NYPD attempts to censor anticipated Park Avenue art project

An artist's protests over his New York art installation raises the question of how to play nice in public spaces

How free should free speech be? This question currently bedevils the internet, as misogynist comments, even rape threats, pollute Twitter. Yet a work of art about to go public in New York praises complete liberty of expression.

Rafael Lozano-Hemmer is turning the Park Avenue tunnel in New York into a reverberating sound and light installation that celebrates free speech. From 3 to 17 August, this tunnel will be closed to traffic and open to visitors for Voice Tunnel, part of New York's Summer Streets festival. You walk into the middle of the tunnel, where a silver intercom awaits your remarks. Speak a short message and it will pulse through the tunnel in waves of sound and light.

If you've ever sat in a cinema in Manhattan and enjoyed the continual stream of jokes and comments with which New Yorkers give a film instant feedback, it's easy to imagine some salty, witty and creative words shaking the Park Avenue tunnel. In fact, the New York Police Department had serious anxieties about what kind of words might be spoken. The NYPD asked the artist to install a time delay so messages could be regulated. Lozano-Hemmer refused, theguardian.com © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds