Station to Station: A 30 Day Happening, American multi-media artist Doug Aitken’s experiment in spontaneous artistic creation, takes over the Barbican Centre’s indoor and outdoor spaces (Art Gallery, The Curve, Concert Hall, Cinemas, Lakeside Terrace and Sculpture Court) for 30 days this summer from Saturday 27 June.
Station to Station at the Barbican builds on Aitken’s Station to Station project which crossed North America by train in 2013 travelling 4,000 miles from the Atlantic to the Pacific over 24 days, creating a platform for cross-disciplinary collaboration through a series of events in major cities and off-the-grid locations, with London being its next iteration.
Supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies, Station to Station features more than 50 performances, 20 residencies, rehearsals, workshops and talks involving more than 100 international and UK-based artists from the world of contemporary art, music, dance, graphic design and film.
A ‘living exhibition’ encouraging cross-disciplinary collaboration among artists from different backgrounds, the month-long event includes free access for visitors to all daytime activities, with special ticketed evening performances in the art gallery, cinemas and concert hall.
Doug Aitken said, “Station to Station is a platform for progressive culture and new artistic experimentation. It will be amazing to see Station to Station come to life in London in such a unique, multi-arts environment as the Barbican. This is a living exhibition with artists of all mediums, creating unique works and unpredictable encounters every day.”
Throughout Station to Station, the Lakeside Terrace and Sculpture Court host outdoor installations: immersive yurts designed by Kenneth Anger, Urs Fischer, Liz Glynnc (who is on site to give performative lectures on theories of the universe and human experience) and Ernesto Neto; Olaf Breuning ’s multi-coloured time-based smoke performance (Thursdays to Sundays, evening and afternoon); and late evening screenings of Winslow, Arizona 9/19/13, Stephen Shore’s photographic slide show of 180 images shot over one day.
In response to the architecture of the Curve, Los Angeles-based digital artists Aaron Koblin and Ben Tricklebank present a new interactive laser commission, Light Echoes. Visitors enter the Curve, transformed into a dark, immersive environment. Led through the space by shifting projections, their movements are tracked and revealed in a finale as abstractions. Light Echoes runs until 6 September 2015.
The Vinyl Factory Recording Studio captures new music and live performances, some of which are pressed by The Vinyl Factory’s mobile pressing unit The Vinyl Factory Press as part of the limited edition copies of Station to Station vinyl records produced daily.
Installed at Silk Street Entrance, The Vinyl Factory Press presses more than 6000 copies of 20 different albums over the month, including those by resident musicians and previously unpublished recordings from the first presentation of Station to Station in the US. Musicians include: Cold Cave, LoneLady, Thurston Moore, Terry Riley and Suicide among others.
Vinyl records are sold in the gallery shop and feature artwork produced by resident graphic designers Fraser Muggeridge and Åbäke.
For the full line-up, schedule and latest updates visit the Barbican web site.