Do Ho Suh

Overview

Alturas Foundation initiated and sponsored the loan and installation of Some/One, 2004 by Do Ho Suh, at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas from 2018 to 2020. The artwork is a lyrical evocation of a kimono, constructed from thousands of US military dog tags. As a part of the loan, Alturas also sponsored an artist talk in the museum’s Great Hall. The artist discussed the origins of this artwork during his time at Rhode Island School of Design, and the role this series played in the evolution of his art making.

Do Ho Suh is known for artwork that often explores different views of, and the interplay between, the individual and collective identity. In his sculpture Some/One, thousands of dog tags representing individual soldiers combine to create a garment that is composed of soft curves and yet also reads as armor. The piece is an arresting symbol clearly composed of discrete elements representing the power of many. Further emphasizing the anonymous nature of the collective, each dog tag is revealed on close inspection to be a nonsensical string of characters rather than a description of a specific person. The mirrored surface within the sculpture reflects an image of the viewer and accentuates the relationship of the individual to the whole.