Jonathan Gitelson’s public art project in Chicago’s Armitage Brown Line Station opened today and there is an accompanying website, chicagoelstories.com, which approximates the experience for people who can’t make it to the station. Thankfully, there’s no rush as this is a beautifully conceived permanent element within the station. Jonathan has also posted a quick 360 video of the space on his blog.

On the website, each of the 42 still photos are presented with audio stories of varying lengths. The interviews were conducted between February and April 2007 on the platform of the station. Each passenger was asked to tell a story about their Chicago experience. In the station, the images of the related Chicago locations are paired with excerpts from each person’s story on 20“x24“ glass tiles.

Gitelson’s work is wonderfully varied and high concept with a great personal sense of humour. You need return visits to really take in all of the projects on his website, thegit.net.

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Chicago El Stories also reminds me to mention the Toronto location-based oral history project, Murmur. Shawn Micallef, James Roussel, and Gabe Sawhney began Murmur in Toronto’s Kensington Market in 2003 and it has spawned new locations around the city and around the world.