Exploratorium goes wild after hours

SAN FRANCISCO — “After Dark,” a series of adult-oriented programs at the Exploratorium — no, we’re not talking X-rated stuff — mixes cocktails and conversation with science and the arts on Thursday evenings in April.

The adults-only playground is equal parts experiment and prototype for the Exploratorium, which is on the heels of its 40th anniversary. Starting in October, the interactive museum and education center will extend its hours the first Wednesday of each month. 

“This is an opportunity for adults to experience the Exploratorium when it’s not crowded with kids at play, and you can even have a drink while you are doing it,” says Melissa Alexander, director of public programs.

“We have always mixed art and science with the social experience,” she says. “In fact, the Exploratorium has an extensive history of working with artists like John Cage, Laurie Anderson, Matmos and Tracy and the Plastics. The fruits of that history are found in our exhibits and programs like our evening ‘After Dark.’ If you are interested in art, science, their edges and their intersections, you should definitely check us out,” she adds.

“After Dark” offers four different events throughout April, each with a distinct lens into the museum. Here’s a run-down:

Violins and turntables: “Etudes4violin&electronix,” curated by Pam Winfrey, brings together DBR (Daniel Bernard Roumain) and DJ Scientific (Elan Vyta), who create a new kind of musical exploration with violin, laptops and turntables. The performance begins at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Feeling film: Liz Keim curates “Photon/Pixel/Photon,” which includes a screening of “Advance Beauty,” a series of digital artworks inspired and influenced by sound. The collaboration between programmers, artists, musicians, animators and architects involved each artist working with a specific set of parameters. The work as a whole was to start, finish and exist within a white space. In addition to the screening of “Advance Beauty,” artist and musician Nate Boyle delivers an audiovisual performance that fuses digital and analog materials in real time. The event begins at 7 p.m. April 9.

Carnival of science: On April 16, the whimsical and weird come to the forefront in “Sideshow Science,” which Alexander calls “an experiment taking ideas we are developing at the Exploratorium.” She asks, for example, “Did you know goldfish can learn? They have minds and can learn and remember tricks. We can feel the impact of emotions on our bodies. Animals (planerea) can be chopped up into millions of pieces and still exist. What we find is that weirdness exists in nature and nature is the biggest freak of all. This night we poke fun at ourselves, our past, and our future.”

Through the eyes of a scientist: The culminating evening, “Walking the Talk” on April 23, invites attendees to encounter the museum through the eyes of local scientists and creative thinkers who will head up walking tours and offer a perspective of the Exploratorium  not often seen. Tours are every half hour, from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

IF YOU GO

Exploratorium After Dark

Where: The Exploratorium, 3601 Lyon St., San Francisco

When: Thursday and April 9, 16 and 23

Admission: $14 each evening for nonmembers; members may purchase a $20 pass for all four events 

Contact: (415) 561-0363; www.exploratorium.edu