INTRODUCTION: WALK THE HOUSE

‘Walk the house’ is a Korean expression Suh heard as a young boy from the carpenters who constructed his childhood home in Seoul. The building was a traditional Korean house known as a hanok. These buildings could be disassembled and reassembled in a new location – a process of literally ‘walking the house’. For Suh, the phrase describes how we carry multiple places with us across space and time. The relationship between architecture, the body and memory is central to Suh’s interests. As he says, ‘memory amalgamates in these spaces and memories shape our perceptions of them. Yet, they’re not stagnant. They’re not foreclosed environments in my work. They’re transportable, breathable and mutable’. To the artist, ‘home’ is not a fixed place or a simple idea. Instead, it evolves over time, and is continually redefined as we move through the world.

The exhibition’s open layout encourages moving back and forth through time and place, and meandering through the artworks. Suh’s works remind us that everything is connected – we exist within a network of relationships and experiences. As you explore, you may begin to wonder what spaces and times you carry with you as you move through the world. How does architecture shape and hold our memories? And in a world increasingly defined by movement – voluntary and involuntary – where and when is home?

From: Tate Modern