Cinema can be a powerful medium for artists to use as a tool to explore and examine their own creativity. The lines between film and art can often become blurred. For an artists, a voyage of discovery can come in many diverse, bold and beautiful shapes and forms. In Station to Station, creative artist Doug Aitken decided to embark on a journey across America by train. Joined by a group of talented artists and musicians, they collaborated together to create 10 separate station-based ‘happenings’ along the way.
Station To Station is a collection of 61 one minute films which focus on the train itself, landscape, memory, transient existence and much more. Working collaboratively and individually, the contributors create a number of artworks, recordings and films. Aitken is joined by a cast including Beck, Olafur Eliasson, Martin Creed, Cat Power, Thurston Moore and many more between New York and San Francisco, over 24 days of shooting. The results are a mix of meditative thoughts about travel, the nomadic lifestyle, sense of place and the creative process.
Set to a changing backdrop of rural and urban America, Station to Station is an engaging film which plays with the idea of the sense of time, space and belonging. The films themselves differ markedly in interest and quality, however the vast majority are entertaining, enlightening and beautifully shot. As a project it’s highly successful, and this translates into a film which is thought provoking and a work of art in its own right.
Station To Station is out in cinemas on Friday.
