From September 6th to the 28th, a nine-car train will cross the US hosting artists, musicians, and performers as it makes stops between New York and San Francisco, creating a mobile art installation called Station to Station. Coordinated by video and experimental artist Doug Aitken, Station to Station plays on the tension between exclusive, local art and online projects that can be viewed across the world. At each of nine stops, a core group of artists will be joined by performers both famous and unknown: Beck, Cat Power, Giorgio Moroder, and more are all set to appear at points across the country. In Chicago, five yurts will separate Union Station into a series of galleries; in Winslow, Arizona, artist Ed Ruscha will make cactus omelets.
In two weeks, a TV-covered train full of yurts and artists will begin its cross-country tour
is a senior tech and policy editor focused on online platforms and free expression. Adi has covered virtual and augmented reality, the history of computing, and more for The Verge since 2011.
In some ways, the event is highly exclusive. The experience in each city will be different, and only a certain number of people will get to see the sole show at each place. It would be nearly impossible for any one person to get the “full” experience, and none of the spectators will be allowed on the train itself. As Wired describes in an excellent profile of Aitken and experimental art, though, anyone with an internet connection is invited to observe. Aitken is recording footage of local artists that will be edited and put online from a dedicated car in the train. Even people who see the installation passing by will get a glimpse of the show: giant screens on the sides of the train will show video as Station to Station heads across the continent, as seen in an early concept above.
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