Its Might Get Loud

German luthier Jens Ritter cranks up on his mission to transform the electric guitar from a musical weapon of choice for rebellious youths into collectibles that shake up the art world.

- Alvin Wong

Jens Ritter has made electric guitars for the likes of George Benson, Nile Rodgers and Prince to play on and enthral music fans from across the world. But for his latest act, Ritter has opted to work with silence instead.

Sparked by a rude awakening when he first heard—and unwittingly enjoyed—music created by artificial intelligence, Ritter started to ruminate on the demise of human creativity. This led the 51-year-old luthier to produce a series of defiant, one-off electric guitars. Christened The Sleeping Beauties, the guitars are made in a way that they will not be played for the next 100 years. Save for a brief moment when Ritter tuned these lavishly handcrafted and decorated instruments, their electronic components have since been deactivated. The guitars are sealed in bespoke humidors inscribed with their respective ‘wakeup dates’.

“The electric guitar is a significant object in the development of human culture. Because it could be amplified, for the first time in history, it allowed a musician to reach out to thousands of people at a time,” says Ritter. “The Sleeping Beauties is like a time capsule. People can pass on wealth or real estate, but this is a piece of art that symbolises life and culture that future generations can inherit.”