concept:era contemporary

Bridging Home

Site-specific installation by Do Ho Suh, Liverpool Biennial, 2010. A scale replica of his childhood home in Seoul attached to and suspended between two existing brick terrace houses on Upper Duke Street, Liverpool. Explored themes of displacement, belonging, and the transportability of memory.

Scholarly Significance

Korean diaspora / site-specific installation — Bridging Home is the most internationally visible single commission of Do Ho Suh's career.

Notes

·A 1:1 scale steel and fabric replica of the traditional Korean hanok-style family home Suh grew up in at Seongbuk-dong, Seoul.
·The work appears to be physically crashing into or merging with the two existing Liverpool terrace houses — the Seoul home bridging between two local Victorian residences.
·Liverpool Biennial 2010 theme: 'Touched'; the work was exhibited on Upper Duke Street in the city's Chinese quarter, adding a further layer of cultural displacement.
·The translucent fabric material is characteristic of Suh's practice — the Korean home is present but ghostlike, visible through but not opaque.
·The work was temporary; after the biennial it was deinstalled. A documentation archive is maintained by Liverpool Biennial and Lehmann Maupin Gallery.