We often hear "only in San Francisco" applied to many of the Bay Area’s people and events: the Bay to Breakers foot race/festival of ingenuity and/or nudity; the ever-evolving Haight/Ashbury community; the Folsom Street Fair; and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
The Wave Organ is a wave-activated sound sculpture located at the end of Yacht Road, past the Golden Gate Yacht Club at the east end of the spit of land that encloses the San Francisco Yacht Harbor. Photo by Joel Williams
By CaptaIn Ray
Published: May, 2013
We often hear "only in San Francisco" applied to many of the Bay Area’s people and events: the Bay to Breakers foot race/festival of ingenuity and/or nudity; the ever-evolving Haight/Ashbury community; the Folsom Street Fair; and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. This part of the planet has a well-deserved reputation for being quirky. I’d like to introduce you to another of San Francisco’s quirky but little known artworks.
It has been described in many ways: a "wave-activated sound sculpture," a "percussive force" and an "aural arrangement"; but the description I like best is the one applied by its designer. He, Peter Richards, calls it "an environmental symphony." The Lonely Planet rates it number 222 out of 1,047 things to do in San Francisco and TripAdvisor ranked it number 115 out of 322 attractions in San Francisco. If it were not for the abundance of the aforementioned "only in S.F." attractions, it would have a much higher rank!
This unique object is the Wave Organ, and it all began when Peter Richards, then the senior artist-in-residence at the Exploratorium, heard recordings of the sounds coming out of a vent pipe on a floating dock. Bill Fontana, an artist in Sydney, Australia, had recorded them. When Richards heard them, an idea was born. With a planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Richards explored and developed the concept. In collaboration with master stone mason and sculptor George Gonzales and as part of the New Music ‘81 Festival, a simple prototype was installed.
While the project was not yet fully formed, the support and enthusiasm for this prototype spurred the quest for a permanent installation. Frank Oppenheimer, the founding director of the Exploratorium, led the efforts for funding and permits. Work did not begin until more than six months after Oppenheimer’s death. Construction of the current exhibit took nine months. Richards and Gonzales used beautifully carved granite and marble stones that came from the razed Laurel Hill cemetery. In June of 1986, the completed Wave Organ was dedicated to the memory of Frank Oppenheimer.
So. . . Where (and what) is this experience?
The where question is easy to answer. It is located on the very eastern tip of the spit of land that encloses the San Francisco Yacht Harbor. It’s a 15-minute walk from the Palace of Fine Arts, which was (until its very recent move to Pier 15) the home of the Exploratorium. Just walk past the St. Francis Yacht Club and Golden Gate Yacht Club, all the way to the end; there you are.
The answer to the what question is a little harder. In addition to the intricately carved cemetery stones, there are 20 or more concrete pipes with their lower ends in the Bay waters and their upper ends open in various locations about the space. Sit, put your ear to a pipe, and listen. Then move to another, and then another. Each pipe offers a different serenade: one gulps and snorts, another bloops and blips. They gurgle and sputter, moan and groan, spit and hiss, crash and then go almost silent—and they never sound the same twice.
The location of the Wave Organ appeals to more than just your sense of hearing. While you’re listening, breathe deeply and inhale the spicy aroma of the chaparral plantings and the salty tang of the sea. Open your eyes and take in the view, from the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin headlands to Angel and Alcatraz Islands, the hills of San Francisco and the East Bay, with the top of Mt. Diablo beyond.
Stop, take a walk, and take some time to listen to the Bay as uniquely presented by the Wave Organ.
Indeed... Only in San Francisco!
Ray Wichmann, is a US SAILING-certified Ocean Passagemaking Instructor, a US SAILING Instructor Trainer, and a member of US SAILING’s National Faculty. He holds a 100-Ton Master’s License, was a charter skipper in Hawai’i for 15 years, and has sailed on both coasts of the United States, in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Greece. He is presently employed as the Master Instructor at OCSC Sailing in the Berkeley Marina.
