# Vessel Orchestra

The Vessel Orchestra is a sound-based art installation created by British artist Oliver Beer. It is the first sound-oriented installation ever commissioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The installation is composed of 32 objects from the museum's collection. Each object has a microphone placed in its hollow space in order to capture the natural sounds that each piece resonates. Beer chose each object for its unique pitch. For instance, a clay vase by Joan Miró resonates the musical note low F. The internal microphones, which do not touch the objects, are connected to a mixer, which is hooked up to a keyboard, therefore allowing a musician to "play" the objects, creating music. The installation was opened to the general public on July 2, 2019, and was on display at the Met Breuer until August 11, 2019. During the exhibit the installation played repeatedly a 20-minute loop of a composition by Beer. In addition, the instrument was played on Friday evenings during live music performances by guest musicians. The installation includes two and a half octaves in a chromatic scale, from low C to high G. It took Beer four years to create the installation. Some of the objects in the installation had never been on display in the museum before. The project was co-curated by Lauren Rosati and Limor Tomer.

## List of works

Beer used the following objects in The Met's collection for Vessel Orchestra; works are listed as they appeared in the installation clockwise from the entrance.
| Note (SPN) | Work | Date | Artist / Location | Media | Accession number |
| B$_3$ | Shiva vase | 1973 | Ettore Sottsass | Ceramic | 2017.204 |
| C$_4$ | Vase | 1986 | Alessandro Mendini, Sinya Okayama | Stainless steel | 1988.241 |
| F$_4$ | Trifoglio | 1969 | Enzo Mari | Ceramic | 1988.184.4 |
| G♭$_4$ | Blue Mountain Horses | 1984 | Rudy Autio | Stoneware with colored glazes | 1998.534 |
| A♭$_3$ | Scofield Thayer | 1923, cast 1924 | Gaston Lachaise | Bronze, glass | 1984.433.30 |
| A$_3$ | Squared Up | 1985 | William Daley | Stoneware | 2000.527.1 |
| D♭$_3$ | Rhyton in the shape of a bird | ca. early 1st millennium B.C. | Northwestern Iran | Ceramic | 59.95 |
| A♭$_2$ | Mrs. Olin Levi Warner | 1886–87, cast 1897–98 | Olin Levi Warner | Bronze | 98.9.6 |
| C$_3$ | Ewer | 19th century | Franchi and Son | Electroformed copper, silver plated and gilt | 73.8.52 |
| D$_2$, E♭$_2$, D$_3$ | The Ming Sisters | 2003 | Betty Woodman | Glazed earthenware, epoxy resin, lacquer, paint | 2003.413a–c |
| G♭$_2$ | Canaanite jar | ca. 1500–1400 B.C. | Levant | Ceramic | 2001.761.9 |
| E$_2$ | Storage jar decorated with mountain goats | ca. 3800–3700 B.C. | Central Iran | Ceramic, paint | 59.52 |
| D♭$_2$ | Pot | 1975 | Juan Hamilton | Stoneware | 1978.496.2 |
| G$_2$ | Vessel in form of female(?) figure | ca. 7th–6th century B.C. | Iran, Luristan, Chekka Sabz | Ceramic | 43.89.3 |
| C$_2$ | Vase | 1901 | Louis Majorelle | Porcelain | 2013.245.5 |
| B♭$_3$ | Guild vessel | 19th century | Germany | Pewter | 1974.28.107 |
| A$_2$ | Axe Vessel | 1986 | Gordon Baldwin | Earthenware | 1998.289 |
| B♭$_2$ | Fish | ca. 1947 | Beatrice Wood | Earthenware, lustered | 47.126.2 |
| F$_2$ | Vase | 1942 | Joan Miró, Josep Llorens Artigas | Painted earthenware | 1989.402 |
| B$_2$ | The Virgin | 1906, cast 1909 | Andre O'Connor | Bronze | 18.38 |
| E♭$_3$ | Vase with archaistic patterns | Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Qianlong period (1736–95) | China | Porcelain with green glaze and gilding (Jingdezhen ware) | 14.40.400 |
| F$_3$ | Temple 7 | 1977 | William Wyman | Earthenware | 1980.479 |
| G♭$_3$ | Spouted jar | ca. 9th–7th century B.C. | Iran, Tepe Sialk | Ceramic, paint | 39.60.9 |
| E$_3$ | Ewer | 19th century | Franchi and Son | Electroformed copper, silver plated | 73.8.8 |
| D♭$_4$ | Cooking pot | ca. late 8th–7th century B.C. | Levant, Lachish (modern Tell ed-Duweil, Israel) | Cermanic | 34.126.43 |
| D$_4$ | Jar with geometric designs | ca. 5300–4300 B.C. | Central Iran | Ceramic, paint | 60.61.3 |
| G$_4$ | Vase with performance of dragon boat | Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi period (1662–1722) | China | Porcelain painted with overglaze polychrome enamels (Jingdezhen ware) | 14.40.83 |
| E♭$_4$ | Vessel #1063 | 1990 | June Schwarcz | Electroplated copper foil, enamel | 1995.439 |
| G$_3$ | Vase | ca. 1900–1910 | Archibald Knox | Pewter | 1981.91 |
| E$_4$ | Measure | 1854–93 | Carl Adolph Ferdinand Heidorn | Pewter | 1990.199.11 |