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| Partial view of installation artist Do Ho Suh's "Artland," which is on view at the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in northern Seoul for the exhibition, "Do Ho Suh and Children: Artland" / Courtesy of the artist |
By Park Han-sol
A place where children are allowed to play with clay as they please ― and encouraged to do so. In this world, young viewers-turned-creators, with their own play materials in hand, are free to leave every physical trace of their boundless imagination.
That is what London-based installation artist Do Ho Suh and his two young daughters envisioned when they began fashioning the imaginative ecosystem, "Artland," out of children's modeling clay ― an ongoing process that has developed over the past seven years.
The renowned artist has long been known for otherworldly fabric replicas of his former homes in Korea, Rhode Island, New York, London and Berlin to confront questions involving memory, displacement and the body's relation to physical space.
This summer, the 60-year-old creator has brought his dreamlike vista made of clay into the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art in Nowon District, northern Seoul, for a participatory exhibition, "Do Ho Suh and Children: Artland."
His "Artland," comprising a mainland and a number of surrounding islets, is born from a dizzying entanglement of multihued clay lumps. It's a miniature wonderland straight out of children's imaginations, inhabited by diverse species of flora and fauna that seem peculiar and even implausible in the eyes of adults.
According to Suh's description, every organism here is gender-neutral. There is no government nor any other system that rules the creatures.
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| Do Ho Suh's "Artland" (2016-present), photo by Prudence Cumings Associates / Courtesy of Suh Aami, Suh Omi and the artist |
Stepping inside the autonomous fairyland is like gaining access to an alternative reality. Children are given complete liberty not only to observe every nook and cranny of the piece but also to exercise their creative spirit by molding and adding their own alien creations into the ever-expanding ecosystem with the clay provided by the gallery.
"A work of art does not have to be created 'in secret' inside a studio," the artist said.
With the participation of thousands of young viewers wielding their own play materials, "Artland" will continue to grow and expand into an unexpected environment throughout the period of the exhibition. No one can ascertain what the "final" version will turn out to be ― and that's exactly the point.
Inside the gallery, a fly-through video of the family's original Artland rendered in 3D will also be presented.
Each viewer will be provided with a workbook, "The Wonders of Artland," penned by Suh's daughters as a helpful guide to this mysterious, uncharted land. The book features an encyclopedic catalog of Artland's main species that can inspire children to birth their own creations.
"Do Ho Suh and Children: Artland" runs through March 12, 2023, at the Buk-Seoul Museum of Art.
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| Do Ho Suh's "Artland" (2016-present), photo by Prudence Cumings Associates / Courtesy of Suh Aami, Suh Omi and the artist |
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