There is a new Star Wars-themed exhibit in Chicago opening today and running through the end of the year, Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination…
‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination’
Through Jan. 6
Museum of Science and Industry, 57th and Lake Shore Drive
Tickets, $21 adults, $19.50 seniors and $16 children ages 3-11 (includes general museum admission)
(773) 684-1414; www.msichicago.org
There is also an article reporting on the event in the Chicago Sun-Times today (LINK):
More science than fiction
‘STAR WARS’ EXHIBIT | Education about modern technology at MSI gets boost from a galaxy far, far awayOctober 5, 2007
BY MISHA DAVENPORT Staff ReporterLike many people of a certain age, 41-year-old Ed Rodley remembers playing “Wookiee Hooky” to see “Star Wars.”
“Yeah, I cut school to go see it,” he says with a laugh.
Whether it was the 30 years of festering guilt or merely a newfound appreciation of education, Rodley, who grew up to be an exhibit developer at Boston’s Museum of Science (despite his “Star Wars”-based absences), has paid American educators back big-time.
Rodley has used machines and technologies from the “Star Wars” universe as the basis for “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination,” a scientific and, yes, educational new touring exhibit. It opens today at the Museum of Science and Industry.
Rodley was charged with creating an exhibit that would focus on technological literacy, and he drew inspiration from his own childhood.
“It goes beyond just being a fan of the movies,” he explains. “I know two renowned roboticists who pin their interests and involvement in the field on ‘Star Wars.’ Pop culture is the sea we all swim in, even scientists.”
Though the exhibit does contain a few costumes that are sure to please fans (including those for Han Solo and Chewbacca), Rodley says the exhibit is not merely a collection of movie memorabilia.
“Neither the Museum of Science nor Lucasfilm were really interested in creating an exhibit of ‘Star Wars’ items for ‘Star Wars’’ sake,” he says. “Lucasfilm has done those kinds of exhibits before.”
John Singh, a spokesman for Lucasfilm, agrees.
“This isn’t a movie exhibition, but rather a great combination of pop culture, science and education,” Singh says.
“We wanted an exhibit that didn’t just say ‘Star Wars is cool,’” Rodley adds with a laugh. “Which it is. I found a few ways to say that a few times throughout the exhibit.”
And Rodley’s proposal came to Lucasfilm at the right time.
“We had just started to look at how we work with museums and develop exhibits,” Singh says. “George [Lucas, creator of the series] wanted to stress educational components in any exhibit going forward. It’s something he believes in whole-heartedly.”
Geoffrey Curley, manager of temporary exhibits at MSI, says the educational component is the only reason the museum brought the exhibit here.
“There have been exhibits with props from the film that have come here before, and that’s not our mission,” Curley says. “This exhibit uses the films and artifacts to draw a strong parallel to the technologies we are creating today or already have created.”
Rodley decided to focus on two areas: transportation and robotics.
One example of the way robots appear is the animatronic C-3PO, who takes guests through a re-creation of the Jawas’ sandcrawler and discusses modern robotics. For the more adventurous, you can even try your hand at building a robot.
For the first time ever, Lucasfilm has allowed Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder to be on display, enabling Rodley to talk about just how we might be getting around in the near future.
“It really wasn’t ever a question of could we get them what they wanted,” Singh says. “They had delivered an incredible proposal and we knew we had to be involved in this.”
Rodley pairs the film prop next to an even cooler device: a working Hovercraft that visitors to the museum can climb on.
“You just mention the world landspeeder and a large part of the population knows what you are talking about and has a visual reference,” Rodley says. “But how many of us have ever been on a Hovercraft?”
One of the most anticipated artifacts is a re-creation of the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, which takes museum guests on a five-minute trip to the edge of the universe. Visitors will have to take a trip to see this, though.
“It’s located in the transportation section of the museum — across from the exhibit,” Curley says with a laugh. “It seemed fitting to put it there among our collection of planes and trains.”
There will be a separate line for the Falcon trip, which is open to anyone who has purchased a general-admission ticket.
“We really wanted to make that experience available to all guests of the museum,” Curley says. “It’s a great promotion for the rest of the exhibit.”
Even though some of the technology seen onscreen is already viable, Rodley says the future will be even brighter.
“The real future will be stranger and more interesting than anything you’ll see in the movies.”
Sounds as though it is not the typical original prop exhibit, but something a little different. Per the official website, there are still 80 original props, models, and costumes.
Jason De Bord