0:00:04.660,0:00:09.704 Do Ho Suh "Rubbing / Loving" 0:00:20.566,0:00:24.799 I have a mutual friend who was[br]giving up this flat. 0:00:24.830,0:00:26.010 And so I took it. 0:00:32.506,0:00:36.218 I never lived anywhere else in [br]New York City-- 0:00:36.479,0:00:39.619 this is the first and the last place. 0:00:46.303,0:00:49.156 I had an interview with my landlord. 0:00:52.390,0:00:54.258 They heard that I'm an artist. 0:00:54.852,0:00:55.923 They were really [br]concerned 0:00:56.591,0:00:59.285 They were not sure whether I could [br]actually pay the rent. 0:01:00.454,0:01:03.405 But they let me live here. 0:01:04.400,0:01:10.373 It was my living space and studio[br]for eighteen years. 0:01:12.132,0:01:15.271 My artistic career started from here. 0:01:19.606,0:01:23.465 The whole process is to remember the space[br] 0:01:23.650,0:01:27.410 and also somehow memorialize the space. 0:01:28.666,0:01:32.145 Whoever is going to buy this place[br]is going to renovate the space 0:01:32.351,0:01:34.132 and everything is going to go. 0:01:34.632,0:01:39.302 It is quite a meaningful place[br]for the family-- 0:01:39.472,0:01:41.211 and also for me. 0:01:42.545,0:01:46.466 I've been moving around since I left Korea 0:01:46.991,0:01:48.752 I'm living in London now. 0:01:50.342,0:01:52.832 It's a constant recalibration. 0:01:52.963,0:01:58.223 I try to understand my life as a movement[br]through different spaces. 0:01:59.301,0:02:00.561 --You can do this, as well 0:02:01.355,0:02:02.486 --Yeah, don't worry. 0:02:03.465,0:02:04.550 --I know... 0:02:05.229,0:02:06.855 --We just fixed it! 0:02:07.842,0:02:08.299 --Yeah 0:02:13.776,0:02:19.689 After this project is done[br]and peeled away from the space, 0:02:19.919,0:02:23.639 I'll probably pack it and[br]show it somewhere in the future. 0:02:25.038,0:02:29.995 It's a bit difficult to take it off[br]from the objects, 0:02:30.279,0:02:35.151 but once you do that carefully,[br]it still contains the shape of the object. 0:02:37.742,0:02:40.649 I was constantly seeking[br]some other means to 0:02:40.829,0:02:43.593 capture the information of the space 0:02:43.993,0:02:46.423 that was lacking from my fabric version. 0:02:47.153,0:02:49.032 When I discovered it by rubbing, 0:02:49.032,0:02:52.101 it just brought the memories[br]associated with those details. 0:02:52.963,0:02:55.262 And there's hundreds of thousands of it. 0:02:58.564,0:03:02.262 When I did fabric versions of this space, 0:03:02.722,0:03:07.981 Arthur, the landlord,[br]was supporting my project emotionally. 0:03:08.187,0:03:10.140 You know, I don't know how much[br]he understood 0:03:10.140,0:03:13.240 what I was doing back then, 0:03:13.240,0:03:17.354 but he always let me do crazy things[br]in this space. 0:03:23.930,0:03:27.440 If I write "rubbing" in Korean, 0:03:27.440,0:03:29.510 people could read it as "loving" 0:03:29.510,0:03:33.980 because there's no distinction between[br]"r" and "l" in Korean alphabet. 0:03:36.871,0:03:40.641 I think the gesture of rubbing is[br]a very loving gesture. 0:03:41.621,0:03:46.701 So, I made the connection[br]between rubbing and loving, 0:03:46.988,0:03:49.537 and that's how the title came about. 0:03:55.969,0:03:59.060 My energy has been accumulated, 0:03:59.069,0:04:02.684 and in way, I think, my rubbing shows that 0:04:04.788,0:04:07.959 The darker area--doorknobs and locks-- 0:04:07.959,0:04:08.959 that's the objects 0:04:08.959,0:04:11.480 that you touch [br]every time 0:04:11.480,0:04:14.500 And just imagine how many times [br]that I actually 0:04:14.500,0:04:18.420 flip that light switch when[br]I was living in here for eighteen years. 0:04:18.430,0:04:21.750 I'm trying to show the layers of time. 0:04:25.460,0:04:28.086 From the distance, it looks like a drawing 0:04:29.541,0:04:35.419 As you get closer, it becomes very sculptural[br]and three-dimensional. 0:04:36.638,0:04:42.704 There's a point where it sort of changes[br]from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. 0:04:46.263,0:04:49.403 Arthur, he was suffering with[br]Alzheimer's disease. 0:04:50.715,0:04:54.100 A few months before he passed away, 0:04:54.110,0:04:56.247 I made a special effort to see him. 0:04:56.825,0:04:59.358 He warned me that he may not remember me. 0:05:00.186,0:05:02.159 I was prepared for that, 0:05:02.845,0:05:05.064 but we ended up talking two hours. 0:05:06.509,0:05:08.439 So at the end of the day, 0:05:08.439,0:05:12.227 I asked him to come down[br]to see what we were doing. 0:05:12.937,0:05:15.640 I showed him around and then he said, 0:05:15.650,0:05:17.820 "Oh, there's nothing much to see!" 0:05:17.820,0:05:20.437 You know, which is understandable. 0:05:21.187,0:05:23.240 But then he sat down and told me, 0:05:23.250,0:05:27.870 "You're welcome to do[br]whatever you want to do in this house." 0:05:27.870,0:05:31.809 And I was almost going to burst into tears 0:05:31.809,0:05:37.710 because that's exactly what he told me[br]you know, thirteen years ago, 0:05:37.710,0:05:41.800 when I was measuring the hallway[br]at 4 o'clock in the morning 0:05:41.800,0:05:44.381 because I didn't want to disturb[br]other people. 0:05:46.545,0:05:48.660 He came down so quietly 0:05:49.230,0:05:51.419 and then saw me measuring the corner 0:05:51.419,0:05:53.299 and he said, "What are you doing?" 0:05:53.300,0:05:54.759 And I tried to explain 0:05:54.759,0:05:57.169 you know, about the project, 0:05:57.169,0:05:59.379 but he said the exact same thing: 0:06:02.780,0:06:04.703 "Do whatever you want to do."