How do we create temporary installations that precisely replicate the details, angles and even textures of a real place? For exhibitors and exhibition designers, material limits and costs make this a challenging task. When the brief is to replicate the feel of an imagined or real space in excruciating detail, creative solutions are required.
Exhibition stand designers can draw inspiration from Korean-born artist and designer, Do Ho Suh, who’s work explores how space affects us, and what it means to us as individuals and as collective groups. In recent years, he’s been creating a series of spectacular three-dimensional frames covered in translucent polyester fabrics, which precisely replicate real spaces and objects. These installations have always been designed to be packed away and moved as Suh lives out his nomadic existence. The multiple cultures and countries Suh has been immersed in throughout his life are reflected in his work.
Process
Suh’s structures are created much like the clothes we wear, but use lightweight wire frames wrapped and stitched in synthetic fabrics. Details are emphasised using thin frames and stitchings much like embroidery. The method means he can replicate the minute details of every day spaces with minimal material. Suh uses precise measurement and takes impressions or moulds of real spaces before replicating them in fabric.
Passage/s Exhibition – Victoria Miro Gallery, London
Currently open for viewing until the 18th march, is the most extensive showcase of Suh’s “Hubs” so far. These spaces replicate places he has called home, including his childhood home in Korea and his current London apartment, blurring geographical boundaries and embodying his personal journey.
“I see life as a passageway, with no fixed beginning or destination,” says Suh. “We tend to focus on the destination all the time and forget about the in-between spaces. But without these mundane spaces that nobody really pays attention to, these grey areas, one cannot get from point a to point b.” – Do Ho Suh, via Victoria Miro
Head to the London’s Victoria Miro Gallery near Old Street to see the work in person.
Entry is free, high footfall at weekends.
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