The exhibition is comprised of over 30 large-scale installations, hands on exhibits, and experiments. In addition, there will be new displays and artworks. These are just some highlights.
SHADOWS
What is the shape of a disc's shadow? Simple answer: it is the shape of the disc. Or is it? During a solar eclipse, while we are busy looking up at the sun, the shadows take on bizarre crescent-shaped forms – the same shape as the partially covered sun at that moment. To investigate this intriguing phenomenon, visitors can simulate and play with the shadows of an eclipse.
THE BRIGHT SHADOW
A large hanging cube is casting a shadow on the wall that is actually lighter than its surroundings! Visitors can play with the configuration of the experimental setup and even step into the shadow itself to discover how, by inverting the traditional shadow phenomenon, we can get a bright shadow cast by a dark sun.
COLOURED SHADOW STAGE
In the experienceCOLOUR exhibition, a stage with adjustable coloured spotlights lets you create your own beautiful shadow displays. What's more, you become part of the experiment yourself, stepping into the light to cast your own shadow and stepping into the shadows to study the light and investigate the enigma of coloured shadows.
COMPLEMENTARY SPECTRA
In an exhibit that is unique to the experienceCOLOUR exhibition, a single experiment was designed that tells the whole story. Two complementary spectra are produced simultaneously from the same source and displayed on a huge floor-to-ceiling screen. The setup reveals the mutually interdependent nature of the two spectra. It is a beautiful demonstration of symmetry and complementarity at all levels – technically, visually and conceptually.
POLARIZATION COLOURS
Usually, objects reflected in water simply appear upside down and maybe a bit distorted by tiny ripples on the water's surface. But in this exhibit the reflection of a colourless object in water is not just reversed, it is intensely coloured. Visitors exploring these exhibits can learn to see the polarization of light with their own eyes (!) – just like bees and dung beetles do in nature.
THE RAINBOW
In this exhibit we explore how light creates colours out of clear water by studying what happens in a single raindrop, simulated by a glass sphere. When the sphere is lit by a bright light, a full rainbow appears on the wall. Since our eye's participation in producing the phenomenon has been removed, the rainbow becomes an object that we can observe and study as a projection on a screen. Now we get to stand inside the rainbow and look back into the raindrop! From this perspective, we discover the coincidence of reflection and refraction that reveal the rainbow's colours.
Exhibits designed by Nora Löbe and Matthias Rang at the Science Section of the Goetheanum, Johannes Grebe-Ellis of the University of Wupertal, and others.
The experience COLOUR exhibition catalogue is available to preorder here.