
KATIE PATERSON
The Cosmic Spectrum
2019
Spinning disk, printed vinyl, motor
Artwork dimensions:
78 1/4 inches / 198.5 cm diameter disc
Housed motor dimensions:
20 1/4 x 29 x 24 inches / 51.5 x 74 x 61 cm
Edition of 3
JCG11017
KATIE PATERSON
Ideas (A directory of everything unnamed on earth)
2018
Micro waterjet-cut sterling silver
4 1/4 x 9 1/8 x 1/4 in
10.8 x 23.2 x 0.5 cm
JCG10270
KATIE PATERSON
Exhibition view at James Cohan Gallery, New York City, 2016
KATIE PATERSON
Exhibiton view at James Cohan Gallery, New York City, 2016
KATIE PATERSON
Installation view at CentrePasquArt, Biel, Switzerland, 2016
Photo © Julie Lovens
KATIE PATERSON
Installation view at CentrePasquArt, Biel, Switzerland, 2016
Photo © Julie Lovens
KATIE PATERSON
Installation view at CentrePasquArt, Biel, Switzerland, 2016
Photo © Julie Lovens
KATIE PATERSON
Totality
2016
Mixed media
KATIE PATERSON
Totality
2016
Mixed media
KATIE PATERSON
Candle (from Earth into a Black Hole)
2015
Scented layered candle
Exhibition view Frac Franche-Comté
Photo © Blaise Adilon, 2015
Candle (from Earth into a Black Hole) is a scented, white candle which burns down over 12 hours. The candle creates a journey through space via smell; as if taking off from Earth, journeying to the Moon, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, the stars, all the way into a Black Hole. The candle is formed of 23 layers, each containing a unique scent reflecting each place or planet. The Clouds and Troposphere smell like ‘water, humidity, wet basement, washed towels’ and the Ozone like ‘the clean smell after a thunder storm.’ The Moon is scented like ‘burnt gunpowder’ and Titan, Saturn’s Moon with ‘sweet and bitter almonds, cherry, slight benzene.’ Mars, an ‘old penny’.
Colour Field
2016
C-print
43 1/4 x 102 1/4 in.
110 x 260 cm
JCG8685.6
KATIE PATERSON
Gravity Released One Unit at a Time
2015
Micro water jet cut sterling silver
4 1/4 x 8 3/4 x 3/16 in.
10.8 x 22.2 x .5 cm
JCG8763.3
KATIE PATERSON
A Solar Flare Containing All the Light in the Universe
2014
Micro waterjet cut sterling silver
4 1/4 x 11 1/4 x 3/16 in.
10.8 x 28.6 x .5 cm
JCG7303.1
KATIE PATERSON
Timepieces (Solar System)
2014
Nine adapted clocks
Each: 17 11/16 x 17 11/16 x 3 11/16 in.
45 x 45 x 9.5 cm
A series of nine clocks that tell the time on all the planets in our solar system, including Earth's Moon. The durations of the day range from planet to planet, from the shortest on Jupiter to the longest on Mercury. Each clock is calibrated to tell the time in relation to the other planets and to the time on Earth.
Mercury 4223 hours
Venus 2802 hours
Earth 24 hours
Moon 708 hours
Mars 24 hours 40minutes
Jupiter 9 hours 56 minutes
Saturn 10 hours 39 minutes
Uranus 17 hours 14 minutes
Neptune 16 hours 6 minutes
JCG7275.6
KATIE PATERSON
Timepieces (Solar System) (detail - Mars)
2014
Nine adapted clocks
Each: 17 11/16 x 17 11/16 x 3 11/16 in.
45 x 45 x 9.5 cm
A series of nine clocks that tell the time on all the planets in our solar system, including Earth's Moon. The durations of the day range from planet to planet, from the shortest on Jupiter to the longest on Mercury. Each clock is calibrated to tell the time in relation to the other planets and to the time on Earth.
Mercury 4223 hours
Venus 2802 hours
Earth 24 hours
Moon 708 hours
Mars 24 hours 40minutes
Jupiter 9 hours 56 minutes
Saturn 10 hours 39 minutes
Uranus 17 hours 14 minutes
Neptune 16 hours 6 minutes
JCG7275.6
KATIE PATERSON
Future Library (certificate)
2014
Two-sided foil block print on paper
View of the certificate's front
JCG7213
KATIE PATERSON
Future Library (certificate)
2014
Two-sided foil block print on paper
View of the certificate's back
JCG7213
KATIE PATERSON
Fossil Necklace
2013
Installation: Kettle’s Yard Gallery & St Peter’s Church, Cambridge, UK
Photographer: Paul Allitt
A necklace comprised of 170 carved, rounded fossils, spanning geological time.
