Paying Homage to Science Fiction (Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame)

[BlackThorn]

Hmm . . . so would we like to see if it'd be possible to get something Farscape into this place?

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By Mark Baard | Also by this reporter Page 1 of 1

02:00 AM Mar. 31, 2004 PT

If you believe that Captain Kirk's command chair or the costumes from The Planet of the Apes belong in a museum, to be revered by all for perpetuity, then you may want to book a flight for Seattle in June.

That's when a group of science and science-fiction luminaries will open the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (previously called the Experience Science Fiction museum), in a futuristic building in the heart of Seattle. Many of those famous figures, such as Harlan Ellison, Majel Barrett Roddenberry, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, are lending their names to the project. Some will donate valuable editions of their books and manuscripts to the museum.

Attendees at the Nebula Awards 2004 in April will get a hard-hat tour of the site of the new museum, which will be in the Experience Music Project building designed by architect Frank Gehry.

The Science Fiction Museum, which is being co-founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, will house artifacts from films and television programs of the past half-century, and will feature immersive, multimedia "hypermuseum" exhibits of imaginary worlds. (Allen is also the co-founder of the Experience Music Project.) The museum will also exhibit drawings and paintings of imagined futures from artists dating back to the late 19th century.

The museum will demonstrate the influence that science-fiction literature has had on science and popular culture, an influence that is often overlooked, said Sheila Williams, executive editor of the magazines Asimov's Science Fiction and Analog Science Fiction and Fact.

"Everyone knows about science-fiction movies, which are often about the action," she said. "But many don't know about the stories behind them, which are written by great authors. That's where the big ideas come from."

Few people realize how science-fiction author Leigh Brackett influenced the makers of the Star Wars movies, for example. (Brackett did write the screenplay for The Empire Strikes Back.) But like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, the Science Fiction Museum will be a place "where you can see the influences on the influences," said Williams.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact editor Stanley Schmidt is on the board of advisers for the Science Fiction Museum.

An announcement from the Science Fiction Museum will also answer a question many Star Trek fans have been asking for two years, after Kirk's command chair from the USS Enterprise was auctioned off for $250,000: "Who bought it, and where is it now?"

It now seems probable that Paul Allen was the buyer of Kirk's chair in the 2002 auction. The chair, from which Kirk led his crew for three seasons of exploration and battle, will be on display when the Science Fiction Museum opens. (A museum spokesman could not confirm that Allen owns the chair.)

The Science Fiction Museum will be a forum for discussions about how science and science fiction influence each other. In fact, Donna Shirley, the new museum's director, this week will moderate a debate among scientists and science-fiction writers about "terraforming" Mars -- changing the planet's environment to support human life -- at the NASA Ames Research Center.

Shirley is the former manager of NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, and the original leader of the team that built the Mars Pathfinder rover.

NASA scientists and writers including Arthur C. Clarke and Greg Bear are participating in the debate this week.

[slgn*]

I thought I read a post here by someone who was working for the Museum... I've tried searching the archive to no avail. Perhaps they will stumble along and be able to give you info/suggestions on exhibit recommendations.

[Defect9]

I bought the chair. I bought it and i'm using it to command my army of Robotic Death Monkeys. so there.

[NYPinTA]

Originally posted by Defect9
I bought the chair. I bought it and i'm using it to command my army of Robotic Death Monkeys. so there.

What would you want to see in the museum and on that note, don't you only put things in museums that won't be used any more? Farscape can get it's own wing after the 5th season... Or 10th... whatever...

[BlackThorn]

Script pages, early concept drawings of characters and then pictures of how the characters really turned out, a DRD, models of alien races (the ones they do before they build the actual creatures for the episodes,) etc...? I can see a lot a things the early Farscape history going into a museum like this. We know Farscape was groundbreaking; I just think it'd be cool to have something from the show in a place like this to show its influence, what influenced it before, and all that.

Hell, what about something on the campaign going into a display on fan campaigns? Science Fiction has been the genre to garner a lot of those, and how they work has changed and not changed in various areas . . . and people keep using us as an example of the new kind of fan campaign.

This museum seems to be about influences, changes.....it's seems more like a living kind of history to me. And Farscape could fit into that.

Just my thoughts.

[NYPinTA]

Originally posted by BlackThorn


Hell, what about something on the campaign going into a display on fan campaigns? Science Fiction has been the genre to garner a lot of those, and how they work has changed and not changed in various areas . . . and people keep using us as an example of the new kind of fan campaign.

Ohh.. that sounds cool!

Originally posted by BlackThorn
This museum seems to be about influences, changes.....it's seems more like a living kind of history to me. And Farscape could fit into that.

Didn't think of it like that... I stand corrected.

[Scaper989]

Perhaps someone could donate a cookbook to the Science Fiction
Museum and Hall of Fame.

[BlackThorn]

Okay, I sent a message to the museum, proposing an exhibition on fan campaigns and how they've grown and changed over the years.

*keeps her fingers crossed that they bite*

Also added a mention of how the scapers would love to see some Farscape exhibits included in the museum, including contact information for Henson if they're interested in looking into that.

Edited to add: Their site is http://www.sfhomeworld.org/ They have a comment form, so if anyone has the time to drop them a note requesting Farscape stuff, that'd be great!

I'm going to Seattle in July, about a month after it opens. I know where I'm going at least one of the days during my free time!

[BlackThorn]

Form reply from the museum:

Thank you for your interest in Experience Science Fiction! We will try
to respond to your question as quickly as possible; but because we are
still developing many components of ESF, questions pertaining to
educational curriculum, employment/volunteering, or exhibit specifics
may take longer to answer, as those programs are not yet complete. We
look forward to offering you further information closer to ESF's opening
in Summer 2004!

