For this year’s Open Engagement conference, the Exploratorium – a museum of science, art, and human perception in San Francisco – is organizing a collaborative presentation called Open Index #1 on Saturday, May 14th (for 45 min.) between 2:30 & 4. In an effort to present a series of divergent histories related to the post-war “science” museum, we’d love (and be honored) to have your help.
Founded in 1969 as an experiment in participatory learning towards personal and social empowerment, the Exploratorium ethos is connected with the emergence of what is broadly defined today as social practice.
But the assorted narratives that surround this unique public institution – and its ties to broader cultural, social, and art-historical contexts – have largely gone uncollected, undocumented and un-contextualized.
Open Engagement provides a rare opportunity to draw upon your insights and experience to trace some of these intriguing threads.
We’re soliciting contributions from a small number of conference participants to take part in a collaborative index-first history. We’re interested in the countless convergences of art, science, and education that surround the Exploratorium and interweave with a wider cultural context.
Adapted from the two existing indices from books written about the Exploratorium, our abbreviated index below is a list of people, places, and things relevant to our history and possibly relevant to yours. We ask that participants-to-be offer a 3-5 minute presentation (in any form) based on an existing or newly proposed index subject.
We’d be thrilled if you could participate in this experiment and look forward to hearing your ideas.
Contact: Marina McDougall if interested
INDEX
1969
Ames Room
Bell Laboratories
Cosmic rays
Cybernetic Serendipity
Cymatics
John Dewey
Charles and Ray Eames
Elementary Science Study
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
Feedback
Allan Kaprow
Interactive exhibit
Interference
Los Alamos
McCarthy Era blacklisting
National Endowment for the Arts
National Science Foundation
Optical Illusions
Pin Screens
Tactile Dome
Wave Organ
Whitney Brothers
