Where Is Some/One? See It at Seattle Asian Art Museum

Do Ho Suh constructed this striking armor-like garment from thousands of military dog tags. The shimmering coat spreads across the floor like a pool of metal, while the central figure stands hollow and empty.

The work explores themes of individuality versus collective identity. Each dog tag represents a single soldier, yet together they form an anonymous military mass. The armor could protect its wearer or weigh them down entirely.

Some/One is a highlight of the Seattle Asian Art Museum's contemporary collection, bridging traditional Korean craft techniques with conceptual art practice.

Approximately 100,000 stainless steel military dog tags, plus nickel-plated copper, steel, glass fiber-reinforced resin, and rubber. The tags form a 9-foot-tall structure resembling a suit of armor or ceremonial robe, with the 'hem' spreading across the gallery floor.

The tags are stamped with nonsense symbols, not real names, rendering their collective identity anonymous. Do Ho Suh was inspired by his mandatory military service in South Korea. The piece explores the tension between individuality and collective identity.

The work exists in an edition of three. One is at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, another at the Seattle Art Museum. Viewers who approach the armor-like form see themselves reflected in a mirrored interior.

The title plays on 'someone' (an individual) versus 'some one' (one among many). The 100,000 anonymous dog tags create a single, larger-than-life figure, raising questions about how individual identity survives within military or collective structures.

Some/One

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