AZ-West

A-Z West is an artwork located on over eighty acres in the California high desert next to Joshua Tree National Park. Since its inception A-Z West has functioned as an evolving testing ground for living—a place in which spaces, objects, and acts of living all intertwine into a single ongoing investigation into what it means to exist and participate in our culture today. “How to live?” and “What gives life meaning?” are core issues in both Zittel’s personal life and artistic practice. Answering these questions has entailed exploring complex relationships between our need for freedom, security, autonomy, authority, and control—observing how structure and limitations have the capacity to generate feelings of freedom beyond open-ended choices.

In January of 2022 High Desert Test Sites began to formally steward A-Z West, including the management of day-to-day operations and residencies. For information on A-Z West programming and how to visit please visit the HDTS website.