Fallen Star at UCSD

Notice anything unusual?

Look up.

See it.

On top of the Jacobs Engineering Building at the University of California, San Diego campus is a house with adjacent garden.

Take the elevator up to the 7th floor.

Step outside.

The permanent sculpture is open to the public every Tuesday and Thursday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

At first glance, it seems to be a quaint cottage surrounded by fragrant flowers and ripening zucchini and pumpkins.

But as a backdrop.

Behind people that are standing upright, it is easy to see that the house is askew.

A bit cattywompus.

Once inside, it feels weird.

Out the window, you can see the Geisel Library and get your bearings.

It is not a height thing.

There is no sense that you are in a structure that is perched off the edge of another building.

It is more a tilty, unbalanced sensation, like a .......

"No it is not a fun house, it is a serious art project," the docent corrected me after I voiced my thoughts.

Ok, ok, I get it.

The Fallen Star, by Do Ho Suh, is an exploration of themes around the idea of home, cultural displacement, the perception of our surroundings, and how one constructs a memory of a space.

The artist, originally from Seoul, Korea came to the United States to study.

Well done, Do Ho Suh.

In 2006, we moved from San Diego to Beijing. Living in China for six months was an incredible experience but I remember feeling discombobulated at times.

You represented that well.

I had the same sensation while walking inside your house.