you actually take that  rectangle and cut it into other shapes 00:07:11.720 --> 00:07:14.280 and then sew it into even different shapes, 00:07:14.280 --> 00:07:17.720 that you're completely ruining  the integrity of the fabric. 00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:22.200 I thought I would just take it and for  fun push it to its furthest extreme, 00:07:22.200 --> 00:07:24.800 which was making garments only from rectangles. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:31.142 But with just some subtle changes, you have this  huge array of, you know, kind of references. 00:07:33.520 --> 00:07:37.840 After a while, I got sort of tired  of wearing rectangles all the time. 00:07:37.840 --> 00:07:40.840 But keeping within that set of parameters, 00:07:40.840 --> 00:07:43.280 the only thing that I could  think of that would be like 00:07:43.280 --> 00:07:46.080 a first-hand form of creating something, 00:07:46.080 --> 00:07:49.200 where you're not making one thing  and changing it into something else, 00:07:49.200 --> 00:07:51.680 was making something from a strand. 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:55.320 So that's why I've been crocheting my dresses now. 00:07:55.320 --> 00:07:59.440 It's that, you know, everything becomes  like this one sort of continuous strand. 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:05.120 The most insane dress is the one  I'm going to wear next summer, 00:08:05.120 --> 00:08:07.174 or this summer. 00:08:08.669 --> 00:08:10.800 This is actually – this is the dress 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.160 that I've made to wear on the island in Denmark. 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:18.840 And I started making this over a year  ago, when I started traveling to Denmark, 00:08:18.840 --> 00:08:22.200 and I realized how cold and  rainy it is there all the time. 00:08:22.200 --> 00:08:24.877 So this is kind of like the Alpine fantasy dress. 00:08:26.960 --> 00:08:28.440 You know, my parents liked to travel, 00:08:28.440 --> 00:08:31.040 but we didn't have that much money  because they were school teachers. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:34.800 So we would always have these  sort of crazy summer schemes, 00:08:34.800 --> 00:08:38.520 you know, like going to Europe  and camping across Europe. 00:08:38.520 --> 00:08:40.400 They had a Volkswagen bus. 00:08:40.400 --> 00:08:44.360 So I spent a lot of time in a very,  very small space with my family. 00:08:45.000 --> 00:08:48.800 When I was 12, they bought a 31-foot sailboat. 00:08:48.800 --> 00:08:51.640 And so we did sailing trips in that. 00:08:51.640 --> 00:08:56.179 I always hated sailing, but I was really obsessed  with the way that the boat would function. 00:09:05.400 --> 00:09:09.680 This is actually a model for a second  variation on a piece that I've been working on 00:09:09.680 --> 00:09:13.063 for the last few years called "A pocket property." 00:09:13.720 --> 00:09:20.280 It's about a 54-foot by 23-foot  concrete floating island. 00:09:20.280 --> 00:09:23.960 The idea is that it's meant  – it's, um, your property 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:27.287 and your dwelling and your vehicle all in one. 00:09:28.080 --> 00:09:30.548 One mass-reproducible component. 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:35.440 Last summer we basically built the entire island. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:39.800 And then it was opened in conjunction  with an architectural exhibition. 00:09:39.800 --> 00:09:42.880 This summer, actually, in about 3 or 4 days, 00:09:42.880 --> 00:09:45.662 I'm going to go to Denmark  and live on it for a month. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:50.800 And for one part of that, for  one week of that month actually, 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:52.760 some friends are going to come  out, and we're going to make 00:09:52.760 --> 00:09:55.815 a film about the experience  of living on the island. 00:10:04.160 --> 00:10:05.240 –Hello. 00:10:05.240 --> 00:10:06.840 –I'm Axel. 00:10:06.840 --> 00:10:07.520 I'm from -- 00:10:07.520 --> 00:10:10.680 This is Jorgen, my photographer. 00:10:10.680 --> 00:10:13.240 I've actually been trying to call you. 