It was a mix of eco-guilt and frustration that sparked the idea for Minyoung Kim’s solo project, PLASTIC. The composer and geomungo (pronounced ko-mun-go) player from Seoul was aware that she, like many of us, had a complicated, contradictory relationship with the synthetic material. Plastic is everywhere. We can’t escape it. It pollutes, it contaminates, yet we use it every day.
“We know plastic is bad for the planet, we also know how convenient it is. We are aware of this paradox. We feel guilty about what we are doing to the environment, but also we don’t stop using it. People often feel the same way about themselves – stuck, frustrated,” explains Kim, switching between talking in English and Korean.
“I am interested in when humans feel this way,” says Kim. “Everyone has their own personal hell. Hard times shape us and we can change, we can grow. I like that plastic can be melted and change shape. People can too.”
Kim began playing geomungo, a type of traditional Korean stringed zither, when she was 13. Her mum played a lot of pop music around the house but her dad was more a fan of traditional Western classical music. Kim’s adult output as a composer has evolved to be a combination of both influences. Over a decade ago she founded the duo ReMidas with her friend Ji Hyun Park playing gayageum (a 12-string zither), blending South Korean improvisational music with jazz, pop and electronic styles. In PLASTIC, Kim puts a modern update on traditional Korean instrumentation, creating an intense electronic hybrid with pulsing beats and samples of bells, gongs and children chattering. She then threads in her themes around plastic and human quirks and inconsistencies.
The wooden geomungo is one of Korea’s oldest instruments, a long zither with six silk strings and sixteen frets, played with a bamboo stick. Plucked rhythms and bending strings create a wobbly, mesmerising, deep vibrato, somewhere between a much lower-pitched Indian sitar and melodic Chinese guzheng. The tone of the geomungo is rich and resonant, a meditative, versatile sound which Kim blends with her voice; a plaintive, expressive trill, with English lyrics added for this UK premiere at the Fringe. Her singing style draws from jeongga (meaning righteous song), a traditional Korean vocal style. Jeongga is associated with royalty, nobility and aristocracy, and characterised by deep breath control and serene, drawn-out notes. It’s considered more restrained and refined than folk singing, following Confucian principles of self-cultivation. Kim’s performance moves between those meditative and melancholy ballads to angstier techno-pop.
The lyrical and musical elements of the show are amplified by swirling, psychedelic visuals, newly created for Kim’s Edinburgh run. Revolving, digital clusters of lines beam behind Kim and her geomungo onstage, neon murmurations and violet galaxies, swarming and glowing as she sings.
“I tell personal stories about my family relationships, and I want to tie them in with history. Modern and traditional, together. Past and present. I showed the designer of the visuals what I wanted – these circular patterns that you often see on Korean palaces. Very beautiful, ornamental roof tiles, symbols and lotuses. Those floral decorations inspired me and became part of the show.” Although the show is grounded in Korean traditions, Kim believes it reflects universal human qualities, both our fragility and enormous potential.
“I premiered the show last year at a festival in Barcelona and there was an incredible atmosphere,” remembers Kim. “The melodies were simple and this big crowd began singing along. I found that unforgettable.”
PLASTIC, Summerhall, 6-31 Aug (not 17, 24), 8.45pm