Join us for the Opening Reception on Tuesday, June 30, 6–8pm.

The International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) presents an exhibition by Hans Rosenström that responds to the unexpected rhythms of ISCP’s factory building and East Williamsburg neighborhood, one of Brooklyn’s last major manufacturing zones. Using transducer speakers mounted to locally-sourced industrial glass, steel and reclaimed wood, Rosenström creates sound interventions alongside a series of photographs that reflect the fragile yet resilient coexistence of nature and industry in a landscape continually altered by urban transformation. 

The exhibition draws inspiration from the nearby Newtown Creek, a waterway shaped by over a century of industrial activity, including the toxic sediment colloquially known as “black mayonnaise.” Yet amidst these dystopian conditions, natural ecosystems persist. Here, ribbed mussels cling to steel and concrete piers, filtering polluted water through their bodies and adapting to an environment defined by extraction and decay. Through field recordings of mussels at the Creek paired with the human voice, Rosenström captures the nearly imperceptible acts of breathing, filtration, and vibration, translating them into an immersive sonic environment. Photographs of Newtown Creek further extend the artist’s explorations of contamination, adaptation, and industrial residue within the surrounding landscape.

Conspirare, the exhibition title, comes from the Latin meaning “to breathe together” or “to sound in unison,” and points to connections that unfold across human, animal, industrial, and ecological systems. This term later evolved into the word “conspire,” carrying associations with secrecy and collective unease—ideas that resonate through the installation. Subtle oscillating movements—water passing through mussels’ bodies, air moving through human lungs, and tidal currents—bind bodies and the land together in a continuous tension between suffocation and respiration, collapse and resilience. Attuned to the ecological precarity and anxiety of the present moment, the installation foregrounds interdependence as a delicate and ongoing negotiation.

Hans Rosenström is a Finnish-born artist based in Stockholm. He was a resident at ISCP from January to June 2024, supported by Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts and Saastamoinen Foundation. Rosenström has participated in group exhibitions including the 2025 Helsinki Biennial, Finland; Frieze Sculpture, London; the 2018 Riga International Biennial, Latvia; and his work has been the subject of solo exhibitions around the world, including at Helsinki Contemporary, Finland and Atelier Nord, Oslo, Norway. Currently, his public art installation is on view at Four Freedoms Park, Roosevelt Island, New York.

Hans Rosenström: Conspirare is curated by Melinda Lang, ISCP’s Director of Programs and Exhibitions. The exhibition is supported by Marion Boulton “Kippy” Stroud Foundation; American-Scandinavian Foundation; Finnish Cultural Institute in New York; and Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation; Bloomberg Philanthropies, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso; Hartfield Foundation; Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation; James Rosenquist Foundation; New York City Council District 34; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; van Beuren Charitable Foundation; William Talbott Hillman Foundation; and Uniarts Helsinki’s Academy of Fine Arts and Saastamoinen Foundation.

For press inquiries please contact communications@iscp-nyc.org