In her new installation, Ensemble, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden, artist Jennie C. Jones explores the relationship between sound and sculpture. Using stringed instruments as analogs for Black cultural contributions, the site-responsive work comprises powder-coated aluminium menhirs that engage with the New York City skyline and challenge traditional outdoor monuments. This immersive experience encourages viewers to engage closely with the sculpture, inviting them to listen to the sounds produced by the wind. Jones's work further reflects her broader commitment to highlighting overlooked aspects of modernism through sound and listening.
What sound does a sculpture make? That is one of the many synesthetic questions the artist Jennie C. Jones conjures in her new commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden, transforming sound into a physical, interactive experience through sculpture.
Simultaneously melding with and disrupting views of the New York City skyline, Jones's stark, powder-coated aluminium menhirs combine line and acoustics, complicating the quiet, waiting didacticism of conventional outdoor monuments.
Visitors must get in close to the sculpture to hear what it has to sayâan exploration of how sound and form interact, inviting contemplation and a deeper reflection on the experience of Black cultural contributions.
Jones has spent her three-decade career exploring the historically under-sung outposts of modernism, deploying sound elements and the act of listening as central tenets of her practice.
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