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This is a customization of one of Andrea Zittel’s Wagon Stations:

Its regular use when in Joshua Tree is a kind of climber's refuge and storage unit. With my Land Cruiser I make a small encampment out of the station, sleeping in the back of the truck and using the unit to keep gear for climbing in the vicinity.

It is also a convertible.  When required, it can be arranged for presentation in an exhibition manner. A bit self-consciously, it converts to become something like a 3-dimentional diagram.  This diagram describes a conversation between its use, and a representation of that use. That is to say, between something functional and an artwork.  Here is a key to reading it:

Oestern Theater: function

Climber's valise: A-Z Wagon Station modified with cement veneer exterior wall panels. Interior is painted with Gropius pink. The floor is a paraffin topography with the impressions of climbing gear for storage. An '85 Station Wagon Land Cruiser with awning affixes to the unit. The interior is outfitted to sleep on a bed of pink foam. Under the awning, between the truck and the valise, the three rear panels of the WS are arranged into a delicate table. A light runs off the truck's battery.

Eastern Theater: representation

When in exhibition manner, the climbing gear is arranged on the foam in the same pattern as the wax impressions in the valise.On the shelves is the competing light source: to the left, a bifurcated paraffin candle and on the right, a resin cast of the candle illuminated with a small light bulb that plugs into the Land Cruiser. From the open lip of the WS’s bonnet hangs a two color, ripstop nylon sunscreen fringe. On the table top are some dates.