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Artworks on View
Art is everywhere at the Exploratorium. Here are some of the artworks currently on display—and where to find them.
Aeolian Harp
Douglas Hollis, 1976
An eerie orchestral chord floats on the breeze; it’s the shimmering sound of a 27-foot tall harp being strummed by the wind.
Where: Gallery 5: Outdoor Exhibits
Aeolian Landscape
Ned Kahn, 1988
Aeolian Landscape presents a swirling storm of sand inside a large chamber covered by a plexiglass top. A knob on the top of the exhibit rotates a sturdy fan set in the base of the chamber.
Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine
Albert
John Billingsley, 1969
A mechanical object may seem alive if it responds to you.
Where: Entrance
Anti-Gravity Mirror
Robert Larue (Bob) Miller, 1979
Here’s an exhibit where watching is at least half the fun. You can create any number of gravity-defying illusions that will amaze you and your friends: Levitate, fly, swim though the air, grow limbs (and dissolve them), crawl straight up the wall like a lizard—the sky’s the limit.
Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening
Archimedes
Douglas Hollis, 2017
Archimedes is comprised of two 8-foot diameter dish-like chairs placed 80 feet apart. Each dish’s parabolic curve collects and focuses sound waves and reflects them to participants seated within them. Even whispers uttered from one dish can be clearly heard by the surprised listener seated in the opposite dish.
Where: Plaza
As One
Amery Kessler, 2015
As One invites two participants to partner, and take turns in the roles of leader or follower as they mirror one another’s movements.
Where: Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon
Aurora
Robert Larue (Bob) Miller, 1977
A reflector stretches light from colored tiles into long bright ribbons.
Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening
Bay Lexicon
Jane Wolff, 2013
Bay Lexicon is a visual dictionary made up of illustrated flash cards, exploring the landscape visible from the Bay Observatory’s windows as well as places and phenomena along the shoreline between Fort Point and Hunters Point.
Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6: Observing Landscapes
Big Wood: 300 Years of Photosynthesis
Michael Brown, Evan Shively, 2013
Developed by artist Michael Brown in collaboration with reclaimed wood specialist Evan Shively, a several-hundred-year-old Douglas fir was split down the center to reveal its rings, immersing visitors in a fascinating study of dendrochronology.
Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems
Buckyball
Leo Villareal, 2016
Comprised of 4,500 LED nodes arranged along a series of pentagons and hexagons, Leo Villareal's Buckyball is animated by custom software programmed by the artist to display over 16 million distinct colors.
Where: Plaza
Chladni Singing
Meara O'Reilly, 2013
Sand scattered on a large metal square vibrates and jumps in response to the sound of your voice. When you hit just the right note(s), the sand spontaneously migrates into elegant geometrical patterns.
Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening
Christmas Tree Balls
Robert Larue (Bob) Miller,
There are captivating reflections in a box of ornaments.
Where: Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon
Confused Sea
Ned Kahn, 1994
Air blowing over the surface of water inside a large Plexiglas hemisphere mimics the action of the wind over the ocean by generating waves. The waves slowly change and build until the entire volume of water is circulating as one wave. Viewers can adjust the speed of the air blower and influence the building of the waves.
Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems
Digital Footprints
Eric Fischer, Sebastian Martin, 2013
Daily cycles of the city are projected onto a miniature topographic map of San Francisco.
Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6: Observing Landscapes
Floater Theater
Nina Katchadourian, 2016
Floater Theater is an intimate theatrical environment that whimsically prompts participants to explore the fascinating, commonly experienced phenomenon of eye floaters.
Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening
Flourish (Bloom)
John Edmark, 2014
This 3-D sculpture is animated when spun under a strobe light. The bloom’s animation effect is achieved by progressive rotations of the golden ratio, phi (ϕ), the same ratio that nature employs to generate the spiral patterns we see in pinecones and sunflowers.
Where: Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon
Fluttering
Ned Kahn, 1994
A piece of fabric undulates in complex ways.
Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine
Fog Bridge #72494
Fujiko Nakaya, 2013
In a city notorious for fog, this immense artwork by Fujiko Nakaya intermittently shrouds a pedestrian bridge spanning Piers 15 and 17 with clouds of mist, enveloping all in its gauzy embrace.
Where: Plaza
Harmonograms
Ivan Moscovich, 1968
Ivan Moscovich created these harmonograms with a twin-pendulum Harmonograph. The spirals, ellipses, and figure eights are graphical records of the swinging pendulums.
Where: Osher Gallery 1: Human Phenomenon
Icy Bodies
Shawn Lani, 2005
Like comets, these chunks of dry ice slowly disintegrate as they move, leaving a visible trail of condensed water vapor.
Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine
Jacques Cousteau in Seashells
Kenneth Knowlton, 1987
There’s more to seeing than meets the eye.
Where: Ray and Dagmar Dolby Atrium
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