Night Walk

“The night’s clean air is suggested on the surface of the water, and the new moon is unusually high and bright.” One of the poems which appears hand-written in Night Walk seems to tentatively give it shape. The film is a series of views of Segeomjeong, a neighbourhood of Seoul which skirts the mountains. On this solitary stroll, things appear as reflections in the water. It is not made in colour, or in black and white, but in shades of blue. The views reveal a space inhabited by a series of times. Man-made constructions appear among the slight movements caused by the wind, the water and the odd furtive animal. Centuries ago, during the Joseon dynasty (1392-1897), this was the poets’ neighbourhood. Blending right into the shades of blue, the night walk reveals all types of buildings, from ancient hanok architecture to new glass buildings with white light. Drawings and diagrams emerge, superimposed over the views, recording the movements of a canal or the light, or the shape of objects. Poems also appear written on the fragments of walks, texts that were modern back in the early days of this neighbourhood. Voices which appear in text form, and human presence which appears only in footprints as they pass by for centuries on the edge of this mountain are seen but not heard. The film is silent although you don’t notice it. What each one of us hears belongs just to us. 

Lucía Salas