As We See It

7 thoughts on train-traveling music, art and culture experience Station to Station

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No Age, one of the musical acts at Station to Station.
Photo: Yasmina Chavez
Yasmina Chavez

1. Remember those old “Where’s the cream filling?” Hostess commercials? Well, where’s the train? I feel a little duped.

2. Supposedly this September 24 Barstow, California, stop is sold out, but I think there’s more media here than fans. Did Beck know that when he prohibited photos? On the upside, no long lines.

Station to Station in Barstow

3. I love surprises, especially when they involve two auctioneers and a master of whips (or is he a master whip-ster?). Regardless, what a great performance piece!

4. Five things you would not expect to find in the desert, but would most joyously welcome: a disco ball, No Age playing a Fennesz-like ambient set at dusk, a UFO, Kenneth Anger films playing in a red tent, a young lady making boots.

5. The only way to watch a Ryan Trecartin video is on a 100-foot screen with a city nightscape in the background. “I’m not a narc, it’s called field research.”

Ernesto Neto's Nomadic Art Structure at Station to Station.

6. I feel like Cat Power just invited me into her studio during a private jam session. Her set was so intimate—just her and her guitar—I only wish it could have been longer. It’s easy to get greedy with a taste of a good thing.

7. Is that the work by artist Lawrence Weiner? Nah. Maybe that sign is. Nope. I could see this “Play at your own risk” being it. It’s got to be around here somewhere ... Oh, there is it. I should have been looking for gestures. Well, that’s successful art, making you more aware of the world around you.

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