KATIE PATERSON
Fossil Necklace
2013
Installation: Kettle’s Yard Gallery & St Peter’s Church, Cambridge, UK
Photographer: Paul Allitt
A necklace comprised of 170 carved, rounded fossils, spanning geological time.
KATIE PATERSON
Fossil Necklace
2013
Installation: Kettle’s Yard Gallery & St Peter’s Church, Cambridge, UK
Photographer: Paul Allitt
A necklace comprised of 170 carved, rounded fossils, spanning geological time.
KATIE PATERSON
History of Darkness
2010
Ongoing slide archive
21 1/2 x 21 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.
55 x 55 x 4.5 cm
History of Darkness is a slide archive; a life-long project, it will eventually contain hundreds upon thousands of images of darkness from different times/places in the history of the Universe, spanning billions of years. Each image handwritten with its distance from earth in light years, and arranged from one to infinity.
JCG5042
KATIE PATERSON
History of Darkness
2010
Ongoing slide archive
21 1/2 x 21 1/2 x 1 1/2 in.
55 x 55 x 4.5 cm
History of Darkness is a slide archive; a life-long project, it will eventually contain hundreds upon thousands of images of darkness from different times/places in the history of the Universe, spanning billions of years. Each image handwritten with its distance from earth in light years, and arranged from one to infinity.
JCG5042
KATIE PATERSON
History of Darkness (79,582,210 ly)
2010
Embossed archival silver gelatin photograph
19 x 19 in.
48 X 48 cm
The History of Darkness prints are culled from the slide archive; a life-long project, it will eventually contain hundreds upon thousands of images of darkness from different times/places in the history of the Universe, spanning billions of years. Each printed image embossed with its distance from earth in light years, and sequenced from one to infinity.
JCG5042
KATIE PATERSON
As the World Turns
2010
Modified Project Debut record player
37 x 21 3/8 x 20 in.
94 x 54.3 x 51 cm
A turntable that rotates in time with the earth, one revolution every 24 hours, playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons. If performed from beginning to end, the record would play for four years. The movement is so slow it isn't visible to the naked eye, yet the player is turning, imperceptibly.
KATIE PATERSON
Inside this desert lies the tiniest grain of sand
2010
2/5
Black and white photograph on resin coated paper
A grain of sand collected from the Sahara Desert was chiselled to 0.00005mm, using special techniques in nanotechnology. This new minute grain of sand was then taken back to the Sahara and buried deep within its vast desert sands.
KATIE PATERSON
Dying Star Letters
2010
Shelf, archival box, posted letters and envelopes
Dimensions variable
Upon hearing the news that a star has died, the artist writes and posts a letter, announcing its death.
KATIE PATERSON
Dying Star Letters
2010
Shelf, archival box, posted letters and envelopes
Dimensions variable
Installation view at Mead Gallery, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Upon hearing the news that a star has died, the artist writes and posts a letter, announcing its death.
KATIE PATERSON
Dying Star Letters
2010
Shelf, archival box, posted letters and envelopes,
Dimensions variable
Installation view at Mead Gallery, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
Upon hearing the news that a star has died, the artist writes and posts a letter, announcing its death.
KATIE PATERSON
100 Billion Suns
2010
1/10
Custom printed confetti, confetti cannon launcher
Dimensions variable
Storm King Art Center
Photo: Jerry L. Thompson
Gamma Ray Bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, which burn with a luminosity 100 billion times that of our sun. The confetti cannons created for '100 Billion Suns' contain 3,216 pieces of paper whose colours correspond to each of these cosmic events. Every burst of confetti creates a miniature explosion of all of these vast explosions, in just under a second.
Cannons were set off at regular intervals during the vernissage of the 54th Venice Biennale at a series of unspecified locations around Venice, from major piazzas to the smallest back streets. Each explosion is documented in a photographic archive, showing a unique perspective of Venice during the opening days of the Biennale: 100 Billion Suns (Venice)
JCG4930.01
KATIE PATERSON
100 Billion Suns
2010
1/10
Custom printed confetti, confetti cannon launcher
Dimensions variable
Gamma Ray Bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, which burn with a luminosity 100 billion times that of our sun. The confetti cannons created for '100 Billion Suns' contain 3,216 pieces of paper whose colours correspond to each of these cosmic events. Every burst of confetti creates a miniature explosion of all of these vast explosions, in just under a second.
Cannons were set off at regular intervals during the vernissage of the 54th Venice Biennale at a series of unspecified locations around Venice, from major piazzas to the smallest back streets. Each explosion is documented in a photographic archive, showing a unique perspective of Venice during the opening days of the Biennale: 100 Billion Suns (Venice)
JCG4930.01
KATIE PATERSON
100 Billion Suns
2010
1/10
Custom printed confetti, confetti cannon launcher
Dimensions variable
Gamma Ray Bursts are the brightest explosions in the universe, which burn with a luminosity 100 billion times that of our sun. The confetti cannons created for '100 Billion Suns' contain 3,216 pieces of paper whose colours correspond to each of these cosmic events. Every burst of confetti creates a miniature explosion of all of these vast explosions, in just under a second.
