Do-Ho Suh~

      Do-Ho Suh was born in South Korea. He enrolled in the Seoul National University and studied oriental painting. Following his time studying, he did his service for his country by being in the South Korean Army. He then moved to New York, where Suh continued his training at the Rhode island school of design and Yale University. Do-Ho Suh creates pieces of art that are site specific. These pieces not only play with the space that it is in, but with the psychology of the person who is looking at it. It is meant to play on the difference between the individual and the larger group. Along with this, he Do-Ho Suh focuses on is the scale of his pieces. The size of the piece influences the way that the person interprets it. He will sometimes even make the person viewing the piece, to walk through, or stand on the piece itself. This gives a whole new dimension to the artwork. With many of these pieces looking at the individual versus the group, and what you see up close versus the whole structure. He grew up in a very populated city in Seoul and moved to another highly populated city, New York. This along with the time spent in the Korean Army got him fascinated with the Ideals of the group. Do-Ho Suh uses the memories from when he was a child to address the issues being faced today. He speaks to the issues of interpersonal space, identity, and the transitory qualities of existence. This can be seen through many of his works. A great example of this is the piece in our very own Academic West, Cause and Effect.

Cause and Effect~

      Do-Ho Suh describes his work to Western Washington University when it was installed:

      “‘‘Cause & Effect’ evokes a vicious tornado. This vast ceiling installation is a composition of densely hung strands that anchor thousands of figures clad in colors resembling a Doppler reading stacked atop one another,” said Do Ho Suh, adding that the artwork is a “physical realization of existence, suggesting strength in the presence of numerous individuals. The work is an attempt to decipher the boundaries between a single identity and a larger group, and how the two conditions coexist.’”

 

      Do-Ho Suh originally meant to create this piece to show the difference between the individual person and the larger group. What makes a person special if there is a large group of them, or is it that group that makes them special? It is telling the story of existence in today’s world. This piece forces the audience to think with the pure scale of it about your own identity. What are you making with your singular impact and what does the broader scope of my being have on the world around me. There is usually two main ways that people look at this sculpture. From either the top down, or from the bottom up. If going from the top down to the bottom you get the sense of a singular persons background coming into play. You see a mass amount of people slowly getting smaller and smaller, until it gets to a singular person. Every person has a history that makes them who they are today. That we have a past that sticks with us everyday. It also can be seen as the burden of the past generations. If viewed from the bottom to the top it can be seen as looking at one person until a huge portion of the ceiling is covered with little people. It shows the difference of what a singular person can do versus a larger group. With a larger group you can accomplish much more and have a bigger impact than you can as a singular person.

Artist Statement~

      Do-Ho Suh’s Cause and Effect Established ideas of unity and excitement, it’s color scheme also greatly affected how I selected what footage to use. Also my experience with the Academic West building had play into how we shot and edited the video. I wanted to also incorporate the idea behind large groups of people and the rotating look of the sculpture as well.

      -Keaton LoCicero

Contributions~

      Mckinley Jiran – Research and Posting

      Keaton LoCicero – Video Production

      Joey Niklas – Video Production

Bibliography~

 

“Do Ho Suh.” Do Ho Suh Biography – Do Ho Suh on Artnet, Artnet

Worldwide Corporation, 2017, www.artnet.com/artists/do-ho-suh/biography.

 

Jobson, Christopher. “Do Ho Suh’s ‘Cause & Effect’: A Vortex of

Little Orange Men.”Colossal, 2 Aug. 2012, www.thisiscolossal.com/2012/02/

do-ho-suhs-cause-effect-a-vortex-of-little-orange-men/.

 

Clark, Sarah. “Do Ho Suh’s ‘Cause & Effect’ Artwork to Be Installed at WWU.” Do Ho Suh’s

‘Cause & Effect’ Artwork to Be Installed at WWU | Western Today, 17 Nov. 2011, westerntoday.wwu.edu/news/releases/do-ho-suh%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98cause-effect%E2%80%99-artwork-to-be-installed-at-wwu.

 

Smith, Stephanie. “Do Ho Suh.” Do Ho Suh – Exhibitions –

Lehmann Maupin, 2007, www.lehmannmaupin.com/exhibitions/2007-11-03_do-ho-

suh#3.

 

Robertson, Jean, and Craig McDaniel. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980.(4th

ed.) New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.