Art on Track turns the El into a mobile exhibition: photo gallery

Photos: Lauren Weinberg

Earlier this month, Art on Track transformed an Orange Line train into a one-night-only, eight-car exhibition for the third year in a row. Though I interviewed founder Tristan Hummel back in 2008 when Art on Track launched, this was the first year I got to see the project in action.

Considering that participating artists had less than eight hours to install their work—nail-free—Art on Track looked impressive. (Spudnik Press actually made prints throughout the train's five-hour run.) The experience of seeing art so far outside its comfort zone stuck with me more than the quality of individual installations, however. "Giddy" isn't a word I normally associate with viewing art in Chicago, but that's how I felt rushing from car to car as the train made periodic stops in the Loop.

Artists who specifically engaged the El tended to have the most effective projects. The collective 3 Blondes & a Bald Guy won Art on Track's first-ever $5,000 first prize for their installation and performance "Encroachment." See how they transformed a train car into an unsettling domestic space complete with kitchen and bathroom in our slide show, above, which also has images of projects by Addington Gallery, Garage Spaces, LVL3 and other participants.