A full-scale fabric replica of Do Ho Suh’s New York apartment is on view at the Brooklyn Museum from now through January 27, 2019.
Made from translucent nylon fabric and meticulously hand-sewn, “The Perfect Home II” continues the artist’s study of mass global migration, the process of finding a home, and the notion of permanence. The installation reflects upon do ho Suh’s own history of migration and displacement — born in Seoul and immigrating to the US in his twenties — and centers on the idea of personal and cultural identity.
“The Perfect Home II” painstakingly reconstructs Do Ho Suh’s manhattan apartment on 22nd street, which he inhabited for nearly twenty years. Infrastructural details, such as air vents, radiators, light fixtures, and even an intercom, have been carefully sewn and stitched in place. rendered in a semi-transparent, lightweight fabric, the installation reflects on the artist’s sense of impermanence — moving from South Korea to New York, and later to Berlin and London, where he lives now. These relocations have required Do Ho Suh to repeatedly adapt to new environments in foreign cultures.
Pieces of the artwork have been meticulously hand-sewn and infrastructural details, such as air vents, radiators, and even an intercom, have been carefully rendered in fabric.
For him, in re-creating his former homes, the artist resurrects the memories of living within them, and emphasizes the connection people have to physical spaces. Visitors to the Brooklyn Museum are able to walk through the work, inhabiting — even if temporarily — the apartment and the artist’s memories.
