After Dark: Mixing Color

Schedule

Timed Presentations

Full-Spectrum Science: Mixing Color
With Ron Hipschman
8:00 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1, Kanbar Forum

The primary colors, those used to produce every other color, are red, yellow, and blue—aren’t they? Let Exploratorium scientist Ron Hipschman blow your mind (and everything you think you know about color) in this presentation, part of his series of colorful explorations of the physical world.

Ongoing

Chromatic Cinema
With Cinema Arts
6:00–10:00 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1

Excite your cones with these projections of artist-made videos that explore the swirling and layering of colors observed in the lab and out in the world.

When the Organ Played O Promise Me (Cecil Stokes, 1948, 4 min.) Created to promote calmness in patients in psychiatric care, this film—the only known “auroratone”—blends colors and crystal formations with a placid soundtrack.

Autumn Spectrum (Hy Hirsch, 1958, 7 min.) A visually lush and rhythmic ode, this beautiful film surfaces the architecture and colors of a city as it floats across the screen.

Liquid Lights (Joshua Light Show, 2010, 10 min.) This documentation of the live performance group captures some of their finest experiments in colored oil and water.

Soap Film Incident Light Microscope (Gerd A. Guenther, 2012, 5 min.) An up-close look at the rainbow of patterns that appear in the film of a simple soap bubble.

The Future is Bright (Jodie Mack, 2011, 3 min.) This film looks toward the light through shifting layers of diaphanous tissue paper and harmonizing color.

Color-Mixing Wheel
With the Explainers
6:00–9:30 p.m.  |  Osher Gallery 1 and Roaming

Mix the primary colors—but only in your mind—with the Color-Mixing Wheel, a spinning device that allows your brain to see the results of blending colors without physically combining them.

Making Paints and Pigments
With Amanda Hinton of Limn Colors
6:30–9:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 3 Demo Station

Learn the science behind making red, green, and blue watercolor paint. Find out about the origins of various pigments, how to mix paint properly, and how to achieve certain colors through color mixing. Then create an image of your own with the freshly made paint.

Color Fashion Show
6:30–9:30 p.m.  |  Gallery 3, Colored Shadows

Let a runway and an array of colored light showcase your own true colors—pull from an assortment of provided accessories (or use your own) and strut your stuff in front of the much-loved, much-photographed exhibit Colored Shadows. Then share your best selfies and follow #exploafterdark to see all the colorful looks of the night.

Live Painting Demo
With Jjaahz
7:30–9:00 p.m.  |  Bechtel Gallery 3, Webcast Studio

Artists use color to create mood, express emotion, and arouse the senses—and often incorporate opposite colors or juxtapose complementary ones to provoke a response. Experience color theory live as artist Jjaahz paints in real time and shares her perspectives on color, space, shape, and how to draw the eye.