Sounding Stones is comprised of four granite blocks that have been cut through to create viewing holes to see neighboring blocks and hear water fountains contained within the blocks. Each stone averages six feet square. The rough quarry-cut bore holes were left untouched, with the polished surfaces being the ones that were cut to form each block.  Says Lin, Â"I design works to create an intimate dialogue with the viewer, allowing a place of contemplation, sometimes an incorporation of history, always a reliance on time, memory, and a passage or journey. The relation between the viewer and the artwork does not require a knowledge of a specific language of forms, but instead relies on a direct empathetic response to the work. This experiential reading of the work, utilizing modulations in the light, sound, texture, materiality, subtle changes in height, depth, or grade, has helped define my work."  http://www.artonfile.com/html/projectnotes.lasso?id=4518

Commissioned by the US General Services Administration's Art in Architecture Program

Sounding Stones

Commissioned by the US General Services Administration's Art in Architecture Program.In the form of a new classical representation, the sculpture pays homage to the African Burial Site and the transport of Africans to this land, their bondage and struggle for freedom. The work also expresses an interrelationship between all races and backgrounds of people in the United States. For this project, the Artist also composed a poem, of the same title, which chronicles the plight of the African slaves and honors their heroism.

Ted Weiss Federal Building

Africa Rising

Commissioned by the US General Services Administration's Art in Architecture Program.Through a series of overlapping silkscreen images, Arai draws the viewer`s attention to relevant activities, events, and
symbols pertinent to the 18th and early 19th century. There are
images from the 1600s-1827; however, these images are not
in chronological order.
The main image in the mural is of a mountain, flanked by two pillars. The mountain, as a symbol of land, appears as a sacred site and a place of spiritual truth. The image of the mountain rising from
the water can also refer to the history of New York as a thriving harbor, as well as one of the major
centers of the British slave trade in America. The pillars, through which the mountain is viewed,
represent the past and present. The Middle Passage and the watery holocaust of the Atlantic Ocean
are represented in the pillar on the mural`s right. The pillar on the left contains a sky line of New
York. Below the skyline is a foundation of bricks which contain the names of the first eleven Africans
brought to America through the Dutch slave trade. These pillars can be seen as the foundation for
the city of New York`s success. Also seen in the mural are: figures representing the different types of
labor Africans endured, the African Free School, Freedom`s Journal, Mother A.M.E. Zion church, and
Frances Tavern. At the center of the mural is a reproduction of an 18th century map of the Burial
Ground. Above the map, artifacts unearthed at the burial site-buttons, coins, shroud pins, and beadsbecome a tangible connection to the past; and the talismans for a renewed vision of the future.

Renewal

Removed after a lengthy and very public battle and court case pitting Richard Serra against the GSA over artists rights to their installed 'site-specific' works. A controversy developed over the artwork by Richard Serra commissioned for the plaza in front of the building, Tilted Arc. Commissioned in 1979 and built in 1981, it was criticized both for its aesthetic values and for security reasons. It was removed in 1989, which resulted in a lawsuit and a trial. The piece remains in storage, as the artwork was site-specific, and the artist does not want it displayed in any other location. The removal and trial led to the creation of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.

Unfortunately, nothing was done to prepare people for the arrival of the steel sculpture and the reaction of office workers to the piece was negative: it was immediately seen as ugly, oppressive and a &amp;lsquo;graffiti catcher&amp;rsquo;. Two petitions seeking the removal of the piece quickly gathered 1,300&amp;nbsp;signatures.  

Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, Jacob Javits Plaza,

Tilted Arc

This work is a mosaic that depict hexagonal skulls that merge into heads toward the top of the scene. The work is sited near a historic site: New York's African Burial Ground. In the 18th century, this space was the burial site for 10 to 20 thousand enslaved African Americans and working class citizens. It was discovered centuries later. Along with paying homage to those who were laid to rest on this site, Brown also remembers those who lost their lives to AIDS in his iconography.Roger Brown was a leading painter of the Chicago-Imagist style. For this project, Brown initially painted his image on canvass and then had the composition transformed by skilled artisans in Italy of special glass mosaics. All aspects of the work were accomplished to Brown`s satisfaction; assembled and installed under his guidance. Of his work, Brown said, &ldquo;On this ancient cemetery site below the modern skyline of New York City a contemporary tapestry of human faces, each made thin and hollow by the ravages of AIDS, descends like some medieval nightmare into a mosaic of death heads in memory of those of all races who have suffered and died too soon.&rdquo;

Located near the African Burial Ground National Monument.

