Andrea Zittel- Installation Artist

Andrea Zittel was born in California in 1965. She is an American sculptor and installation artist. 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. In her PBS video, Zittel talks about her mission as being an installation artist. Zittel’s sculptures and installations transform everything necessary for life—such as eating, sleeping, bathing, and socializing—into artful experiments in living. Influenced by modernist design and architecture from the early part of the twentieth century, the artist’s one-woman mock organization, “A–Z Administrative Services,” develops furniture, homes, and vehicles for contemporary consumers with a similar simplicity and attention to order. Seeking to attain a sense of freedom through structure, Zittel is more interested in revealing the human need for order than in prescribing a single unifying design principle or style.Her “A-Z Pocket Property,” a 44-ton floating fantasy island off the coast of Denmark commissioned by the Danish government, contrasts the extremes of a creative escape with the isolation that occurs when a person is removed from society. One of her specialties is her uncanny ability to alter and examine aspects of life that are for the most part taken for granted.


-O.D.

Zittel is an interesting artist because she created pieces that weren't only art but were ways of living. Her one piece the giant installation where a person could eat, sleep, bath, and doing everyday things was amazing. She revolutionized the way a person could live by having it all contained in one small compartment. She is very inspiring and very creative. The 44 ton floating island was truly amazing. It was mind blowing because it weighed 44 tons! That to me is simply amazing and the fact that it actually floated on the water was just a massive piece of art. Her contrast of the extremes is inspiring and very motivating for anyone trying to become an artist or someone who wants to deal with installation art. 

-Owen