Exploratorium After Dark: Fire and Ice December 3, 2009

Fire and Ice
Exploratorium After Dark
Thursday, December 3, 2009
6 to 10 p.m.

When the temperature outside starts dropping, the Exploratorium will be heating up and chilling out with Fire and Ice, its December After Dark event, featuring fire sculptures, ice sculptures, and more. Join in on Thursday, December 3, from 6 until 10pm for fun at both ends of the thermostat. Enjoy cocktails on ice, sizzling tunes, and stunning displays and explorations of fire, ice, heat, and cold. The evening will feature works of fire art, including the Pyrograph, by Earl Stirling; a revved-up chain-saw ice sculptures by award-winning sculptor David Fong; and hovering between these two extremes, Fog Pool, by Charles Sowers, among others. The season continues in January 2010 with Resolution; in February, it will be the Sexploratorium. More monthly themes to come. After Dark events are included in the price of museum admission and are free for Exploratorium Members. It is possible to become an After Dark Member and receive admission to the whole season for just $25. Watch the Web site for updates at www.exploratorium.edu/afterdark, or join the Exploratorium After Dark email list at afterdark@exploratorium.edu.

Like a fiery version of the Exploratorium’s classic Drawing Board exhibit, Pyrograph lets you swing a pendulum across a sandy, flaming cauldron and trace out oscillating patterns in fire. Burning sculptures, flaming experiments, and other sizzling delights will round out the high-temperature portion of the evening.

At the opposite end of the thermometer, award-winning ice sculptor David Fong will rev up his chainsaw and carve a 300-pound block of ice into a frosty work of art before your eyes. Stop by our insulation demonstration to learn how to ward off the chill of winter. And we’ll find out once and for all which materials make the best barriers against the cold: Blubber? Down? Or perhaps a less likely candidate—steel wool.

Hovering between these extremes will be Fog Pool, an artwork by Charles Sowers, with swirling, turbulent clouds that you can touch. Fire and Ice will also offer special exhibit

demonstrations and floorwalks that delve into temperature extremes: Feel how bringing different temperatures together can confuse your fingers at Hot and Cold Coils, and learn how your hands adapt to temperature at Hot and Cold Chimneys. Plus, see ice in action at Watch Water Freeze.

Exploratorium After Dark is new extended evening hours on the first Thursday of every month at the Exploratorium that mix cocktails, conversation, and adult-oriented programming in science and the arts. Each night showcases a different theme, which might include live performances, films, and new media, or feature cutting-edge technology and unexpected extravaganzas. Programs are playful, unusual, and content-rich, and address the science behind topics of adult interest—from gambling, alcohol, fashion, and sex to extreme sports and gaming. Not a theater, a cabaret, or a gallery, Exploratorium After Dark involves aspects of all three, with a mood unlike anything else in the city. Where else can you find music, a cash bar, and an intellectually stimulating playground for adults—all with free parking?

Official Website: http://www.exploratorium.edu/afterdark