Cannons were set off at regular intervals during the vernissage of the 54th Venice Biennale at a series of unspecified locations around Venice, from major piazzas to the smallest back streets. Each explosion is documented in a photographic archive, showing a unique perspective of Venice during the opening days of the Biennale: 100 Billion Suns (Venice)
JCG4930.01
KATIE PATERSON
All the Dead Stars
2009
4/4
Laser etched anodized aluminum
78 3/4 x 118 1/8 in.
200.03 x 300.04 cm
A map documenting the locations of just under 27,000 dead stars - all that have been recorded and observed by humankind.
KATIE PATERSON
All the Dead Stars (detail)
2009
4/4
Laser etched anodized aluminum
78 3/4 x 118 1/8 in.
200.03 x 300.04 cm
A map documenting the locations of just under 27,000 dead stars - all that have been recorded and observed by humankind.
KATIE PATERSON
Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight
2008
1/9
Light bulb with halogen filament, frosted coloured shell, 28W, 4500K, log book
33 1/2 x 32 1/2 in.
85 x 83 x 92 cm
Produced with the lighting company OSRAM in series of 'lifetimes', each set contains a sufficient quantity of light bulbs to provide a person with a lifetime supply of moonlight, based on the current average life-span for a human being alive in 2008. (Each bulb burns for 2000 hours, a lifetime contains 289 bulbs).
KATIE PATERSON
Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight
2008
1/9
Light bulb with halogen filament, frosted coloured shell, 28W, 4500K, log book
33 1/2 x 32 1/2 in.
85 x 83 x 92 cm
Produced with the lighting company OSRAM in series of 'lifetimes', each set contains a sufficient quantity of light bulbs to provide a person with a lifetime supply of moonlight, based on the current average life-span for a human being alive in 2008. (Each bulb burns for 2000 hours, a lifetime contains 289 bulbs).
KATIE PATERSON
Langjökull, Snæfellsjökull, Solheimajökull
2007
3/3
Three digital films on DVD
Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes
Installation view from The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas
Sound recordings from three glaciers in Iceland, pressed into three records, cast, and frozen with the meltwater from each of these glaciers, and played on three turntables until they completely melt. The records were played once and now exist as three digital films. The turntables begin playing together, and for the first ten minutes as the needles trace their way around, the sounds from each glacier merge in and out with the sounds the ice itself creates. The needle catches on the last loop, and the records play for nearly two hours, until completely melted.
KATIE PATERSON
Langjökull, Snæfellsjökull, Solheimajökull
2007
3/3
Three digital films on DVD
Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes
Installation dimensions variable
Sound recordings from three glaciers in Iceland, pressed into three records, cast, and frozen with the meltwater from each of these glaciers, and played on three turntables until they completely melt. The records were played once and now exist as three digital films. The turntables begin playing together, and for the first ten minutes as the needles trace their way around, the sounds from each glacier merge in and out with the sounds the ice itself creates. The needle catches on the last loop, and the records play for nearly two hours, until completely melted.
KATIE PATERSON
Vatnajokull (the sound of)
2007
4/5
Bespoke box, neon, iPod, headphones, photographs
38 1/4 x 22 1/2 x 48 in.
97 x 57 x 122 cm
An underwater microphone lead into Jökulsárlón lagoon - an outlet glacial lagoon of Vatnajökull, filled with icebergs - connected to an amplifier, and a mobile-phone, which created a live phone line to the glacier. The number +44(0)7757001122 could be called from any telephone in the world, the listener put through to Vatnajökull. A white neon sign of the phone number hung in the gallery space. The work now exists as an archive of that event.
JCG5723.4
KATIE PATERSON
Vatnajokull (the sound of)
2007
4/5
Bespoke box, neon, iPod, headphones, photographs
38 1/4 x 22 1/2 x 48 in.
97 x 57 x 122 cm
An underwater microphone lead into Jökulsárlón lagoon - an outlet glacial lagoon of Vatnajökull, filled with icebergs - connected to an amplifier, and a mobile-phone, which created a live phone line to the glacier. The number +44(0)7757001122 could be called from any telephone in the world, the listener put through to Vatnajökull. A white neon sign of the phone number hung in the gallery space. The work now exists as an archive of that event.
JCG5723.4
KATIE PATERSON
Vatnajokull (the sound of)
2007
4/5
Bespoke box, neon, iPod, headphones, photographs
38 1/4 x 22 1/2 x 48 in.
