Do Ho Suh

An exquisite collection of diaphanous and radiant houses from London, New York, and Seoul has been introduced to Australia recently. They, for clarification, are artworks — unreal houses by artist Do Ho Suh. This is definitely a special occasion particularly for Sydney, where the artworks are currently residing. Sydney art fans are flocking to an unique architectural sculpture. Let's look at some of the artwork but, first, the artist.

South Korean born artist, Do Ho Suh, is renowned for his architectural sculptures. Born to an artist family, Do Ho followed the footsteps of his paint-loving father, while exploring his own interests. In addition, he looks super young, although he is 60 years old! This evokes (reminds me of, elicits) a quote by Roald Dahl: “If you have good thoughts, they will shine out of your face like sunbeams and you will always look lovely”. This is the way.

I resonate with Staircase III - it is made of what you would not imagine: flaming red fabric that is suspended in the air spiritually. This 1:1 scale artwork was interweaved with Do Ho’s lifelong friend, Arthur. Arthur was Do Ho’s landlord who resided upstairs when Do Ho lived in New York. He was compelled by Do Ho’s artwork and thus became a huge fan. He also gave Do Ho permission to do anything crazy in the apartment. Unfortunately, Arthur passed away in 2016. He was considered as an exceptionally warm person. This fascinating and touching story has been entrancing many people.

Another splendid artwork from Do Ho Suh’s collection is the Hub series. It consists of multiple corridors, hallways, and foyers from his London and Seoul houses. This artwork is entirely created of beautiful fabric. The artwork comprises numerous details of the mundane items that surround us every day: water taps, switch boxes, fuse boxes, power sockets, and fire extinguishers. Oh, and don’t forget the toilet! This proves everything in the world can be transformed into art, deriving new meaning from the seemingly uninteresting everyday objects. The Hub series marks the transitional movement between London and Seoul - it reflects the multiple spaces you pass to reach your destination. This artwork strikes a chord within each individual.

One of Do Ho Suh’s most recent iconic works features a paper virtuosity of his childhood home: Rubbing/Loving Seoul home project. This exhibition went into discussion back and forth between Do Ho and MCA curator, Rachel Kent. The story goes that Do Ho’s father aspired to own a house: it resembles a separate structure found in the Joseon Dynasty palace.

Thus, from the above passage, we can picture Do Ho’s father struggling to find builders who specialise in traditional Korean architecture. Luckily, a builder who was around 70 at the time happened to be working as a handyman as modern buildings got more appreciated. This builder was the person who built the Joseon palace by hand. Despite the builder’s constant reluctance for initial commission, the builder finally gave into the plan. The builder tirelessly strang strong timber together — it used to be a key part of the dismantled Joseon palaces due to the Japanese occupation. The builder accomplished this with no nails and absolutely no plans that you can refer to as a big furniture. The artist calls the house consciousness inspired by a haunted house: he believes the house is very spiritual.

This unprecedented exhibition conveys messages about home to the viewer: home is related to everyone. You will experience rubbing your switchboards when you go back home (side effect). After I went to the exhibition, I realised The Hub series invoked Dr Emmet Brown, who, in the movie Back to the Future, quotes: “ Your future hasn’t been written yet! No one has! Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one!”. Why not do that?