Art News. Vasari Codex

A sonic tribute to the act of speech on New York City’s Roosevelt Island

Sound artist Hans Rosenström has launched a site-specific sound installation titled "Out of Silence" at Four Freedoms Park on New York City's Roosevelt Island, running until 21 June. The multi-speaker work features layered voices sung by the Estonian choir Vox Clamantis, arranged across four sections of the park as an homage to Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1941 Four Freedoms speech. Rosenström, a Finnish artist based in Stockholm, developed the project during an International Studio & Curatorial Program residency in New York in 2024, after being approached by Latvian curator Alina Girshovich to mark the 90th birthday of composer Arvo Pärt. The park's memorial to FDR was designed by architect Louis Kahn, who was born in Estonia and benefited from New Deal programs.

museum exhibitions schedule Sep 3, 2025 visibility 12 link 4 artists

Ai Weiwei's cat-mouflage takeover of New York City park

Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei has unveiled a public art installation titled *Camouflage* at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park on Roosevelt Island, New York City. The installation, which opened on September 10, 2025, drapes the park's memorial to President Roosevelt in fabric patterned with cat silhouettes, reinterpreting military camouflage patterns. It coincides with the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, located across the East River. The work marks the launch of Art X Freedom, a new annual public art commissioning program by the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy, aimed at sparking dialogue around social justice. Inside the tent-like structure, LED lights display a Ukrainian proverb, and visitors can attach messages to the netting in collaboration with the artist-run organization For Freedoms.

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