do ho suh suspends traditional korean house and bamboo garden on a london footbridge

korean artist do ho suh has revealed a public art installation sited on a footbridge in the UK capital. titled ‘bridging home, london’, the project reflects the artist’s own experience of moving across continents and between cultures, and continues his career-long investigation of memory, migration, the multiplicity of the immigrant experience.

bridging home, london, 2018
steel structural frame with sub timber frame, plywood, and painted finish | dimensions variable
© do ho suh / courtesy of the artist; lehmann maupin, new york, hong kong and seoul; victoria miro, london/venice
all images by gautier deblonde

commissioned by art night and sculpture in the city to respond to the migrant history of the east end, do ho suh has created a replica of a traditional korean house, his childhood home, and surrounding bamboo garden, which appears to have ‘fallen’ onto the footbridge. located between tall buildings in the city of london, near liverpool street station, the work is at once an alien structure and a humble domestic space.

‘it is hugely rewarding to create a public work in london, my adopted home,’ says do ho suh. ‘for me, a building is more than just space. it is not only physical but also metaphorical and psychological. in my work I want to draw out these intangible qualities of energy, history, life and memory. while bridging home, london comes from personal experience, I hope it is something a lot of people can relate to.’

‘bridging home, london’ considers how the built environment shapes our relationships to both the public and private spheres. the installation asks viewers about what it means to belong, and how we carry an idea of home with us, regardless of geographic location. curated by fatoş üstek, the work will be installed for at least six months.