"Wagon Station Encampment"
Andrea Zittel
This episode features Andrea Zittel’s Wagon Station Encampment (2004–ongoing)—a series of sleeping pods arranged throughout her property in Joshua Tree, California. Twice per year, when the desert climate is mild, Zittel allows artists, hikers, and researchers to stay in the Encampment, which is adjacent to her home and studio.
Designed to facilitate social engagement as well as personal exploration, the Encampment is a blend of communal and private spaces. “Everybody has their desert fantasy; my particular fantasy was probably living on an alien landscape,” says Zittel who describes the Encampment as reflecting a “sci-fi pioneer aesthetic.”
Featured artists
About the artists
Andrea Zittel was born in 1965 in Escondido, California, and currently lives and works in Joshua Tree, CA. She received a BFA in painting and sculpture in 1988 from San Diego State University and an MFA in sculpture in 1990 from the Rhode Island School of Design. Zittel works at the intersections of design, art, and architecture to create a body of work that questions human nature and our construction of meaning, values, and social norms. Through textiles, furniture, and installation, the artist places self-imposed systems, rules, and restrictions in order to imagine alternative ways of living.
