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, 2013

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

Archimedes

Douglas Hollis, 2017

Made of cast bronze, 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.

Where: Plaza

As One

Amery Kesller, 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, 1976

Aurora shows how reflections are created both by the shape of the light and the shape of the reflector.

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, 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. The wood of the tree forms the walls of an intimate, contemplative space with a center bench, and the enormous, lacy root structure compels visitors to appreciate the complexity and sheer enormity of this grand, once-living organism.

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

Chladni Singing is an interactive exhibit that enables visitors to draw extraordinary geometric patterns in sand with their voices. Based on studies by the 19th-century German physicist and musician Ernst Chladni, O'Reilly explores sound resonances with a microphone.

Where: Bechtel Gallery 3: Seeing & Listening

Digital Footprints

Eric Fischer, 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

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