Rail Sail
Imagine a train crossing a bridge and a ship sailing over the horizon. Imagine a ship crossing a bridge and a train over the horizon.
This is Rail Sail, a journey which deploys the imagery of wind, sea, and sail within the context of a post-industrial landscape of Kansas City. A wind-powered railroad vehicle will connect urban and rural concourses, guided by chance and desire rather than reason or economy. This is a strategy of reclaiming — as prairie might overtake a fallow field — which undermines the efficiencies of commodity production and transportation. Rail Sail is a way to imagine transportation and cultivation over longer, slower periods of time, upholding the bright spots of the mind’s eye over the blind spots of the market. Ours is a quixotic vision of transportation and trade where the practical and the absurd may intermingle to produce new visions and knowledge.
Rail Sail is the emergent project of Joe Riley, Audrey Snyder, and Ricki Dwyer. In August 2016, these collaborators take up residence in Front/Space, conducting weeks of research, building, and programming focused on railroads, journeying, and agricultural sites of learning and re-imagination.
Rail/Sail video
Rail Sail build documentation
