ILLUMINATE SF

HOMOUROBOROS

Peter Hudson (2010)

Installed: October 24, 2013 – January 6, 2014

Embarcadero: Pier 15, Exploratorium

The spectacular, interactive zoetrope’s tree-like steel frame and cloud-shaped "mushroom"canopy featured 18 human-sized monkeys that dangled from its branches. By pounding on drums built into the base of the trunk, spectators would cause the top of the tree to spin, turning the monkeys on their branches into a vision-bending arboreal escapade. Strobe lights at night and special goggles during the day completed the Homouroboros experience – a phenomenon of the eye called “persistence of vision” that turned the 18 monkeys into a three-dimensional motion picture. The monkeys appeared as a single, animated monkey who snatched an apple from the mouth of a serpent slithering down a branch. Closer inspection revealed the mouth of the serpent was in the shape of a human hand.

Artist: Raised in Ben Lomond, and now based in Oakland and San Francisco, Peter Hudson channels his technical and set-design expertise, curiosity, and creative passion into life-size stroboscopic zoetropes. He debuted his first major installation Playa Swimmers at Burning Man 2000. In 2002, his work Possession garnered international attention when it was featured on the cover of the Italian edition of Rolling Stone magazine. Peter has unveiled many creations at Burning Man, and in 2011 returned to Black Rock City after orchestrating nearly 100 volunteers working for 9 months and 6000 hours to bring the ferryman from Greek mythology to life in his three-dimensional stroboscopic work Charon.