If you grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, or you had kids there, then you’ve been to the Exploratorium. Nowadays the Exploratorium lives in a sanitized, shiny new spot at Pier 15, but when I was a kid it sprawled chaotically in an enormous, shambling space in the Palace of Fine Arts. What’s great about the Exploratorium is that every exhibit, every single one, is interactive — and the mechanic of the interaction in some way elucidates a scientific idea.
The Exploratorium has always been one of my favorite places on the planet, and at its best BAM’s Teknopolis evokes the playful technological spirit of that all-time great museum.
Billed as an “interactive technology showcase,” Teknopolis doesn’t seem to quite fill out the BAM Fisher space. Between the installations, the 360 degree-film arcade, and the VR experiences, there is a great deal to explore but the way ‘Teknopolis’ is arranged can feel at first as if it is an unfinished exhibition.
Not that it matters to most participants. I observe laughing, screaming, running, madly delighted kids who swarm around BAM Fisher during my afternoon at Teknopolis. And as far as they’re concerned, ‘Teknopolis’ is a blast.
BAM Fisher’s flexible main stage holds the larger interactive pieces. Some of the exhibits I walk by are Max Björverud’s “Light Pong,” Compagnia TPO’s “Colors,” “Figuration” from Masary Studios, and the marvelously titled “Ghost Sine” by Christopher Short. All of these pieces use interactive tools, light projection, body tracking, pressure sensors, or more conventional user interfaces to get the participant involved in the piece.
In Ryu Kishi’s “OrObO,” floating white orbs levitate, seemingly by magic. One girl runs up in an absolute manic frenzy, only to stop short and stare at the hovering orb like she’s watching an arcane magic trick. It’s lovely, but the Exploratorium and other science museums have used similar exhibits. After a moment or two, the piece begins to look like a science museum exhibit gussied up with a bit of artfulness.
I wander over to “SMing,” which ends up feeling a great deal more vital. Kids walk up on a raised dais, where a facilitator instructs them to “Sing a single note” into a black microphone. That “single note” ranges from a nervous, halting “Laaaa!” to a giggling “Gagagaga” a tough bass “Baaaaa” — all met with proud approval by parents. When the participant completes the note, an image appears on a vast array of screens that fan out in the darkness of the space. Oddly, the camera’s been set up for adults, so the clips only show the kids from the jawline up, making their brief singing debut all the more charmingly silly.
Next, a facilitator hands the child in question a wand. Depending on the movement of the wand, their image moves forward or backward as the pitch of their note shifts higher or lower as they conduct a chorus of their own face across that vast array of screens. I’m amazed as I watch these kids, digital natives to a degree even a 30 year-old Millennial would find disturbing, find novelty and delight by magically controlling their own faces on a sea of screens.
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“SMing” seems to express an idea, and that idea is impossible to express without the interaction of the participant. But many of the exhibits at Teknopolis don’t seem to be expressing anything at all.
I spend a good twenty minutes with Christopher Short’s “Ghost Sine,” using its slick tablet-computer installed UI to manipulate laser-created multiples of various shapes as they circle, swing, juke, and slide all around each other on a big disc that hovers over BAM Fisher’s main space. As fun as it is, it seems more like a side-quest at a rave than an art installation. At least at the Exploratorium interacting with something like “Ghost Sine” would come along with an infograph that would teach me all about lasers.
Other floors of Teknopolis hold a VR arcade and places to view a wide array of 360 films. Many of the VR experiences are already available to owners of Oculus or other headsets, and the delightful reactions of kids are a bit scant in those locations, so I head back to the main BAM Fisher space.
As I walk around, the lack of cohesive idea and shortage of exhibits with clear artistic intent takes away some of the charm of ‘Teknopolis.’ If many similar installations at ‘Teknopolis’ can be found at science museums around the country, then what does ‘Teknopolis’ bring to the table?
I head up to the balcony area that looks down on the main area. I pass by “Figuration,” which projects images on a large screen that follow from the shape and movement of the participant, who dances around on a mat. The images of the person can be seen on the other side of the screen by people looking up from the space below — in fact I’d looked up earlier, and wondered what was the deal with all the waving arms.
As I pass by, a girl shyly watches as an endless sequence of silhouettes of her barley waving arms move in a field of color. Her mom looks on, seemingly hesitant to encourage her kid on to doing more expressive movements. When my own figure blacks out the kid’s figure as I walk by, I apologize to her mom for obfuscating her daughter’s image on the screen. Her mom says “Ah, I think that’s what we’re supposed to all be doing, right?” “Right,” I say, and do a little dance move. The mom grins and she steps onto the mat, waving her arms around. The kid smiles wide and follows along with her mom, who gestures to me to join them. Why not? I step onto the mat and all three of us have an impromptu dance party.
The “Figuration” screen responds, turning our shapes into a wild cascade of color and movement, and below, other moms and dads and kids and caretakers look up, grinning as we do our silly dance.
If you’ve got kids, Teknopolis might be a great place for them to have some fun with interactive technological installations and introduce them to VR or 360 movies (note some age and supervision restrictions apply to VR experiences). It’s a fun afternoon at BAM. But for parents, it might help in future incarnations of Teknopolis if the installations and exhibits express their ideas in a clearer way.
Teknopolis runs through March 8 at BAM Fisher. Tickets are $18–45.
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