STATION TO STATION: A Nomadic Happening will connect artists, musicians and creative pioneers with diverse communities, pushing art and culture outside of institutional constraints. A public art project made possible by the Levi’s® brand, Station to Station will raise funds through ticket sales and donations to support non-traditional programming at seven partner museums around the country.
Over the course of three weeks this September, a train will travel from New York City to San Francisco making ten stops along the way. At each stop, Station to Station will curate leading figures from the art, music, culinary, literary, and film worlds for a series of cultural interventions and site-specific happenings. The Aitken-designed train turned kinetic sculpture will act as a cultural studio — globally broadcasting unique content and experiences from the stops as well as on the moving train. Long after departing the last station, Station to Station will leave an indelible creative mark on its local and global audience — opening eyes and shifting perceptions.
Station to Station will depart Pittsburgh, PA, on September 8 and pull into St. Paul’s Union Depot at 214 E. 4th St. — with the support of the Walker Art Center — on September 12 before moving on to Chicago. Other stops include Kansas City, MO., Lamy/Sante Fe, NM, Winslow, AZ, Barstow, CA, and Los Angeles, CA.
Artists scheduled to collaborate to bring Station to Station to life include Kenneth Anger, Olaf Breuning, Peter Coffin, Urs Fischer, Meschac Gaba, Liz Glynn, Carsten Höller, Christian Jankowski, Aaron Koblin, Ernesto Neto, Jack Pierson, Stephen Shore, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Lawrence Weiner; musicians Ariel Pink, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Connan Mockasin, Dan Deacon, David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors, Eleanor Friedberger, Nite Jewel, No Age, Savages, and Twin Shadow; writers Dave Hickey, Barney Hoskyns, and Rick Moody; and chefs Alice Waters and Leif Hedendal, and the Edible Schoolyard Project. More participants will be announced throughout the summer.
With funding for cultural programs and the arts increasingly compromised, Station to Station will establish a revolutionary endowment model to address this need. Station to Station will distribute funds from ticket sales and donations among its partner institutions to support programs and exhibitions in 2014 that embrace Station to Station’s pursuit of new artistic models and creative collisions.
Doug Aitken, widely known for his innovative fine art installations, is at the forefront of 21st century communication. Utilizing a wide array of media and artistic approaches, his eye leads viewers into a world where time, space, and memory are malleable concepts.
“This is a fast moving cultural journey, a constant search over the new horizons of our changing culture,” he said. “Grounded in some basic questions — Who are we? Where are we going? And, at this moment, how can we express ourselves? — our intention is to create a modern cultural manifesto. For a short time, the most interesting place in the country will be a moving target.”
For more information, visit StationToStation.com.
