The Exploratorium is a museum of science, art, and human perception. I was resident at the museum for 2 weeks in July, based at the Tinkering Studio.
A moveable museum
I learned so much from being situated in the museum. As an organization they were open and curious, and they valued and trusted people. On the first day I was given a “thinking collaborator” pass that gave me access to the museum between 8am and 8pm, I literally tagged in, directly into the hub of the museum from day 1. I was honored.
I was also fascinated by their approach. An underlying educational value that the organization has is the notion that knowledge is constructed, and learning is dialogical. This was very evident in the kinds of exhibits they had on display -all (and there are many) were completed through participation. I kind of knew about this approach before I arrived, but I had not anticipated that the fabric of the museum would reflect this notion too. Just like the exhibits, and like their approach to knowledge and learning, the walls of the museum were not static. It was physically moveable: constantly changing and shifting depending on the program/artists/political/scientific/social events. Even in the short time-frame of the residency they had changed the exhibits around the tinkering studio. Sebastian moved some of the light exhibitions from another part of the museum to the space, as they fit more with the work I was making. Apparently this is very normal and all of the exhibits are designed to be moveable, so that they can be repaired of the floor in a workshop, but also so that the museum itself can play.
And some of the museum is not in the museum at all. Recently they built an extension at the far side of pier, overlooking the Bay. It is designed for looking outwards. In this area there are telescopes to look out into the Bay with, and drawing prompts help you look. There is a museum within the museum -a small geo-socio-historical museum of San Francisco and the Bay Area. And there is documentation of the time when the museum was a walk. In 2013 Harrell Fletcher made this part of the museum into a walk to mount Diablo in the project The Best Things in Museums Are the Windows. Apart from the wonderful light exhibits, this was my favorite part of the museum to spend time in.
