The artist has worked on a bizarre list of projects. Building a house, restaurant, and ferris wheel in the middle of the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, constructing concrete statues to roam city streets, and landing a traditional Korean house on an American university campus. Seo Do-ho, a global artist representing Korea for over 20 years, has explored the Western art world since being the lead artist at the Korean Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2001. He is known for showcasing his childhood memories through drawings and turning them into reality, using a strong will to bring his ideas to life.
His solo exhibition, “Speculations,” at the Artsonje Center in Seoul showcases how these elements have influenced his work over the years. The exhibition features his drawings and models, providing a glimpse into his growth as an artist. The show starts on the ground floor with the “Bridge Project,” depicting bridges connecting New York to Seoul and London, and a house being built in the Arctic.
Moving to the first floor, visitors encounter Seo Do-ho’s iconic works, such as the scaled-down model of the “Star House,” originally installed at the University of California, San Diego in 2012. The exhibition also showcases the “Secret Garden,” a piece representing a traditional Korean house and garden on a large trailer truck traveling across the United States to New York, reflecting the artist’s concept of a nomadic living space.
Exploring the video footage of demolished apartment complexes in South Korea and the UK on the second floor, visitors witness the passage of time and the traces of past residents’ lives. Seo Do-ho’s artworks, often made of fabric and miniature figures, reflect his interest in memory and space, hinting at a deeper exploration of urban contexts in the future.
Seo Do-ho’s projects may seem spectacular, but they carry a deeper meaning related to Korean collective housing, refugee mindset, and the artist’s continuous reinterpretation of his memories. Through advanced technologies, he captures the history of residents’ living spaces, suggesting a profound exploration of memory and space in urban contexts.
During an exhibition briefing on the 16th, Seo Do-ho expressed that the purpose of his projects is to delve deeper into knowledge beyond what is commonly available in the media. His projects, characterized by strong beliefs and self-hypnosis, aim to connect Seoul and the Arctic with a bridge and construct houses within them. The exhibition reflects the artist’s beliefs and the Speculations series that have filled his mind.
Seo Do-ho, in his 60s, has enough ideas stored in his sketchbooks to last a lifetime. His strategic thinking and methodology suggest that he will continue to reproduce these ideas in the future. However, questions and regrets remain about whether the speculative reasoning should be repeated in an engineering manner without a clear purpose or direction in an era that requires discourse. The exhibition runs until November 3rd.