Art and music enthusiasts swarmed the Williamsburg waterfront yesterday for the opening of Station To Station, a roving public art project heading westward along a rail line from New York to California. The exhibition, spearheaded by local artist Doug Aitken (and sponsored by Levi's), boasts a wide array of artists and musicians that change from city to city, and yesterday's visitors were treated to offerings from the likes of Olaf Breuning and Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti.
The exhibit will also be visiting cities in Pennsylvania, Illinois, Minnesota, New Mexico and Arizona before concluding in Oakland, California at the end of the month. It features an ever-changing cast of art world celebrities, with bigwigs like Patti Smith, Dan Deacon, Jackson Browne, Beck and James Turrell among some of those expected to show up in cities a little further down the line. But last night's inaugural festivities, held at Riverfront Studios, were still jam-packed with performers and art installations. In addition to Ariel Pink, bands like No Age, Suicide and YOSHIMIO played sets, the Kansas City Marching Cobras put on a percussion and dance performance and participants could play around in interactive art by the likes of Ernesto Neto, Urs Fischer and Carsten Holler; Holler's bright yellow "Ball and Frisbee House," which was aptly filled with foam balls and frisbees, was a fan favorite.
Station To Station's next stop is a sold-out show tomorrow night at the The Pennsylvanian Station in Pittsburgh; the lineup includes Thurston Moore and John Maloney/Caught on Tape, along with Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti and No Age, and artist Alice Waters will be on hand for "a conversation" with event leader Aitken.
