In September 2013, Station to Station: A Nomadic Happening–a train turned kinetic sculpture designed by artist Doug Aitken–will travel coast to coast, from New York City to San Francisco, activating the cultural landscape. At each of 10 stops along the way, leading figures from the art, music, culinary, literary, and film worlds will be invited for a series of cultural interventions and site-specific happenings. The train itself will act as a studio—globally broadcasting unique content and experiences from the stops as well as those taking place on the move.
At its Twin Cities stop at St. Paul's Union Depot, the evening includes performances by Patti Smith, Eleanor Friedberger, No Age, and others to be announced. Artist projects include Kate Casanova's Vivarium Americana, a sculptural work in which the interior of a black 1976 AMC Pacer has become overgrown with live oyster mushrooms. While guests arrive for the happening, the BodyCartography Project presents a performance incorporates the produce of Fritz Haeg's Walker-commissioned Edible Estate garden.
Look for updates about Station to Station throughout the summer.
Collaborators include artists Kenneth Anger, Carsten Höller, Ernesto Neto, Jack Pierson, Rirkrit Tiravanija, and Lawrence Weiner; musicians Ariel Pink, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Dan Deacon, David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), No Age, and Savages; writers Dave Hickey, Barney Hoskyns, and Rick Moody; chefs Alice Waters and Leif Hedendal, and the Edible Schoolyard Project.
Supporting institutions are the Walker, MoMA PS1, Carnegie Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, SITE Santa Fe, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA).