Andrea Zittel: "Wagon Station Encampment" | ART21 "Exclusive"

[Andrea Zittel: "Wagon Station Encampment"]

[WOMAN #1] I've only been here for about a
week,

but I would like to spend two.

I think that would be a really good amount
of time.

A lot of my own work kind of corresponds with
landscapes.

This is kind of a research activity for me.

Everybody comes out to the desert for different
reasons.

Historically, that's always been true.

There's situations where the group will all
go on a hike or something,

or cook dinner together.

But then, people kind of hang out in their
pods,

which is what is so cool about the way that
the wagon stations have been designed.

You can have that private time

without it seeming like you're defecting from
the group or something.

[LAUGHING]

[WOMAN #2] Somebody please enjoy that!

[WOMAN #1] I would love to eat that.

[WOMAN #2] Do you want to just claim it?

[WOMAN #1] Sure.

[WOMAN #2] I also have an onion and apples.

[WOMAN #3] And I'm totally jealous... [LAUGHS]

I think it's such a brilliant idea in the
way she's used the space.

I also think it's a really interesting model.

It's a private residence--

it's not an official residency, per se.

But she opens it up twice a year to let people
come.

And it's a, I think, a really progressive
way of having

artists and creative people work together
and meet--

with a no-pressure environment, too.

[WOMAN #1] I did a lot of hiking,

and I did some filming,

and some reading.

Yeah, and then I'm working on a journal, as
well.

So, Andrea was very generous in talking to
me about that.

[WOMAN #2] Generosity doesn't happen that
often

with regard to land these days,

so I think that's really radical.

[ZITTEL] Okay, so the new problem

is that the paper gets stuck under the letters.

I'm so drawn to the frontier mentality

and that idea of having to figure everything
out from scratch.

There have been two generations of wagon stations.

In the first generation, I essentially gave
to friends

and people who I collaborated with

who would come out here and stay for periods
of time.

But, it was always the same person visiting
each wagon station,

and they would customize them.

In those instances, each wagon station was
autonomous

and it would have its own camp stove within
it.

Then, at a point, we extracted those

because they were starting to fall apart in
the elements.

And they've sort of traveled to exhibitions
since then.

And with these, we've made them all...

Like, they're all sort of the standard version,

like, the way I designed them.

[WOMAN #3] There's locks on either side for
this to open up.

And, there's like little strings up there
to put your clothes on.

There's also a door in the back that locks,

so if you need any extra air, it's just a
quick way out.

And you can leave it open when you sleep.

It gets a little cold, though, so I usually
close it.

And, there's a shelf for everything that you
need.

And that's pretty much it!

[WOMAN #2] I watched the full moon arc across
the entire sky

over the course of the evening.

You're inside, and you can see the environment

framed by Andrea's designs,

really consciously and intentionally.

[ZITTEL] Now, we have the communal kitchen,

and the outdoor showers,

and the composting toilets.

This is a sort of communal living situation

that only works because it's a certain amount
of time

and we send people all of these protocol sheets
out before they come.

Okay, so if you want to follow Dean and do
that on every one--

the double layer.

And, if you want, you could take that, too,

and then just put a like little edge four
inches in.

I think that the Wagon Station Encampment
was sort of

slowly walking into a situation of inviting
other people to come be here.

We always say it's sort of a cross between
a retreat and a residency

and a normal campground.

It would be redundant to create, like,

another art residency when there's so many
of them.

Everybody has their desert fantasy.

And so my particular fantasy was probably
living on an alien landscape.

When NASA tests habitation on Mars,

they have a station in the Mojave Desert,

and I always thought that was so interesting,

that this is the landscape that was chosen

to be most representative of another planet.

I think the aesthetic of these was, sort of,

a sci-fi pioneer aesthetic.

And I don't know if that's my aesthetic now,

because it's constantly changing.

My great grandparents were pioneers just south
of here,

and they settled in the Imperial Valley.

The temperatures in the Imperial Valley
are about ten degrees hotter than here--

and this gets pretty hot.

When I feel like complaining, I keep thinking
about them.

They would live in a tent,

and I guess they poured water over the
tent

to cool things off.

It's so funny, I get upset when people say there's nothing here.

[ZITTEL] Okay!

[WOMAN #2] Thank you so much!

[ZITTEL] Sure.

[WOMAN #2] It was really magical and inspiring
and awesome.

[ZITTEL] It was good to meet you.

[WOMAN #2] You too, and what an honor.

[ZITTEL] Bye!

[WOMAN #3] It was really nice to meet you.

Thank you so much.

It was awesome.

[ZITTEL] Have a good trip! Bye!

[ZITTEL] But, there's something about the
space

that I think really calls to people who want
to try

and invent their own structures for living.