Proof of full COVID-19 vaccination is now required for all visitors ages 12+. Plan your visit
First Thursday: Mirror, Mirror
Thursday, October 1, 2015
After Dark: Mirror, Mirror
$15 General; $10 Members; Free for Lab Members
Adults Only (18+)
Note: Some programs have limited seating and will be made available to visitors on a first-come, first-served basis.
Treat your curiosity to a candy box of cool events at After Dark, weekly Thursday evening programs exclusively for adults (18+). Though every Thursday night is different, all include access to more than 600 hands-on exhibits, no-host bars, and our restaurant. A ticket includes evening hours at the museum.
Featured Program
Mirrors, arguably the first “virtual reality” technology, lie at the intersection of nature, culture, and self-recognition. Once small, rare, and coveted items owned only by the wealthy, today mirrors are as common as a pencil and are key to many modern tools, from HDTVs to solar-power plants and space telescopes. Although ubiquitous, their charms remain beguiling and their physics compelling. Find out more about mirrors—and, more generally, the nature of reflections—through the museum’s rich collection of exhibits and special, one-night-only art installations, lectures, and activities.
Featuring:
The Infinity Boxes of Matt Elson
Peer inside the ornate windows of The Infinity Boxes to encounter dreamlike wonderlands of playfully altered perception. Appearing in elaborate, custom-built boxes adorned with abstract oil paintings, these fourteen (and counting) artworks by Matt Elson combine mirrors, light, color, and viewer interactions to produce seemingly limitless fields of reflections. Intimate and fun, the mind-expanding interiors of The Infinity Boxes reveal surprising nuances in the ways we see ourselves and others.
See The Infinity Boxes at After Dark, or visit the Central Gallery during regular daytime hours from September 29–October 4 to view yourself transformed.
TONIGHT’S SCHEDULE
PRESENTATIONS
Mirrors in Technology and Art
With Sebastian Martin
6:30–8:30 p.m. | Bay Observatory Gallery
A Reflection on Mirrors
With Ron Hipschman
7:00 and 9:00 p.m. | Phyllis C. Wattis Webcast Studio
The Mind’s Mirror
With Zarinah Agnew
7:30 p.m. | Kanbar Forum
The History of Mirrors
With Massimo Mazzotti
8:30 p.m. | Bay Observatory Gallery
INSTALLATIONS
The Infinity Boxes
By Matt Elson
6:00–10:00 p.m. | Central Gallery
Visible Spectres
By Kerry Laitala
6:00–10:00 p.m. | West Gallery, Black Box
ACTIVITIES
Through The Looking Glass
With the Explainers
6:30–9:30 p.m. | Central Gallery
Light Boxes and Anamorphic Mirrors
With Explorables
7:00–10:00 p.m. | Central Gallery
FILMS
On Reflection
9:00 p.m. | Kanbar Forum
Contemplando la Ciudad (2005, 4 min.) by Angela Reginato
Visions of a City (1978, 8 min.) by Lawrence Jordan
Suspended 2 (2005, 5 min.) by Amy Hicks
Hand Held Day (1975, 16mm, 5 min.) by Gary Beydler
Pier 15 (2013, 4 min.) by Michael Rudnick
EXHIBITS
The Plaza
Anamorphic Bench
Crossroads
All Eyes on Me
See Yourself on the Inside
Your Father’s Nose
West Gallery
Hot Spot
Recollections
Self-Centered Mirror
Self-Excluding Mirror
Simply Smashing
Sketch Mirror
Tearful Reflections
Central Gallery
Animation Tower
Anti-Gravity Mirror
Binocular Rivalry
Color Collage<
Corner Reflector
Cylindrical Mirror
Duck Into a Kaleidoscope
Everyone Is You and Me
Giant Mirror
Mirror Mirror
Mirrorly a Window
Robot Dance
Rotating Faces
Sun Painting
Through the Looking Glass
Touch the Spring
Visual Channels
Bay Observatory Terrace
Camera Obscura
