Ttae bbaego kkam-bba-gi / 2025 / 174.2 x 41 x 61.5 cm / (Commissioned by Piknic.) / (Photograph by Kyeonghee Kang)

As I looked at the site of Hilton Seoul's demolition, I had the sense that a certain form was actually taking shape in the falling structure. The image of the building's dismantlement seemed to turn the clock back to the opposite time—the period when the structure was first being built. The present-day scene of demolition recalled the moments four decades ago when the architect Kimm Jong Soung designed the Hilton Seoul and the structure began going up. In the dust and fragments, time seemed to be moving backward, and I experienced an architectural sense of time and space within that flow.

Within the bounds of what is visible from a permitted distance.1 (2025) / cement, wood, steel, waterproof paint, wallpaper, acrylic / 16.7x9.7x28.4(cm) / 2025

Within the bounds of what is visible from a permitted distance.2 (2025) / cement, wood, steel, waterproof paint, wallpaper, crushed stone, acrylic / 10x15.8x71(cm) / 2025

Within the bounds of what is visible from a permitted distance.3 (2025)
cement, wood, steel, waterproof paint, wallpaper, crushed stone, acrylic / 43.2x11.8x45.7cm

Green wall / Sarangbang / Lump of stones / Back of the head
27x8x17(cm) / 27x9x36(cm) / 28x7x4(cm) / 27x10x29(cm)

Within the bounds of what is visible from a permitted distance.4 (2025) / cement, wood, steel, waterproof paint, wallpaper, crushed stone, acrylic / 40.2x12.5x20.2cm

Within the bounds of what is visible from a permitted distance.5 (2025) / cement, wood, steel, waterproof paint, wallpaper, crushed stone, acrylic / 12.3*8.2*47.2cm

Frameing structure.01 (Skull) / Frameing structure.02 (Skull) / 2025

The Harbor has ferries Everyday / 2025

Mixed media / Site-A Gallery Beneath the Railway in Koganecho, Yokohama / Ziu Suh

Monument.1, 2, 3 (Yokohama), 2025

This work was inspired by the architecture seen while walking along the Ōoka River in Yokohama. Additionally, I incorporated images and text commonly found on Japanese signs and reflected sculptural elements from building structures.

Balance of language.(Yokohama), 2025

Where does Ziu in the APT. listen to? / Mixed media / IMF Seoul, Seoul / Ziu / 2024

Apartment complex, 2024

Where does Ziu in the APT. listen to? Ziu Suh is a relentless observer. That is why he picks things up. Just as "farming" in online games refers to the repetitive act of collecting resources or items, the artist constantly"farms" his surroundings, searching for traces of what is left behind. He captures images of 90s-era apartments, evoking a deep sense of nostalgia, or pulls out crumpled old newspapers wedged between stone walls and tucks them into his coat pocket. What he focuses on is not just the visual elements, but the history embedded in these places and the traces left by those who lived there. Like an archaeologist unearthing fragments from the earth, Ziu Suh collects the trivial elements of everyday life and reconstructs them in his own way. Thus, the precious materials he picks up from the scene are mixed with cement, and the time is momentarily frozen. (Excerpt from the Preface)

Curatedby : Heeyoon Jung / Installation : Bongseok Choi / Graphic Design : Donghyeon Kim, Jijin / Photography : Yongbin Lee

DADAWEIDADAWEI

DadakwiDadakwi / wood, nail, cement, bronze, mixed media / 19.5x20.5x42.8cm / 2024

The Only Chorokyi under the OverpassElevated Bridge / Mixed media / 260×45×45cm (Commissioned by Wooran Foundation.) / 2024

The Only Chorokyi under the Overpass, commissioned for the exhibition, is based on the research into the roof tiles of Kim Changdae Jewajang and the tiling technique of Lee Geunbok Bunwajang. The artist recalls the architectural structure of Hanok from the landscape of Seongsu-dong, where there are many overpasses and pillars. The overpasses parallel to the ground are structures connecting places to places through the architectural structures installed in the air. Dozens of vertical pillars below them support the overpasses, casting a big shadow over the Seongsu-dong area. The scene resembles the Hanok roof, with thousands of roof tiles laid out in a long row, and grid-like wooden structures of Hanok that support the weight. When standing under the overpasses that run through Seongsu-dong, the artist felt as if he were standing under the eaves of a Hanok, made with wooden pillars and rafters. The artwork, depicting the cityscape with noticeable overpasses, adopts the techniques of the Jewajang, who makes roof tiles by firing clay, and the Bunwajang, who connects the tiles one by one. On the wooden structure resembling a Hanok, several Amkiwas (concave tiles) were placed in vertical layers, with gaps filled with earth and fragments collected from specific areas installed within. As time passes, the fragmented landscapes of the past within the exhibition recreate the current landscape in a new way.

Curated by, Lee Boyeong / Exhibition Coordinator, Seo Naim

Gakkesu-ri / 2024
Profile of Time and Space (Suh Ziu)

4 or 5 years ago, I had visitors who came to see me as part of some historical tour program in which several areas of this neighborhood were bundled into a single course. The tour started at Dodangteo (site of Zelkova God worship) near Sadang Station, and passing through me, visited the only site of Baekje ceramic kiln in Seoul, and the tomb of Lee Kyung-jik, a civil servant in the mid-Joseon period. The area around Sadang Station, where I am located, is currently Seoul's transportation hub as well as a place where traces of history can be found piled up everywhere.

