The lights go off, the guitar chords of classic rock swell, and the audience reclines on the floor. The laser beams turn on, and it’s showtime at Pacific Science Center.
Seattle’s laser shows have been underway for a half-century; our dome was one of the first locations to start the trend in the mid-1970s, following Los Angeles’ now-closed Laserium at Griffith Park. PacSci shows remain much the same as in the years when tie-dye reigned: Laser beams project onto the curved ceiling, creating ever-moving shapes that undulate to the beat of the music. And…that’s it.
It’s enough. The experience is akin to living inside a giant kaleidoscope, or a living piece of string art—you know, those yarn-and-pin crafts that once hung in your grandmother’s den. It all probably felt overwhelming and futuristic in the beginning, but today, the real appeal is the simplicity: no ads, no bad CGI, no AI. Just 12,000 watts of tunes and 10 individual beams of light.
Image: Antone Patterson
As if to reinforce that, the light artist introduces themselves before the show, noting that there’s a real person behind the spectacle. Like a DJ who operates on the light spectrum instead of on sound waves, they perform a combination of advance programming and on-the-fly creation. “We have stuff that we’ve designed and choreographed beforehand,” says laser artist Emily Early-Griffith, who goes by the name Laser Scotty, “and then we have the ability to overwrite that, to impose other imagery…to manipulate.” She also uses fog effects, so sometimes it’s like looking up into a scene from a heist movie, where the hero wiggles around security laser beams.
One day, the soundtrack might be the classic Dark Side of the Moon album by Pink Floyd, and another, the entirety of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. But most shows salute newer pop culture, from a Bad Bunny compilation to a daytime laser KPop Demon Hunters. “It doesn’t need to be restricted to psychedelic ‘70s [music], as much as it lends itself,” Early-Griffith says. Not everyone lies down like it’s naptime at preschool; plenty of theater-style chairs fill the dome, though the center real estate is reserved for the fully supine. The number of people under the influence of a mind-massaging substance is unclear.
Image: Jane Sherman
Born the Boeing Spacearium, the Laser Dome is 78 feet in diameter and a marvel unto itself. The structure hangs from the ceiling, made up of more than 20 different shaped triangles. It was designed for the 1962 World’s Fair by Buckminster Fuller, the futurist and architect who popularized geodesic domes. First used for video production in the fair and for about a decade after, it then transitioned to laser shows when the trend emerged in the groovy ’70s. Now daytime shows are packaged with PacSci’s STEM exhibits and planetarium presentations, but evening laser shows are individually ticketed.
Though the far-out performances are going strong after 50 years, Pacific Science Center itself has undergone major changes in the past year. Some of them feel like upgrades, such as the removal of the admission booths and gates from the front entrance. The project, started in January, opened the complex’s reflecting pools to allow free strolling under the curved arches designed by Seattle-born architect Minoru Yamasaki. (Still, age comes for us all; foundation leaks mean only some pools are still filled with water.)
Other changes were less good. In May, films ceased at the complex’s Boeing IMAX theater after it was sold to the Space Needle organization; the smaller-screened PACCAR IMAX remains. PacSci laid off some staff in March in the face of financial struggles. In May, Kevin Malgesini was named new president and CEO of PacSci, facing a budget deficit and an aging property.
But inside the Laser Dome, the lights are bright, even while the room is dark. The experience asks little of us beyond tilting our heads back and taking in the doodles, loops, and swirls of color. The future of Seattle’s futuristic campus may be a little unclear, but inside, it’s always blissfully psychedelic.
