Andrea Zittel Purity
September 10 – October 16, 1993
Main Gallery

Humans are born into this world naked and helpless. Weaklings in a fierce nature. So we design architecture and structures to serve as extensions of our own physiology. By
improving our implements we slowly evolve into more perfectly functional beings.

A to Z is dedicated to the endeavor of creating new structures to perfect the organization of a life. These structures, while dictatorial in one dimension, are liberating in another. Everything A to Z produces is intended to be fully functional and to improve the life of its user. Most products begin as prototypes and may be continually perfected over months and years. The final product is intended to be accessible on a wide scale and yet precious enough to become an eagerly awaited addition to its owners life.

The Purity work is a selection of prototypes to cleanse, feed and comfort the human body.
Purity, while a physical condition, is also a psychological or spiritual experience. In the twentieth century we have become more and more concerned with hygiene, nutrition and health. Our homes have become like laboratories with specialized stations for the procession of our bodies; the kitchen, the bathroom, the dining room and so on. Some of these institutions are rational and some function more as superstition. A to Z is attempting to sift through these conventions, discarding the ones which are useless and modifying and improving those which are not.

Disclaimer: This statement may not always pertain. Andrea Zittel perceives progress as a
manufactured reality.