Katie Bullock

Series of 9 drawings traced from the book Light and Color in the Outdoors, by Marcel Minnaert. Minnaert was a Dutch astronomer who wrote about optics of all scales, focusing on phenomena one might observe around themselves at any moment. He reminds the reader that no special apparatus for observation and experience is needed.

Download PDF: Soul on Tiptoe Text Guide (Screen Reader Compatible)

Series of videos and drawings selected from two ongoing long-term projects. The videos are a part of a collection of videos, ten years in the making, consisting of documented observations of everyday phenomena. The drawings are a part of a larger collection traced from various texts, accumulating as a body of lifted words and images that can be arranged, rearranged, and in this case, paired directly with the videos themselves.

Download PDF: An Instance Text Guide (Screen Reader Compatible)

But Now to Return to Our Sun is an installation composed of traced text fragments sourced from an assortment of written and printed works, spanning numerous fields of study and moments in history. Selected texts range from questions of navigation and map making to imagination and wonder. Several drawings are pulled from Arabella Buckley’s 19th century work Through Magic Glasses, which chronicles Buckley’s fascination with the world around her, and is housed in the Hay Library’s History of Science Collection. The drawings are arranged behind an image of a sunspot in motion, taken from Through Magic Glasses, and can be read in any direction from any starting point. The work comes together to form a loose narrative exploring perception and observation and their role in our perpetual attempt to understand the complexity and nuance of the world around us.

A collection of studies traced from the shadows cast by various blown glass elements when placed on an overhead projector. Each glass element endured unique physical conditions while being formed, giving each piece varying textures and effects. Even the slightest variation in treatment is made apparent by the projector’s light.

The first tool is a small mirror that reflects and magnifies the viewer’s eye as they hold the tool up to their face. The second tool holds a phone with a clip on telescope, the telescope is then pointed at a celestial body, while the tool is then rested on the viewer’s chest. The heartbeat of the viewer is made visible as the viewer observe the celestial body on the screen.

Study investigating foam in the bottom of a coffee cup.

Images from the interiors of illuminated hand-formed glass marbles interspersed throughout the observatory’s built-in lightboxes. Some prints are layered on top of original photographic glass plates to create moments of surprise.

This hand-made glass marble was treated with a chemical solution that essentially rendered its surface a mirror. The marble was then kept in the artist’s pocket and over time the surface was scratched away, revealing the transparency of the glass marble.