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Exploratorium, Pier 15 (Embarcadero at Green Street)
$15 General; $10 Members; Free for Lab Members; $10 Add-On Ticket for the Tactile Dome Available for Purchase Onsite
Adults Only (18+)
Note: Some programs have limited seating and will be made available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.
Reinvent your Thursday nights at After Dark. Experience a fascinating array of unique, adult-only programs and events that change each week. Grab dinner by the Bay, play with hundreds of hands-on exhibits, crawl through our pitch-black Tactile Dome, sip cocktails, and explore.
7:30 p.m.
Kanbar Forum
I am creating a new nature . . . a new species.
—Theo Jansen
For the last several decades, Dutch artist Theo Jansen has been making strandbeests, or “beach animals,” enormous kinetic sculptures of PVC tubing that move and behave like living creatures. Constructed on the wild and picturesque beaches near Jansen’s home in the Netherlands, each strandbeest is approached by the artist as part of a natural evolution, one in which the beest—not the artist—is the judge of when the work is complete. Jansen shares his intensely personal drive to create these creatures, one that is deeply rooted in his childhood.
A Boy's Dream follows Jansen as he embarks on the beests’ first North American tour. How can artists reconcile their loss of control over personal works as they begin to share their art with the world? Faced with the pragmatic needs of the ambitious tour, Jansen must confront his philosophical anxieties related to releasing his beloved creatures to both a wider audience and an art world with financial underpinnings, raising larger questions about the relationships between artists and their audiences.
Featuring:
A Boy’s Dream (2015, 75 min.) by Walther Grotenhuis
This program is presented in conjunction with Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen, a temporary exhibition running Friday, May 27 through Monday, September 5, 2016.
Photo © Lena Herzog
Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. Audemars Piguet provided generous support as the tour's National Sponsor. ABC7 is the exhibition’s local media sponsor with additional support from SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle.
6:15–10:00 p.m.
Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery
Take an excursion through total darkness in our Tactile Dome. Crawl, slide, and bump your way through the pitch-dark Dome using your sense of touch as your only guide through its chambers and mazes.
Please Note: Due to the nature of this experience, certain restrictions apply. Guests who are afraid of the dark; claustrophobic; have back, neck, or knee injuries; or are in their third trimester of pregnancy should not participate. Guests wearing casts are prohibited. Also, please wear comfortable clothes.
Learn more about the Tactile Dome.
Drawing Board
Ticketing at 6:00 p.m., first come, first served
Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery
Draw hypnotically flowing patterns with a swinging table, and watch friction cause the patterns to slowly shrink along a spiral path. Pick up a ticket to reserve your spot in line for this popular activity.
Speaker Dissection
6:00–9:45 p.m.
Bechtel Central Gallery
Tune in to surrounding sounds by experimenting with strings and vibrations, and use electromagnets to build a basic speaker. Learn how to listen with your bones, and explore the workings of the inner ear.
Cow Eye or Flower Dissection (alternating)
6:00–9:45 p.m.
East Gallery
Do cows see color? How does a lens work? Examine the intricate structure of a cow eye to learn about similar structures in our own eyes, as well as some key differences.
Stigma, stamen, pistil, anther, style: Uncover the beautiful architecture of flower anatomy, and gather some surprising strategies that plants use to reproduce.
Magic Demonstration
6:00–9:45 p.m.
Bernard and Barbro Osher West Gallery
Everything is not as it seems—at first. Pick a card, any card, and watch the Explainers reveal some surprising aspects of human perception.
Pier 15
(Embarcadero at Green Street)
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 528-4444