Roger Brown 'Untitled' Mosaic

 This piece, made of finished bronze with patina, is made by Frank Bender, a sculptor renowned for his work on forensic facial identifications. Bender used human remains discovered in an African Burial Ground in 1991 and selected three skulls to work with. Said Bender, "I held the eldest woman's skull in my hands and felt that she had endured the most. The younger woman with the bandana had been shot in the back. The young man in the background, the youngest and tallest of the three, is rising for a hope-filled future. The three hands joined together in the earth convey the idea that "we are all one in death." 

Unearthed

Commissioned by the US General Service Administration's Art in Architecture Program.This sculpture is Lynds` tribute to the history of the site and to all people who strive for freedom. It is an embodiment of American independence; by night, the sculpture is transformed by lighting effects that add visual radiance to the idea of freedom. America Song is a relief sculpture sited at the building`s main entrance. The cast concrete is embedded with fiber optics, which in the evening emit moving light across the surface of the image. Sandblasted on stone below the sculpture is the poem I want to be free/Want to be free,/Rainbow` round my shoulder/Wings on my feet, written by an anonymous African poet.

 The cast concrete is embedded with fiber optics, which in the evening emit moving light across the surface of the image.  

'I want to be freeWant to be free,Rainbow&rsquo; round my shoulderWings on my feet

Exterior wall at entrance to the building

American Song

 French performed the commissions with associate Adolph A. Weinman, sculpted by the Piccirilli Brothers. Each sculptural group costing $13,500. From east to west, the statues depicted larger-than-life-size personifications of the continents Asia, America, Europe, and Africa. The primary figures were female, but there were also auxiliary human figures flanking each primary figure. In addition, Asia's figure was paired with a tiger, and Africa's figure was paired with a lion.

Four Continents

 Anne Lewison, architect and board member of cultureNOW, reads a selection from the book, Manhattan Outdoor Sculpture, by Margot Gayle and Michele Cohen, about The Four Continents, by Daniel Chester French, located at the US Customs House. 

 In 1937, celebrated New York painted Reginald Marsh painted murals for the rotunda that depicted early explorers of the Americas and traced the course of a ship entering New York's harbor. 

Custom House Murals

This public art installation commemorates the 18th century African Burial Ground, partially excavated in 1992. In the tradition of world ceremonial markings, it features a forty foot diameter illuminated terrazzo and polished brass "dance" floor and is designed as a tribute to the thousands of Africans, Indians and Europeans buried there. Commissioned by the US General Services Administration's Art in Architecture ProgramThe design of the work is in the tradition of world ceremonial ground markings and the name is after the historical ring shout dance of celebration performed throughout North America and the Caribbean. The work contains a multi-layering of patterns, symbols and texts and languages and is intended to foster greater cultural awareness, racial harmony and understanding.

Commemorating the eighteenth-century African Burial Ground.&nbsp;The design of the work is in the tradition of world ceremonial ground markings and the name is after the historical ring shout dance of celebration performed throughout North America and the Caribbean. The work contains a multi-layering of patterns, symbols and texts and languages and is intended to foster greater cultural awareness, racial harmony and understanding.

The New Ring Shout

Court of Internation Trade - visible from Duane Street

Federal Courthouse

Federal Bankrupcy Court

Dan M. Russell United States Courthouse

Watson Court of International Trade Building

Thomas F. Eagleton Federal Courthouse St. Louis, Missouri

The Art in Architecture Program oversees the commissioning of artworks for federal buildings nationwide. These artworks enhance the civic meaning of federal architecture and showcase the vibrancy of American visual arts. Together, the art and architecture of federal buildings create a lasting cultural legacy for the people of the United States.

  GSA Art in Architecture & Fine Arts Collection

GSA Art in Architecture & Fine Arts Collection

SITES