The Henry removed its old lobby gift shop two years ago, just when the economy went south, and turned it into an artist-run exhibition space. Now the Henry is reclaiming the roombut not to sell T-shirts or coffee mugs. The chiming and ringing you hear upon entering the museum is sweetly emanating from a blue children’s wading poolotherwise known as Untitled Series No. 2, a 1999 piece by French artist Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. He was originally trained as a composer; and you have to wonder if he studied John Cage, since the pool is an aquatic, aleatory installationrandom silence and irregular pinging. The half-filled glasses and bowls gently careen off one another; and they seem tunedby chance? intention?with varying levels of water within. These delicate vessels bob and drift, like ships in search of safe harbor. To create a current, a little pump and some warming coilslike those used to heat a teacupare perilously draped over the inflatable vinyl sidewalls. It seems like an invitation to flood and disasterwon’t the coils melt the plastic? But if, one morning, visitors should find a dry, empty blue blob filled with broken crockery, the silence will tell them the show is over. In the meantime, there should be benches, so you can just sit and listen. BRIAN MILLER
Thursdays, Fridays, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Starts: June 24. Continues through Sept. 26, 2010