Under the theme ‘night, primarily consisting of a major collection of the museum, the exhibition includes various artists beyond age and nationality. It covers the paragons of 1900s American Pictorialism and modernism photography, the outputs of European avant-garde and New Vision Movement, experimental photography after the Korean War, and domestic and international contemporary photography which are under the previous influence. The exhibition presents more than 100 pieces of photographs and media works produced by 32 visual artists. This vast trajectory of works is not listed by linear time, but becomes entangled freely in the narrative of the night. ‘Night’ is physical time presupposing the darkness from sunset to sunrise, and the world of the unconscious that can be in context through the darkness at the same time. While the time in which consciousness and rational thoughts are fluttering is daytime, night is the time in which we bring out the silent desires and instincts and dig into the dark abyss of consciousness. When the sun sets and we go to bed, a dream chain reaction reveals the inevitable relationship between nights and the unconscious. Therefore, Endless Journey to Black Night is strolling the pitch-dark night, and entering into the indescribable world of the unconscious at the same time.

⠀Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s novel Journey to the End of the Night depicts the psychological journey of the main character named Bardamu, who has experienced war and flees from the civilization and authority, feeling a sense of disillusionment. For him, ‘journey to the end of the night’ is a journey to the abyss attached to the human’s natural instinct abandoning the previous rules of a language system. The exhibition Endless Journey to Black Night also explores fear, wandering, impulse, desire, deficiency and the inner workings of the human mind willed with ecstatic hallucinations. In this context, the exhibition aligns with the theme of the novel. Both represent journeys plunging into the depths of darkness, not yet discovered but obscured by clear consciousness, gradually shedding layers and drawing nearer.

⠀Photography is a language of the abyss, in contrast to articulated language systems shaped by custom and culture. It operates without a predefined code, capturing images that may clearly or vaguely represent something akin to symptoms of a disease. This ambiguous visual language, while recording objects in a realistic manner, remains unspoken yet expressive, laying bare the camouflage and hypocrisy of rigid systems of rational thought. Participating artists in the exhibition grasp this potential of photography, immersing themselves in silent darkness to draw forth the unconscious mind. They venture into invisible dark forests, city nights illuminated by neon lights, the darkroom, and the dark box of a camera, entrusting their consciousness to the camera’s eyes. Through this process, the exhibition space reveals the darkness and landscapes beyond conscious perception.