At Joshua Tree National Park, Anne and Martine visit a special site with several works by Andrea Zittel. This is a report by Martine.

Andrea Zittel, High Desert Test Sites

At Andrea Zittel's High Desert Test Sites, we are given a tour by director aryn kresol, who looks forward to hearing more from us as well, and at our apologies for all the organizational and financial questions, exclaims, “No problem, let's nerd out!” Aryn has been working in the complex of working and living spaces developed by artist Andrea Zittel on a piece of land near Joshua Tree National Park a few hours' drive from Los Angeles since the fall of 2023.

Capsules to spend the night

'Test sites' in these parts can also refer to military or industrial sites where, for example, nuclear weapons were tested. Even those kinds of activities, of course, benefit from remoteness and cheap land - something that makes the area attractive to artists. But these High Desert Test Sites were set up in the 1990s around the question: how to live well in this hot, arid environment with simple means? Zittel created minimalist sculptures strewn across the front part of the site, and designed capsules to spend the night in and open-air studios to work in. There are textile and ceramic workshops and a library.

Thinking of the Northeast Polder

We were very reminded of Studio Makkink & Bey's farm in the Northeast Polder, where all kinds of questions directly related to the environment are explored with students. We meet some artists at work and also admire the flowering cacti. In a sandy wall next to one of the studios, ground squirrels have made a row of burrows, resembling the rock dwellings native Americans made in the canyons centuries ago. They, too, know how to live well in these parts.