Drawing for Positioning of Holes in the Perseus Constellation for One Tunnel of “Sun Tunnels” (1975) is one of the drawings that serves as a study for these perforations. In selecting the respective constellation for each tunnel, Holt carefully chose star clusters of different magnitude, allowing for views from both inside and outside the tunnel.

Echoes & Evolutions: Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels includes photographic material that reveal the development of Holt’s ideas for Sun Tunnels. Part of the process involved using cardboard tubes to model potential configurations, which she then photographed to understand the shifting shadows and scale of the work.

In these photo studies from 1975, Holt experimented with the layout of the tunnels, trying out sizes and configurations of the star constellations. On the back of each photo study are Holt’s annotations about the orientation, time, and constellation she was testing in each image.

Holt’s Studio Locators focus on specific details and, when presented today, their position sustains her careful choice of locating vision, highlighting her interest in the sculptural forms of the often-overlooked systems in the built environment. Originally directed out of a window in Holt’s New York studio on Greenwich Street, the view from the Locator always features the architectural detail noted in the work title. Locator (Exhaust Pipe) looks up to a roof ventilation pipe, while Locator in Window – the first of her Studio Locators—focuses vision on a single point directed by the Locator.