Artworks on View

Art is everywhere at the Exploratorium. Here are some of the artworks currently on display—and where to find them.

Christmas Tree Balls

Robert Larue (Bob) Miller,

There are captivating reflections in a box of ornaments.

Where: Entrance

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

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

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

Lab Illustrations

Lucy Conklin, 2013

Conklin spent several weeks observing the Exploratorium's life sciences laboratory and produced a number of original works that capture the inner workings of the facility. Beyond hand-rendered “portraits” of the many organisms cultured in the lab, Conklin successfully and beautifully captured the process and practices of staff biologists.

Where: Gallery 4: Living Systems