Do Ho Suh Analysis

Do Ho Suh “I want to carry my house with me all the time. Like a snail.” (Suh) That’s the kind of whimsical thoughts behind Do-Ho Suh’s art. Suh was raised in Korea and came to America in an attempt to pursue his art career and make a name for himself apart from his father, who was already a successful artist. Upon his arrival in New York though, he found himself missing his home and family. Suh later said, “The experience of leaving home is what made me think and become aware for the first time of the notion of home as such. It could therefore be said that ‘home’ started to exist for me once I no longer had it”(Brownell). He decided to do something about it. And in the process of alleviating his homesickness, he created one of his …show more content…
One such work, “Floor,” is made up of different colored plastic people holding up large glass plates that can be walked across. This piece is intriguing because from a distance it looks like a part of the floor or an ordinary raised surface. From above, it’s an endless sea of yellow, gray, and brown. From the open sides, it’s a tangle of humans facing all directions but all holding their flat palms up to support the work. However, up close the individual facial features can be made out on each figurine. Suhs childhood in Korea and his experiences there greatly influenced “Floor.” He said that it was normal to be walking down the street and have someone accidently bump into him (Suh). “Floor” portrays a sense of everyone working together to accomplish something great, even if individually it doesn’t seem like much. Seeing the little figures blending in to each other but also being able to make out each individual face is a fresh example of how the world is today. Individuals may not feel like they are doing that much to benefit anyone but on closer inspection each person, no matter how small, is important to society as