Artist Suh Do-ho is seen behind a scaled-down replica of his "Bridging Home, London" installation during a press preview of his exhibition "Do Ho Suh: Speculations" at Art Sonje Center in Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Art Sonje Center By Park Jin-hai Step into the imaginative world of Suh Do-ho at the Art Sonje Center in central Seoul, where the globally celebrated artist takes a departure from his renowned fabric sculptures of homes. Opened last week, "Do Ho Suh: Speculations" represents a departure from the artist's first solo exhibition at Art Sonje Center 21 years ago.
This new showcase eschews his signature fabric sculptures of homes, inviting visitors to delve into the interplay between physical reality and imagination. Through this shift, Suh offers a fresh exploration of the concepts of home and community, challenging audiences to reconsider their meanings. The 62-year-old artist, known for his life-sized fabric sculptures of homes, has continuously explored themes of dwellings, displacement and memory, inspired by his experiences of cultural dislocation during his time in the U.
S. and the U.K.
"Bridging Home," a series of installations featuring a "hanok" or traditional Korean house squeezed between urban structures in Liverpool and merging with a bridge in London, encapsulates Suh's contemplation of identity and belonging. This exhibition marks Suh Do-ho's much-anticipated return to his native Korea after 12 years, following his acclaimed "Home Within Home" at the Leeum Museum of Art. "Do Ho Suh: Speculations" provides a comprehensive look at how the visionary artist transforms seemingly impossible imaginations into tangible art, offering a new perspective on his creative process.
Unlike traditional exhibitions, "Speculations" focuses on the concepts, processes and research underlying Suh's works, visualizing the flow of his thoughts through drawings, scaled models and simulation videos spanning the past two decades. "Perfect Home, S.O.
S. (Smallest Occupiable Shelter)" by Suh Do-ho is displayed during a press preview for the exhibition "Do Ho Suh: Speculations" at Art Sonje Center in central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of Art Sonje Center "I titled the series 'Speculations' because it represents a thought process where I string together hypothetical situations and let my imagination run wild.
Most of my work follows this process," Suh said during a press preview of his exhibition at Art Sonje Center in central Seoul, Friday. "For instance, a project began with the premise of 'what if I could move the house I'm currently living in to a different location?' This way of thinking led me to imagine impossible things, like projects that defy the limitations of our gravity-bound, three-dimensional universe. I've been sketching these wild ideas in my sketchbook since 1991.
" These sketches, accumulated like diary entries, form the foundation of the artist's visual explorations that began around 2003 and 2004. What started as approximately 15 initial ideas for the "Speculations" project has expanded over time, culminating in this comprehensive exhibition, according to Suh. From clothing as the smallest unit of home to the relationship between homes, individuals and communities, the artist ponders theses fundamental questions through his works.
Suh says one third of those 15 ideas, to his surprise, came to realization. "At first, when I drew it, I thought it would be completely impossible to realize. But as I visualized it through models and animations, opportunities for realization arose," he reflected.
A visitor takes a photo of a scaled-down model of "Fallen Star" by Suh Do-ho, featuring a cottage perched at an angle off the edge of a building at UC San Diego, during a preview for the exhibition "Do Ho Suh: Speculations" at Art Sonje Center in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap The first floor of the exhibition shows his ideal "perfect home." In his 2010 work "A Perfect Home: The Bridge Project," Suh attempts to build a house on a bridge in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, halfway between New York and Seoul, connecting the two cities he feels home.
In his ambitious new project, Suh stretches the boundaries of architectural imagination by proposing to build a house at the midpoint between London, New York and Seoul. This concept forms the basis of an animated piece where he envisions bridging these cities over the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic, confronting social issues such as climate change, isolation and barriers while constructing a home in such a harsh environment. His vision extends to transporting his favorite shops onto a Ferris wheel, further merging the imaginative with the practical.
Accompanying this animated vision, Suh has partnered with Korean brand Kolon Sport to realize a more tangible aspect of his concept — a self-powered solar jacket and a survival suit dubbed the "smallest occupiable shelter." Designed to sustain life for a week in extreme cold, this prototype clothing is part of an ongoing project first revealed at the exhibition and expected to be completed next year. The display also features sketches from Suh's collaborations with architects, biologists, and physicists, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of his creative process.
On the second floor, the exhibition showcases scaled-down models of Suh's iconic works, such as houses carried away by the wind and crashing into buildings, becoming embedded in bridges or being transported on trucks. Accompanying these models are videos and drawings documenting the creative process behind these pieces. A notable highlight is a scaled-down 3D model of "Bridging Home," which was originally exhibited at the 2010 Liverpool Biennial.
Also on display is a miniature model of "Fallen Star," a cottage perched at an angle off the edge of a building at UC San Diego in 2012. Although the cottage resembles a typical American home, its incongruent angles create a sense of dislocation. Both elements, reflecting cultural displacement, are part of the artist's project that has come to fruition.
A small scale, kinetic version of Suh Do-ho's monumental sculpture "Public Figures" is seen during a preview for the exhibition "Do Ho Suh: Speculations" at Art Sonje Center in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap Visitors can also view a small-scale version of Suh's monumental sculpture, "Public Figures," which was originally conceived in 1998 and installed in the garden of the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art in Washington D.C.
in April. This thought-provoking piece, featuring around 300 miniature figures collectively supporting a vacant pedestal, was initially intended to be kinetic but had to remain static due to technical issues. For the first time, a one-sixth scale kinetic model is showcased at Art Sonje, where the figures actively move the pedestal.
This model provides a poignant reflection on the dynamics of power and the role of the individual within a larger group. On the third floor, two video works, "Dong In Apartments" (2022) and "Robin Hood Gardens, Woolmore Street, London E14 0HG" (2018), are screened. These pieces document residential complexes in Daegu, Korea, and London, both on the brink of demolition.
Suh employs photogrammetry—a method that captures texture and materiality from thousands of photographs—to digitally recreate these spaces in 3D. The resulting fly-through videos offer a vivid portrayal of the life that once inhabited these buildings, evoking a sense of the structures as living organisms. Suh’s exhibition invites visitors to embark on a visual and conceptual journey through his intricate and layered artistry.
Asked about his final destination for the imaginary quest, the artist said his journey has no destination. "This work doesn't have a specific destination or endpoint in mind. Similar to reading 'Journey to the West,' which unfolds the events of a journey toward the Heavenly Palace, I'm exploring what I encounter along the way.
This includes studying environmental issues, ocean currents, drifting ices and even the possibility of building a home on the high seas and declaring it a new nation," Suh said. The exhibition runs until Nov. 3.
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