Zip Mouth Organ is one of two objects involving a harmonica and a cast of a zip. In both pieces Barker plays on his love for contrast, making an instrument silent by literally ‘zipping it up’. Barker’s disguise of a familiar object in order to change its’ meaning, is key to his work, and is of course a principle of the Surrealists. Being the heir to the invaluable legacy of Marcel Duchamp, Barker has always had strong links with Surrealism. The present object has been in a private collection for decades whilst its’ counterpart is held by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.