The original SF Exploratorium like you've never seen it before FacebookTwitterEmail A scene from the 1974 film "Exploratorium."Jon Boorstin In the 1974 Academy Award-nominated documentary “Exploratorium,” the camera zooms in on a hypnotic spiraling “Depth Spinner,” an exhibit designed to show how the eye and brain process motion (and make you a little dizzy in the process). “Look at the center, just keep looking at the center of it,” commands a woman’s voice off-screen. A man responds: “This is beautiful, I’m just tripping out on this.” "Trippy" is an accurate word to describe the film. The first few minutes resemble the surreal time warp in the Stanley Kubrick classic “2001,” with flashing swashes of color set to a dissonant drone soundtrack. There’s no narrative at all, just visual displays of sound waves, abstract optical illusions and short moments of visitors expressing delight or surprise. Before the first scene featuring kids posing in front of the flashing green light of the Colored Shadows exhibit, you could reasonably assume this to be experimental visuals for a psychedelic rock band instead of a film commissioned to promote a children’s museum.