Photos: Why A Trojan Horse Is Looming Above The Chicago Red Line Station

By Mae Rice in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 8, 2015 4:34PM

One of the Chicago Red Line station’s exits has become a Trojan horse. Its head looms above the entrance; each of its four legs ends in a wheel because yes, it is a replica of a horse replica; and its tail dangles from the back of the station, looking like either a good-quality mop or a terrible-quality wig.

It's all an elaborate installation ad for the Field Museum’s exhibit on The Greeks. Mike Dunbar—CEO of Illumivation Studios, the firm that made the horse replica replica—explains that it was made from “hand-burnt and weathered” wood by a team of about 20.

"It took us probably about 14 hours to install,” Mike said. “We did it with a crane truck.”

The original idea to turn the train station into a horse came from ad agency DDB, Dunbar said, but they turned to Illumivation for the execution. Illumivation has made animal ad installations before: a moose and a buffalo for the Montana Department of Tourism.

You can stop by to see their handiwork, and walk inside the suspicious, Ancient Greece-inspired structure, until around the end of the month.