exploratorium

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 exhibit
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 exhibit
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

Visitors interact with the Anti-Gravity Mirror exhibit.
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

Parabolic dishes collect and focus sound waves and reflect them to participants seated within them.

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 exhibit
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 exhibit
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

Sand vibrates on a metal surface in the Chlani Singing exhibit.
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 exhibit
Fluttering

Ned Kahn, 1994

A piece of fabric undulates in complex ways.

Where: Fisher Bay Observatory Gallery 6, Mezzanine

Kids walking on the Fog Bridge at the Exploratorium
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

A family interacts with the Icy Bodies exhibit.
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

Pages