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:15.840 I'm actually really excited about this project, 00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:17.360 because, you know, in the beginning, 00:10:17.360 --> 00:10:19.280 my art was always very experience-based. 00:10:19.280 --> 00:10:23.440 I mean, in some projects, there's not  even a tangible product, you know, 00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:25.200 object that comes out in the end. 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:29.320 Okay, so there's no way we can wait and  do it, like tomorrow or the next day? 00:10:30.400 --> 00:10:32.470 It's a long trip. 00:10:33.217 --> 00:10:37.000 I feel that having these, like,  really wonderful experiences, 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:38.600 which are completely unpredictable – 00:10:38.600 --> 00:10:43.360 you know, like setting up a scenario where  I test some sort of living situation. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:45.680 You know, partially because  I'm terrified of doing it, 00:10:45.680 --> 00:10:49.800 partially because I'm really, like, you  know, enchanted by the idea of doing it. 00:10:49.800 --> 00:10:52.000 But not really knowing beforehand if it's going 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.360 to be a great experience or a horrible one. 00:10:54.360 --> 00:10:57.080 Can you see the new plants growing? 00:10:57.080 --> 00:10:58.200 No. 00:10:58.200 --> 00:10:59.360 You have the small ones here? 00:10:59.360 --> 00:11:00.960 Yeah, I planted them a few days ago. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:02.640 They're finally starting to grow. 00:11:03.400 --> 00:11:05.920 It looks like what I'm trying  to remove in my garden, 00:11:05.920 --> 00:11:09.560 you know, with going like this all the time. 00:11:09.560 --> 00:11:10.680 Weeds? 00:11:10.680 --> 00:11:11.328 Yeah. 00:11:11.328 --> 00:11:13.558 Yeah, but on an island, you're  even grateful for the weeds. 00:11:15.800 --> 00:11:18.680 Don't you have a need to  get in contact with people? 00:11:18.680 --> 00:11:22.920 That's why I'm out here,  to get away from you guys. 00:11:22.920 --> 00:11:27.800 Most of your work is like being alone, isn't it? 00:11:27.800 --> 00:11:34.274 Yeah, most of my work's about creating really sort  of intimate, personal, controllable situations. 00:11:35.520 --> 00:11:36.395 Yeah. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:39.280 Like, all of my ideas, they're sort of humorous, 00:11:39.280 --> 00:11:41.560 but they're also a little dark at the same time. 00:11:41.560 --> 00:11:44.600 You know, it's like I have this fantasy of being 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:48.920 completely autonomous and  independent and, you know, at peace. 00:11:48.920 --> 00:11:51.800 And, like, not having any of,  like, the day-to-day problems. 00:11:51.800 --> 00:11:55.436 But then there's also the sense of,  like, isolation that comes along with it. 00:12:08.200 --> 00:12:11.240 People say that my work's about  design or it's about leisure. 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:13.280 But really, I think that it's much – 00:12:13.280 --> 00:12:17.040 like the main issues are  much less tangible than that. 00:12:17.040 --> 00:12:20.280 The issues that I'm really interested in are, 00:12:20.280 --> 00:12:22.680 you know, human values and perceptions 00:12:22.680 --> 00:12:25.880 and how you think that you understand certain, 00:12:25.880 --> 00:12:28.920 you know, fundamental values that you, you know – 00:12:28.920 --> 00:12:31.920 within your life, and you think  you understand what they are 00:12:31.920 --> 00:12:33.200 and that you need these things. 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:36.400 But then they're constantly  inverting into each other. 00:12:36.400 --> 00:12:38.560 It's like things that you think are liberating 00:12:38.560 --> 00:12:42.840 can actually become extremely  confining or restrictive or repressive. 00:12:42.840 --> 00:12:45.160 And things that you think are controlling 00:12:45.160 --> 00:12:46.200 can actually give you 00:12:46.200 --> 00:12:49.668 a greater sense of security  and liberation in the end.