we all woke up today from some kind of explosions (2023 - 2024) is one of the first text messages Sophia Bulgakova received on 24.02.2022, the day of the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. This message serves as the title for a conceptual diptych, manifesting as an audiovisual installation and a publication. Within these pieces, a collection of her personal texts from the first year of the invasion is encoded in various forms. The works employ stereograms in the printed edition and dissolving analogue images via slide projectors in the installation. These techniques evoke memories of ubiquitous stereographic publications from the artist's childhood and her recollections of her nanny narrating bedtime stories and fairytales using slide projectors. Both mediums resonate with illusory childhood memories, contrasting with her current dissolving reality. Sophia's sombre black-and-white interpretation across both versions of the work reflects the challenge of conveying her experience to most non-Ukrainians and the waning media coverage of the ongoing war.

The publication version of we all woke up today from some kind of explosions is a part of the "In Pieces" book, which was commissioned by the "Growing Pains" publishing initiative. "In Pieces" is a compilation of works by five female artists affected by the war in Ukraine. These works articulate the multiplicities and contradictions of living in a shattered present. In turn, the collected voices of these artists, drawing from their fragile present, shape the world of this book. Participating artists in the book include Sophia Bulgakova, Lia Dostlieva, Ola Lanko, Katia Motyleva, and Kateryna Snizhko.

The audiovisual installation premiered at Sophia’s solo exhibition at Künstlerhaus Bethanien. It was created in close collaboration with Ymer Marinus for sound composition and designing the projection techniques. The work received support from Amsterdam Fonds voor de Kunst, Creative Industries Fund NL, and Stroom Den Haag at different stages of the project.