A–Z Escape Vehicle: Customized by Andrea Zittel is one in a series of works inspired by the mobile home. All have the same stainless steel outer shell, but the interiors differ; each is customized according to its owner’s specifications. Like trailers, these capsules can be hooked to a car and driven away, but they are designed to be installed in a garden or driveway, or even indoors. The “escape” mentioned in the title lies not so much in their mobility as in their provision of a retreat tailor-made for individual comfort. “I wanted to make a prototype for a new kind of RV,” the artist has said. “Instead of going somewhere in the outside world, the slogan was that when you want to escape, all you have to do is climb in and close the hatch.”
Simultaneously aesthetic and useful, as artworks Zittel’s Escape Vehicles are not merely objects of contemplation. They implicitly argue that artists can participate in their societies as designers and architects do—by producing works with practical applications in daily life. In this way, Zittel belongs to a tradition of social involvement reaching back to the Bauhaus and the Russian Constructivists.
In the title, “A–Z” is a pun, an embrace of inclusiveness that also features the artist’s initials. Zittel customized this particular Escape Vehicle herself, creating a papier-mâché grotto in striking contrast to the sleek metal outer skin.
Publication excerpt from MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019)
A-Z Escape Vehicle: Customized by Andrea Zittel is one in a line of works inspired by the mobile home. All have the same stainless steel outer shell, but the interiors differ, each being customized to specifications designed by its owner. Like trailers, these capsules can be hooked to a car and driven away, but they are actually designed to be installed in a garden or driveway, or even indoors. The "escape" of their title, then, lies not so much in their mobility as in their provision of a retreat tailor-made for one individual's comfort.
Simultaneously aesthetic and useful, the escape vehicles challenge the idea of the artwork as an object of contemplation. They implicitly argue that artists can participate in their societies rather as designers and architects do—by producing works with practical and benign applications in daily life. In this way Zittel belongs to a tradition of social involvement running back to the Bauhaus and the Russian Constructivists. A more recent precedent of a different kind is Pop art, with its attraction to vernacular and commercial visual forms and production methods.
The name "A–Z" is a pun, fusing the idea of embracing inclusiveness with the artist's initials. Zittel customized this particular escape vehicle herself, creating a papier-mâché grotto in striking contrast to the sleek metal outer skin.
Publication excerpt from The Museum of Modern Art, MoMA Highlights, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, revised 2004, originally published 1999, p. 349.
