‘Fallen Star’, University of California, San Diego

Teetering on the corner and edge of Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, is a small cottage that appears to have been picked by a tornado and dropped on to the ledge of the towering seven story building. It’s an installation art titled “Fallen Star” by Korean artist Do Ho Suh. Opened in 2009, “Fallen Star” is the 18th permanent sculpture commissioned by the university’s Stuart Collection.

The 15-foot by 18-foot house has a cozy interior and is fully furnished. There is a couch with comfortable-looking pillows, a television set, chandelier, framed photos, and lighting that is switched on after sunset and switched off late at night. Leading up to the house is a small garden with a brick path framed by tomatoes, wisteria vines and plum tree. From the street below, one can see smoke rising up from the chimney, creating an impression that the house is occupied. It even has a fake address: 72 Blue Heron Way.

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Photo credit: University of California, San Diego

“Fallen Star” cost the university more than $1.4 million to build, all of which was raised from private sources except for a $90,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. A lot of small donations came in from current and former students, as well as Stuart Collection supporters around the country.

Do Huh Suh was born in Korea and attended Seoul National University before going on to earn a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA in sculpture from Yale University. “Fallen Star” is a metaphor of his own feelings of displacement when he arrived in the U.S. from Seoul in 1991 to study. Today he lives and works in New York, London and Seoul.

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