In fact - if you pay just a little attention to the surroundings where humans live - history, society, and traces and stories of someone can be read from within. For instance, in the process of dismantling and assembling the wooden pillars and beams in the attic space while I was being moved, parts of the wood that were rotten or frail were replaced with new wood, and these parts are different in color even now. As such, buildings have various clues which are only visible to those who take a closer look.

In his early 20s and new to society, S is looking for a job to settle down while working part-time. After moving to Seoul from the provinces, he has found a semi-basement for rent. Upon removing the wallpaper of the old semi-basement that was moldy due to poor ventilation, an unevenly constructed concrete surface was revealed. A rough and ignorant feeling, with walls and floors that are not even level. S thinks the rough, protruding concrete wall looks like a portly sack of rice. Searching on the Internet, he finds that a building code was created in the 1970s requiring an underground bomb shelter in preparation for a possible war, which is the beginning of the creation of semi-basement spaces. In the semi-basements, windows are hung above people's eye level in order to get as close to the ground surface as possible. So, he often has to smell unwanted fumes or the unpleasant sewers. Still, having eye contact with the neighborhood stray cat, whom S has named Tok-tok, is a small pleasure.

Text Sohyeon Bang, Curator / Minji Jin, Coordinator

1.Jahamun / 2023, 2.Jepibang series.2: 178(sqft) one room / 2024, 3.Momttung-i / Udukeo-ni.1, 2 / Pude-gi / 2022

Ttukdo-ri / cement, wood, steel, gravel, broken stone, granite, red brick / 128x55x225cm / 2023

Ttukdo-ri features three-dimensional structures representing the actual environment of the Seongsu-dong area, including its architectures and landscapes. The selected works for this exhibition intricately present the history of the area intertwined with the sculptures. The title ‘Ttukdo’ is an old name for ‘Ttukseom,’ referring to the Seongsu area where Han river and Jungrang stream intersect. The artist resided near the Yeongdong Bridge and closely observed the surroundings, examining the area's distinct geographical and environmental characteristics through architectural features such as the overpasses, Seongsu Bridge, and old factory buildings made with red bricks. Her sculptures present the grand and fragmented narratives hidden in the landscapes of the Seongsu area, visualizing both its present and its past.

Curated by, Lee Boyeong / Exhibition Coordinator, Seo Naim

Where does Ziu in the Village listen to?
Jahamun / Gugi / Bugak / cement, wood, LED lighting, AC motor / 2023

<Jahamun, Bugak, Gugi> weaves the traces of the past and origins of the architectural aspects spotted by the artist who resides in the Segeomjeong area that covers Buamdong, Hongji-dong, Sinyeong-dong, Gugi-dong, and Pyeongchang-dong in Jong-ro gu of Seoul. The term “Segeomjeong” originated from “pavillion to wash swords” during the Injo Coup incident in 1623. The artist reconstructs the spacial properties of the region by examining the time boundness and placeness behind. The sculpture highlights the locational uniqueness based on the forms of three tunnels of Gugi, Jahamum, and Bugak as the entrance of Segeomjeong. The sound penetrating the three spaces connects the Segeomjeong invisibly. The light structure in the bottom is reminiscent of experience passing through the tunnels.

1. Jepibang series.1: 178(sqft) one room / wood, box, colored paper / 21x21cm / 2022, 2. Jepibang series.2: 178(sqft) one room / wood, box, colored paper / 26x26cm / 2022, 3. Jepibang series.3: 178(sqft) one room / wood, box, colored paper / 35x35cm / 2022

High wall / cement, gypsum, silicone, wood, styrofoam, paint / 164x167x362cm / 2022

<High Wall> is an installation work that reenacts the viewpoint captured at the placial characteristic of Segeomjeong. It shares the artist’s own experience and perspective by staging the massive structure that is physically present in a museum at Pyeongchangdon with high ceiling and wide space. “Damjang” is a vertical structure that erects a wall outside of the building to protect the private space and prevent any external invasion separating inside and outside. The artist studies the residences outside the museum at Pyeongchangdong and inspired by the visual findings from wall structure of surrounding homes. The work mirrors the borders between damjang’s inside and outside, and between the three tunnels that connect the region.

Udukeoni.1 / Udukeoni.2 / (2022)

<Momttung-i>, <Pude-gi> shares its genealogy where the semi-basement (in English-American, garden level) was implemented by the architectural laws in the midst of the urbanization process after the Korean War in the 1950s., The work was produced based on the formalistic and visual elements of the bunker, which was semi-basement utilized for wartime refuge. Particularly, “Momttung-i” borrows the inner and outer sculptural quality of an air-raid bunker where one person can hide inside. On the other hand, Pusd-gi emphasizes the superficial facet as if being hidden deep beneath the earth inspired by the image of a bunker uprooted from below.

Udukeoni.2 / cement, wood, iron powder, steel, red brick, broken stone, pin / 20 x 22.5 x 164 cm / 2022

Momttung-i / cement, wood, stainless steel, steel, wallpaper, silicone, corrugated flexible pipe / 30x43x176cm / 2022

Pudegi / cement, gypsum, wood, clay, tile, steel, broken stone, nail / 31 x 32.5 x 154 cm / 2022

ZIU ZIU \ Ziu Suh