The Metropolitan Museum of Art has unveiled its latest rooftop exhibition, featuring minimalist, abstract, sculptural instruments that invite contemplation and exploration. This installation by American artist Jennie C. Jones will be the last of its kind for several years.
Jones, who has spent three decades incorporating sound as a conceptual element in her work, is behind this year’s exhibit titled “Ensemble.” It consists of three maroon-and-red sculptures resembling musical instruments: a trapezoidal zither, a tall Aeolian harp activated by the wind, and a doubled, leaning one-string in homage to twentieth-century improvisers Moses Williams and Louis Dotson. During a media preview, Jones explained that the installation underscores the tension between dormancy and activation. While only the Aeolian harp produces sound when activated by the wind, the other two sculptures remain silent, emphasizing their potential for sound and the anticipation of activation.
“The pieces are not always singing, they’re not performing, they’re not always activated,” said Jones. “I hope this work ignites the sonic imagination, holding space and nuance without an outward expression but with a rich interior and sonic imagination.”
Max Hollein, the Met’s CEO, praised the sculptures as “enormously powerful,” noting their evocation of minimalism, modernism, avant-garde music, and Black culture.
Jones’s minimalist instrumental sculptures
Associate curator Lauren Rosati, who has worked with Jones for the past five years to realize “Ensemble,” highlighted the historical context and relevance of the Met’s rooftop installations and the instruments within the Met’s collection. “The tension they hold between dormancy and activation, anticipation and release, is where they hold their power,” Rosati explained. Visitors can experience this provocative installation until October 19.
The rooftop commission program is being paused until 2030 due to the museum’s upcoming construction of the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, which will house the Met’s collection of 20th- and 21st-century art. When the new wing opens, the rooftop commissions are expected to resume, bringing contemporary art back to the Met’s iconic rooftop space.
Don’t miss the chance to experience Jennie C. Jones’s compelling sculptures on the Met’s rooftop, where art and the elements intertwine, creating an unforgettable sensory experience.
