For the Osycilnderscope by Norman Tuck we decided to try and highlight the process by which an idea turns into an exhibit and then can inspire other iterations. We put up the original working version that Norman made to test out his idea and also hung a stroboscopic guitar prototype that Nicole modified by putting the spinning wheel inside the body. It took a bit of extra time to hand paint the letters on the wall but we really like the aesthetic that it lends to the space.

At Maker Faire this year we amassed an amazing collection of photos that people took with their creations inside a hanging frame. During the two day event we lead workshops on building with cardboard, plastic, metal, and wood to highlight the progression of open:MAKE events in the spring. We decided to hang all the pictures up along the exit to the TS with a description of the open:MAKE and Maker Faire work. Hopefully the treatment might inspire people to get involved next spring when we host another round of maker events.

Today we put out a couple QR code signs that people can capture with a smart phone and get a link to something related. We made one that identifies former artist-in-resident Tim Hunkin as the builder of our grand entrance gate and links to an episode of his beloved show “the secret life of machines” and another by the marble fort that links to the PDF document explaining how to build your own version of the exhibit at home. We have resisted these bar codes in the past partly because of the digital/corporate look and feel that they convey, but something about the laser cut wood version may be more compatible with our design sensibilities.

We’ve hidden one unexplained block on the floor for intrepid explorers (and in the process might have built the worlds first velcro/wood cut QR code) and continue to experiment with signage for temporary workshops that convey what’s happening in the moment in the Tinkering Studio. We’re working on displaying the history of the musical bench and will continue exploring new ways to present interesting information to those who come into our gallery.

After watching the video we of course immediately tried to recreate the effect with an iphone and also with the built in camera on the iMac in the learning studio. It didn’t end up working as well as we wanted (we think that it may have to do with the way the phone adjusts to the light when inside the guitar or maybe the bright blue sky background affects the camera’s focusing) but Sebastian nobly attempted a new style of strumming with a piece of paper in his teeth. I’m sure we’ll keep messing about with strobes and guitars as well as continuing to experiment with sharing pieces like Norman’s original prototype (with the patent number scrawled in sharpie) or Nicole’s working guitar with a rotating cylinder inside the body with visitors, so they can see the tinkering spirit that has led to most of the exhibits at the Exploratorium.