In a world where technology promises to preserve every facet of our existence, we find ourselves at a crossroads - between the allure of digital permanence and the fragility of human memory. As technology grows ever more capable of archiving the minutiae of life, we must ask: can machines truly preserve the depth of our experiences, or is there something in the physical and the lived that resists digitisation? The pursuit of transgenerational wisdom—the knowledge passed down through stories, touch and presence—feels more urgent than ever. While some turn to artificial intelligence and digital archives to safeguard memory, others remind us that the most profound experiences live not in code but in the spaces we have inhabited and the relationships we have fostered. At the core of this debate is the tension between the digital and the analogue, between what can be stored and what must be felt.

It is against this backdrop that I encountered Suh Se Ok X LG OLED: Reimagined by Suh Do Ho, Shaped by Suh Eul Ho, an intimate yet conceptually powerful exhibition during Frieze Seoul 2024. Though short-lived, this collaboration between multiple generations of the Suh family transcends the temporal limitations of the pop-up format. It reflects on how memory, legacy and family ties can be reinterpreted and preserved through the synergy of artistic vision and modern technologies.

One of the most moving aspects of the exhibition is its focus on time and memory.

At the heart of this project is Korean artist Suh Se Ok, the pioneering ink painter whose abstract human forms emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s. With a single dot, he creates human figures that capture the essence of existence in its most distilled manner, whether it’s a smile, the bond between a mother and child, or the energy of a crowd. His minimalism homes in on the essential, exploring the transcendent qualities that lie beneath the surface. His sons, renowned artist Suh Do Ho and architect Suh Eul Ho, bring their father’s work into new realms of interpretation, transforming it from static ink on paper to a dynamic, multilayered experience on fabric and OLED. The exhibition does not simply reanimate Se Ok’s work; it breathes life into his artistic philosophy of giun seongdong — the “living energy” inherent in his brushstrokes. The transition from static to animated form feels less like a technological shift and more like a natural evolution, a continuation of Se-Ok’s ability to imbue life into the figures he rendered.

Suh Do Ho created the videos for the transparent OLED screens, aiming to visually express Se-Ok Suh's artistic ideas and philosophy, while Suh Eul Ho designed all the space-related scenography. Suh Do Ho’s role in animating his father’s brushstrokes offers an intimate glimpse into the creative process, revealing the energy that drives each stroke. It is an evolution of the stillness of ink into something fluid and dynamic, yet the movement never undermines the original intent. Instead, it extends the creative dialogue between father and son, with the elder Suh’s brush meeting his son’s hand in a conceptual space where memory and present-day creativity converge. This act of animation serves not just as a tribute to Se-Ok’s legacy, but as an exploration of how the next generation reinterprets and carries forward the wisdom of their ancestors.

Suh Eul Ho’s spatial design is crucial to this transformation, offering a layered complexity that mirrors his father’s ink works. The exhibition space becomes a stage where visitors move through layers of visual and emotional experiences, starting with a semi-transparent fabric installation that hints at the transient nature of Se Ok’s work. This entryway serves as a metaphorical threshold between tradition and modernity, where the old and the new coexist. As visitors move further into the space, they are drawn into a series of framed works on paper that appear to hover, suspended in midair, as if caught between worlds—echoing the ephemeral quality of memory itself.

The transparency and depth in the display of these reimagined works reflect Se Ok’s lifelong fascination with infinite voids and unseen dimensions. The exhibition creates a sense of floating in time, as though each artwork exists not just in its physical space but also in the unseen layers of memory and experience that surround it. The works seem to speak not only to the present but also to the past, evoking a dialogue between what is visible and what remains concealed beneath the surface.

One of the most moving aspects of the exhibition is its focus on time and memory. The inclusion of Suh Se Ok’s voice and footage of his artistic process adds a deeply personal element, reminding viewers that this exhibition is not merely a tribute to a father’s legacy but a living continuation of his work. It invites reflection on how art transcends generations, allowing us to contemplate how new interpretations can breathe life into the past without erasing it. The Suh family demonstrates that memory is not static—it evolves, adapts and reimagines itself through the hands of the next generation.

This transgenerational project pushes the boundaries of how we think about art and memory. It moves beyond the idea of preservation as a passive act and toward the concept of preservation as an ongoing dialogue. The works engage with the viewer on multiple levels—intellectually, emotionally and aesthetically—creating a multi-sensory experience that feels both timeless and rooted in the present. Though the exhibition may be fleeting, the dialogue it initiates—between the past and present, between the physical and the ethereal and between father and sons—will endure.

Before this project, Suh Do Ho had already engaged in a more analogue pursuit of memory preservation with his Rubbing/Loving project. In this earlier work, he meticulously captured the textures of buildings through frottage, pressing paper against surfaces to extract the invisible imprints left by time. With each rubbing, Suh did not merely record the physical aspects of a building; he captured the layered echoes of lives lived within its walls—the quiet moments, the shared conversations, the unspoken memories embedded in the structure. His frottage technique became an act of remembrance, where the past was both preserved and reimagined. Like a palimpsest, the paper absorbed the remnants of countless lives and through Suh’s hands, the space spoke again—its cracks, wear and imperfections becoming markers of love, loss and transformation. Each rubbing was more than a representation of the building; it reflected all the hands that had touched it, all the feet that had crossed its floors.

In both the Rubbing/Loving project and the exhibition at Frieze Seoul 2024, memory becomes something alive. The works remind us that the past is never truly static; it is always being reinterpreted and reanimated by those who inherit it. These projects weave together the delicate threads of touch, time and tenderness, creating a transgenerational tapestry that speaks to the enduring power of art to connect us across time and space.

Ultimately, the Suh family’s collaboration demonstrates that the power of art lies not in freezing a moment in time but in allowing it to grow, adapt and engage with new audiences. By blending the physical and the ephemeral, the personal and the universal, this project redefines what it means to preserve a legacy. It shows that art is not merely an artefact of the past—it is a living, breathing entity that continues to evolve, carrying forward the wisdom of generations into the future.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official position of STIR or its Editors.)