A-Z Homestead Unit, 2002

Andrea Zittel is an American sculptor, installation and Social Practice artist who creates art in response to her own daily surroundings. Andrea Zittel’s art is designed to create functional objects that relate to food, shelter and clothing. She developed her first "Living Unit" as an experiment to combine all her necessary living items into a compact living space. To fulfill the needs of others in the world requiring compact spaces she opened a one-woman corporation, A-Z Administrative Services to customize "Living Units" for them.

Andrea Zittel designs modernist-inspired art with the intention of making people’s daily routines efficient and easier. One of her works, "Beyond Green: Toward a Sustainable Art" was featured at the University of Chicago's Smart Museum and the Public Art Fund commissioned her to create a specific project for the southeast entrance to New York's Central Park. This piece serves as a reminder the park is a precisely planned natural environment. Her piece allows park visitors an alternative place to sit rather than the typical park bench. Andrea Zittel continues to investigate contemporary visions of freedom and personal liberation. Her idea of personal liberation is created through individual attempts to "slip between the cracks." Rather than building large and permanent homesteads, she prefers small and portable structures. Andrea Zittel’s work expresses her feelings of creating independence for the owner in its adaptability, compactness and transport-ability. Her intent was to move to the desert to attain a living space alone, but has ended up doing many social and public projects as her idea of art has grown and been accepted. Andrea Zittel's enterprise continues to express all aspects of day to day living through her art designs creating home furniture and clothing. She is still seeking the understanding of the human nature and social construction of people's needs to further her art. (Artist website)