Can a sculpture be heard as well as seen?
At The Met's Roof Garden, Jennie C. Jones is redefining abstraction. Her 2025 commission, Ensemble, uses acoustic fiberglass and stainless steel strings to transform sculptural forms into instruments, merging the visual legacy of modernism with the immersive power of avant-garde sound.
In her 2025 Roof Garden Commission, titled Ensemble, artist Jennie C. Jones explores the intersection of formal sculpture and sonic potential. Born in 1968 in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jones utilizes a multidisciplinary practice—spanning painting, installation, and audio composition—to challenge the traditional boundaries of minimalist abstraction. Her work does not merely sit in a space; it actively alters the environment's acoustic properties.
The installation functions through a sophisticated interplay of materials and mechanics. Jones employs acoustic fiberglass panels affixed to canvas to absorb sound, alongside powder-coated aluminum, concrete cast travertine tiles, and stainless steel strings. By using the line of a string as a proxy for the continuity of art history, the work proposes a physical manifestation of musical notation and modernism's legacy.
The project is deeply rooted in the conceptual elements of listening and Black improvisation. Through the 'activation' of these sculptures, musicians such as Tomeka Reid and Luke Stewart engage with the pieces, treating the sculptural forms as part of a string trio. This approach allows the exhibition to investigate how the formal possibilities of instruments can be expanded through sculptural intervention, effectively turning the museum's rooftop into a site of live, structural performance.
On view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from April 14, 2025, through October 19, 2025, Ensemble invites viewers to reconsider how much of art history can be heard. By integrating the avant-garde musical tradition with physical form, Jones asks us to reconsider who produces abstraction and how much of its impact is lost when we stop listening.
Source: Activation—The Roof Garden Commission: Jennie C. Jones, Ensemble | Met Exhibitions
