Wow Place #298: Wave Organ, San Francisco, CA
One of my favorite kinds of story involves people, places or object that are “hidden in plain sight.” This phrase can mean a lot of things. It can mean: hidden but easy to find. It can mean: something obvious but easily missed.
The wizards in the Harry Potter books are an example of magical people “hidden in plain sight.” In a world dominated by ordinary people (Muggles), wizards walk amongst us while few realize who they are and what they can do.
Quite often while I’m wandering around, scouting a treasure hunt or otherwise, I stumble upon something wonderful – a statue, plaque, mural, monument, historical sign, architectural detail – and wonder, “How did I not notice this before? It was right there, in plain sight!
Such a location is the Wave Organ.
Located at the tip of a jetty in the San Francisco Bay, part of the small Boat Harbor in the Marina District, the Wave Organ is easy to miss. On first glance, it looks like a hodgepodge of stone benches, decorated with chunks of Roman statuary. As it turns out, this is due to the installation being constructed from stone pieces salvaged from the Laurel Hill Cemetery.
In fact, the Wave Organ is much more than that. Constructed in May of 1986 by the Exploratorium science museum, the installation is the work of artist-in-residence Peter Richards, working with stonemason George Gonzales. Inspiration for the project came from Artist Bill Fontana’s recordings of sounds emanating from a vent pipe of a floating concrete dock in Sydney, Australia.
Carved in granite and marble, the Wave Organ includes 25 organ pipes made of PVC and concrete located at various elevations within the site, allowing for the rise and fall of the tides. Sound is created by the impact of the waves against the pipe ends and the subsequent movement of the water in and out of the pipes.
The sounds effects vary depending on where you sit and the level of the tide. Sometimes it’s a rumble or a gurgle. Other times it’s a slosh or a hiss. It may even just sound like an ordinary wave. The structure incorporates a variety of stone platforms and benches where you can sit near the mouths of pipes, listening to the “music.”
The sound is best at high tide which, unfortunately, was NOT the time when my wife re-visit the Wave Organ last month. Sadly, all we hear is a lot of slap-slapping and clunk-clunking. I’d be hard pressed to call it music. However, I can appreciate the idea behind the installation. It’s a subtle place…a place where you’re forced to slow down and become sensitized to the slow-moving nature of the environment. It’s also quite beautiful – not only the instillation but also the setting—with sailboats bobbing on the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge spreading its arms in the distance.
I’ll definitely be going back to the Wave Organ at high tide. Especially now that I know there is a world-class sculpture right here in San Francisco, hiding in plain sight.
(I came across an interesting quote today from Allan Lokos, the founder and guiding teacher of the Community Meditation Center in New York City’s upper west side. He wrote, “While meditating we are simply seeing what the mind has been doing all along.” In other words, the workings of our mind is hiding in plain sight! His words suggest that, in order to notice those hidden treasures (wizards, hidden artwork, the mind, etc.), you need to do something different. You need to slow down and open your senses. You need to wake up. Meditation is a great way to reveal the workings of the mind. How can YOU slow down and wake up to what’s hiding in plain sight all around you?)
(Dave Blum is the creator of Dr. Clue Treasure Hunts, www.drclue.com, a teambuilding company featuring over 150 treasure hunt locations worldwide. He has visited over 40 countries in his 60+ years of life and plans to keep traveling until he gives up the ghost. Dave lives in Northern California with his wife, Donica, and their 17-year-old Maine Coon, Ava — an indoor cat who dreams of one day escaping captivity and exploring her own neighborhood Wow Places.)