Science Fiction Experience
------------

Here's to swift replies and hoping they take interest!

[akimbo]

Originally posted by Scaper989
Perhaps someone could donate a cookbook to the Science Fiction
Museum and Hall of Fame.

Not sure if they'd want it, but I'd give it to them if they were interested.

I'm guessing they'd be interested more in actual stuff from the show though. (As would I)

[RustySlinky]

Depiction of museum exterior

If anyone's going to attempt flyer-drop-offs, the Grand-Opening Ceremony is in Seattle, WA this Friday, June 18th, 2004:

Join us for a series of special events to celebrate the Grand Opening:

10:00 a.m. Festivities begin with SFM's official opening ceremony

11:00 a.m. National Public Radio's Science Friday, hosted by Ira Flatow, will be broadcast live from the museum. (NOTE: Free admission on first-come-first-served basis)

1:00 p.m. Join us for a book signing with some of our Advisory Board members, including Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, David Brin, Octavia Butler, and Tim Kirk

7:00 p.m. Attend our special presentation by internationally known physicist Lawrence Krauss, author of The Physics of Star Trek

Link to Museum's Website here: http://www.sfhomeworld.org

View inside the "Liquid Lounge" Bar

Museum salutes adventures of the sci-fi kind
By AMANDA J. MILLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/10/04

SEATTLE — Remember Captain Kirk's cheesy command chair in the "Star Trek" TV series? How about the Alien Queen, the horrifying predator from "Aliens"? Or would you like to see a half-scale model of the Sojourner Mars rover?

They'll all be on display when the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, the world's first museum of the genre, opens on Friday. You'll also find rare first-edition copies of sci-fi classics such as Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" or H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" and pulp magazines, plus weapons, costumes and props from almost any sci-fi movie you can name, from "E.T." to "Blade Runner."
The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle covers 13,000 square feet over two levels. It's the first museum in the world devoted to the genre.

The museum, covering 13,000 square feet on two levels, cost $20 million, paid for by Paul G. Allen, who made his fortune as a partner with Bill Gates in Microsoft. Allen also funded the Experience Music Project, an interactive celebration of the power of popular music, which shares the same building at Seattle Center.

It was inevitable that Allen would support the project, says museum director Donna L. Shirley, a sci-fi fan and a former manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where she directed the Mars Exploration Program.

"Paul Allen had all the old sci-fi books as a child," she says. "He was motivated to buy all those books as first editions."

Those first editions are on display, along with memorabilia and artifacts he's collected, including Captain Kirk's chair and weapons and costumes from the TV show, plus props from movies as old as "Forbidden Planet." None of them were made to last.

"It's been a huge challenge to restore and maintain them," Shirley says. "Some of them are just foam."

Other items are on loan. The 19-foot model of the Alien Queen is exhibited courtesy of James Cameron, director of such films as "Aliens," "The Terminator" and "Titanic." Cameron is one of 34 members on the museum's advisory board, which includes such notables as writers Greg Bear, Ray Bradbury and Arthur C. Clarke, publisher Betty Ballantine, movie directors George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, and activist, artist and writer Bjo Trimble, who with her husband, John, directed the "Save Star Trek" campaign and efforts to get the first space shuttle named Enterprise.

The interactive museum has five major galleries: Homeworld, an introduction to science fiction; Fantastic Voyages, exhibits and activities connected to exploring, including a space dock where visitors can examine the great spaceships fantasized in books and film; Brave New Worlds, a look at what science fiction can tell us about culture, government and complex societies; Them, examining extraterrestrials; and Make Contact, which allows visitors to use computer stations to tap other resources, discussion groups and programs.

The Hall of Fame, in Homeworld, includes creators of literature, film and art, such as Mary Shelley, who wrote "Frankenstein." At computer stations, visitors can learn more about sci-fi legends. New Hall of Fame members will be inducted each year, beginning in 2005.

At the Intergalactic Lounge, in the Them gallery, you'll run across extraterrestrials from all eras, as weird and wonderful as the ones that bellied up to the "Star Wars" bar.

A word of advice: Don't provoke the bouncer. He's Gort from "The Day the Earth Stood Still."

http://www.ajc.com/travel/content/tr...4/13scifi.html

Farscape *Escapeade 2004 Boston* is mentioned at their website here:
http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_cont...&eventID=10 6
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[RydraWong]

Moya's there!!!

Check out this post at the Dom:

http://bboard.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/984/14198

Apparently the museum has an exhibit of the 20 Greatest Spaceships of all time - and Moya's one of them!

[BlackThorn]

I know where I'll be on July 25 when I have 6 hours to blow between the conference ending and my flight home!

[CosmicTheorist]

The television news station that ran the story on the Science Fiction Museum put that news clip on their web site. You can watch it at the following link:

http://www.nwcn.com/cgi-bin/bi/video...cifimuseum.wmv

At the end of the news story, there is a computer generated display of the spaceships as seen from a space station window. The museum director points out the original Enterprise as it flies by, and then there is Moya slowly passing the window! She is huge! At least twice the size of the Enterprise, and we get a very good look at her. And to top it off the museum director says, "There goes Moya, who's a living space ship."

Enjoy!

[atlantagirl]

We need someone in Seattle to go by the museum as soon as it opens.

This would be an ideal place to provide flyers/bookmarks, etc. to promote the mini. If we don't have anyone in the area (although I'm certain I've seen some Seattle Scapers hanging around the boards in the past), perhaps our resident Phone Goddess could call them up and ask if we could send them some stuff on the campaign?

Anyone going to this museum is fair game for promoting the mini to, we just need to figure out the best way to do it....