97 x 57 x 122 cm
An underwater microphone lead into Jökulsárlón lagoon - an outlet glacial lagoon of Vatnajökull, filled with icebergs - connected to an amplifier, and a mobile-phone, which created a live phone line to the glacier. The number +44(0)7757001122 could be called from any telephone in the world, the listener put through to Vatnajökull. A white neon sign of the phone number hung in the gallery space. The work now exists as an archive of that event.
JCG5723.4
Photo by Giorgia Polizzi
Katie Paterson has become known for her multidisciplinary and conceptually-driven work with an emphasis on nature, ecology, geology and cosmology. Many of her poetic installations have been the result of intensive research and collaboration with specialists as diverse as astronomers, geneticists, nanotechnologists, jewelers and firework manufacturers.
One of Paterson’s best known works is the ambitious Future Library Project. Conceived in 2014, Future Library Project is a one hundred year long project commissioned by the City of Oslo and the National Library of Oslo. Each year, one author from across the globe is invited to
write a piece of writing anything from a poem, short story, to a full length book) which will be held in trust, unread and unpublished until the year 2114. The project has a physical counterpoint through the growth of 1000 trees in protected lands in forest outside of Oslo, which will grow over the next one hundred years and eventually be turned into the paper. After one hundred years, a full anthology of all one hundred texts will be printed on pages from the felled trees. To fund the project, Paterson has created a Future Library Certificate print edition, which secures ownership of one of the future anthologies. To date, museum and university collections including Princeton University, Stanford University, Smith College, the Berkeley Museum of Art, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and The Walker Art Center have acquired this work for either their library collections or their art collections. A project that will outlive its founder, and most of the authors and participants, the Future Library Project serves as a time capsule and an optimistic view for the future, where literature and printed books are still printed,
read and cherished.
Among recent works are: Totality (2016), a mirrorball reflecting every solar eclipse seen from earth; Hollow (2016), a commission for University of Bristol, made in collaboration with architects Zeller & Moye, permanently installed in the historic Royal Fort Gardens: a miniature forest of all the world’s forests, including over 10,000 unique tree species spanning millions of years telling the history of the planet through the immensity of tree specimens in microcosm; Fossil Necklace (2013), a necklace comprised of 170 carved, rounded fossils, spanning geological time; Second Moon (2013), a work that tracks the cyclical journey of a fragment of the moon as it circles the Earth, via airfreight courier, on a man-made year-long commercial orbit; All the Dead Stars (2009), a large map documenting the locations of 27,000 dead stars known to humanity; Light bulb to Simulate Moonlight (2009), an incandescent bulb designed to transmit wavelength properties identical to those of moonlight; and History of Darkness (ongoing), a slide archive of darkness captured at different times and places throughout the universe and spanning billions of years. As Erica Burton, curator at Modern Art Oxford, wrote at the time of a solo exhibition in 2008, “Katie Paterson’s work engages with the landscape, as a physical entity and as an idea. Drawing on our experience of the natural world, she creates an expanded sense of reality beyond the purely visible.”
Katie Paterson (born 1981, Glasgow, Scotland) received her BA from Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh, United Kingdom in 2004 and her MFA from the Slade School of Fine Art in London, United Kingdom in 2007. She has since been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2019); The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland (2019); Utah Museum of Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT (2017): Somerset House, London, UK (2016); FRAC Frache Comté, Besancon, France (2015); the Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (2014); Mead Gallery at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK and at Kettle’s Yard at the University of Cambridge, Cambridge UK (2013); the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, and BAWAG Contemporary, Vienna, Austria (2012); James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY (2011) and Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, UK (2008). Paterson has participated in group exhibitions at the Royal Museums Greenwich, London, UK (2019); the Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH and the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark (2018); the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH (2017); the Henry Moore Institute, Leeds, UK and OCAT, Shanghai, China (2016); the Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY (2015); the Power Plant, Toronto, Canada; the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; the Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL; the Hayward Gallery, London, UK; and Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK. Her work has also been featured in the 2017 Yokohama Triennale, Japan; 11th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea, 2016; Whitstable Biennial 2010, Whitstable, UK; PERFORMA 09, New York, NY; and Altermodern: Tate Triennial 2009, Tate Britain, London, UK.
She has been the recipient of the John Florent Stone Fellowship at Edinburgh College of Art, and was the Leverhulme Artist in Residence in the Astrophysics Group at the University College London for the academic year 2010-2011. Her work can be found in public collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL; the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia; Berkeley Art Museum, Berkeley, CA; FRAC, Franche-Comté, France; the Musee D’Art Classique de Mougins, France; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; the Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Guanghzhou, China; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City, UT; and the National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK. Katie Paterson lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
London, United Kingdom
Berlin, Germany