Our collage representing the Cause & Effect sculpture
Do Ho Suh: “Cause & Effect”
By: Penn Anderson, Cayla Dean, Eris Peterson
Background:
In 2012, sculptor Do Ho Suh constructed “Cause & Effect” as a physical representation of human existence and the relationship between the individual and the community. According to Suh, the sculpture is “an attempt to decipher the boundaries between a single identity and a larger group, and how the two conditions coexist.” By presenting history as a collection of responses, with everything building and depending on previous events and people, the viewer sees the questions Suh has presented about the role of the individual.
Do Ho Suh is a South Korean artist, who was born in 1962 in Seoul, South Korea. In 1987, Suh earned his BFA and MFA in oriental painting at Seoul National University in 1987. He then went on to earn a BFA in painting at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1994, as well as a MFA in sculpture from Yale in 1997.
Suh creates art using various forms of media including drawing, film, and sculpture, with a focus on the themes of home, physical space, displacement, memory, individuality and creativity. In particular, Suh works with the feelings of home and how these emotions can be expressed through certain forms in architecture. For inspiration, he draws on his own personal experiences and memories.
Artist Statement:
For our response to Suh’s “Cause & Effect”, our group chose to construct a collage from a variety of images picked from museum websites, art blogs, and our own personal archives. We each selected our pictures individually and combined them to enhance our pieces’ connection to the concepts of individuality and community. Each image had a personal effect on us, in that we felt they reflected the emotions we felt when viewing Suh’s sculpture and considering the questions he presented. For example, the image of bloody knuckles can relate to a struggle for power over one’s own individuality, a theme we felt was related through Suh’s work. Another example is the photo of red shoes and blood splatters, which was one of our own images. It portrays the fact that we personally relate to this same theme of individuality within the work.
We utilized Photoshop to form a collection of images and combine them into a singular piece of art. This combination of smaller units to create a greater whole reflects the technique used by Suh in his sculpture. Through selecting appropriately colored images and color editing, we created a fluid color gradient from snow white to fleshy pink to deep red, mirroring the color shifting within Suh’s work. The white conjures feelings of death, nothingness, and purity, while the red appears dense, violent, and evil in nature. Additionally, each image was shrunken or expanded and integrated into the collage, enhancing the fluidity of the colors and showing that each image represents an individual. Each singular piece within the collage is influenced by and builds upon the other, resulting in a community, like the small plastic figures in “Cause & Effect”. Overall, we established meaning in our work through combining singular pieces to create a whole and color.
Background and Artist Statement Sources:
Clarke, Jennifer. “The effect of digital technology on late 20th century and early 21st century culture.” University of South Florida, 4 Apr. 2003.
“Do Ho Suh, Part One: Cause & Effect.” Do Ho Suh – Exhibitions – Lehmann Maupin, Lehmann Maupin, 3 Nov. 2007, www.lehmannmaupin.com/exhibitions/2007-11-03_do-ho-suh#2.
Image Sources:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-npfQyoDmSv0/UNhssm0PeBI/AAAAAAAADEI/Y3irNHu R5Yk/s1600/Mark_Ryden_13.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8da_erGwv8Y/Uiu0iCXCAhI/AAAAAAAAEao/pqU4kHpt 9lM/s1600/Amanda_Louise_Spayd_Dust_Bunny_04.jpg http://tamsinallencreative.com/2012/05/art-photography-modern-surrealism-byandrea-galvani/ https://4.bp.blogspot.com/–zwH2rzkMUI/WTHv3mYioJI/AAAAAAAASzM/hZnKCZ 4PgXAaL1DiYf3A23iiSFTVY_KiQCLcB/s1600/Andrius%2BKovelinas%2BTutt%2527A rt%2540%2B%252831%2529.jpg http://www.charlesfreger.com/portfolio/wilder-mann/ https://www.moma.org/collection/works/188911?locale=en https://www.moma.org/collection/works/169048?locale=en https://www.moma.org/collection/works/220741?locale=en https://www.moma.org/collection/works/167774?locale=en https://i.pinimg.com/736x/5c/a1/51/5ca151f8ff452398a955289f31080dea–bunn y-man-bunny-suit.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/69/cc/b5/69ccb5770d2d4e104c008cd0b582e0b8–wall -installation-art-installations.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/57/2a/e6/572ae6cf1e674fa3cd1ddb42ad2e2a9c–redribbon-king-queen.jpg
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