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A Guide Through the Labyrinth of Memory

Memory, a major new exhibition at the Exploratorium, will be on view from May 22, 1998 through January 10, 1999. More than 40 new exhibits grouped into six broad areas guide visitors through the labyrinth of memory from personal, social, cultural, psychological, and neurological perspectives. To provide a better understanding of the exhibition, descriptions of the thematic sections follow. Memory is made possible by the National Science Foundation and sponsored by Bank of America.

Remembering Who You Are
Every individual has unique memories--places, people, sounds, and smells that are personally significant. In this area of the exhibition, visitors are encouraged to share their earliest memories, or view a display of treasured memorabilia, each object accompanied by the story of why it's important to its owner. A multimedia presentation will introduce you to the art of Franco Magnani, a San Francisco resident who painted scene after scene of his childhood home in Tuscany, all from memory.

Sense Memory
This area explores the evocative power of each of our five senses. A six-minute video, Precious Images, takes you on a whirlwind journey through the most memorable images from hundreds of your favorite classic movies. Our "Jukebox Memories" exhibit provides a blast from the past with the sounds of the top songs of the last 40 years. A tactile guessing game challenges you to identify some common household objects--things you probably see every day, but may not recognize by touch. Smell and taste are very powerful memory stimulants. You'll get a chance to see what your brain conjures up at the smell of baby powder, or what you can tell from the taste of a jellybean.

Brain
Remembering is easy for most people. Understanding how and why we remember is a topic that brain researchers have found to be very complex. This area of Memory examines the physiological basis of memory in the brain. See how nerve cells communicate with each other, or watch as a sheep's brain is dissected, revealing the intricate structures deep within. Look at tissue from a brain with Alzheimer's disease and find out what went wrong.

Remembering Without Thinking
Memory is not always a conscious process. In this area, you'll get to explore the ways that your brain carries memories that you may not even be aware of. You can play "Hoop Nightmares," a wacky basketball game which temporarily alters your body's memory of how to throw a ball, or find out how previous experience can affect how you see an image.

Remembering and Forgetting
You can learn a lot about how your memory works by seeing its shortcomings, then learning some tricks to overcome them. This area is full of exhibits that let you test your memory, and discover some simple techniques to improve it. You handle hundreds of pennies every week, but can you pick out the real penny from an array of almost lookalikes? If you saw a face once, could you pick it out of a lineup? Discover the differences between long-term and working memory, and between recall and recognition.

Shared Memories
Some events and times are so powerful that they become shared memories--almost everyone over the age of 40 remembers where they were the day that John Kennedy was shot. This area examines the memories that span a multitude of consciousnesses. Visitors can flash back to the most memorable moments of this century, view a photo show of powerful and innovative memorials, or participate in creating a time capsule to pass on shared memories to future generations.

Memory is intensely personal, intensely powerful. For each of us as individuals, our memories establish where we've been, who we are. They are the threads that connect our childhood selves with the adults we have become. When we're young and don't have as much to remember, we take our memories for granted. As our memories grow, and as we age, they are something we fear losing. Memory is a new kind of exhibition, an experiment that uses science and art from a variety of social and cultural perspectives to help us understand ourselves.