This ‘orchestra’ was inspired by the 17th century German philosopher Athanasius Kircher, who envisioned a disturbing “Katzenklavier” (cat organ), using real cats. Instead of torturing cats to produce sound, Beer’s version sets the innate sound of these cat vessels free.
Beer sorted through thousands of cat vessels from all over the world to find thirty-seven “that sing in tune with each other.” He enjoys the fact that “because of the universal nature of the relationship of music and form, harmony and form, none of those objects can avoid singing.” Beer finds the sound they make magical. “The resonance of these things is so surprising and yet so evident when we hear it, so self-evident.”
The show opened with a collaborative performance between Beer and vocalist Holland Andrews. Beer says it was an incredible experience. “We gelled musically immediately, and wrote the music that we played in just a couple of sessions.” The packed audience was enthusiastic. “It was such a lovely thing to see these objects that I've been collecting for so many months and years, finally able to sing to somebody,” Beer says. “It was really gorgeous.”
An artist to watch, Beer’s work has been included in notable exhibitions at New York’s Metropolitan Museum and MoMA PS1, London’s Mithraeum, the Musée d’Art Moderne in Paris, and the Venice Biennale. With degrees in musical composition, visual arts, and cinema from educational institutions in London, Oxford and Paris, Beer blends his interests into astounding, multi-faceted art.