PLASTIC

Plastic is an atmospheric musical recital from South Korean musician Min Young Kim, built around the geomungo, a traditional Korean string instrument. Kim stands in the dark of Summerhall's Anatomy Lecture Theatre, her fingers dancing across silk strings as the instrument and her voice fill the old lecture room.

It is an interesting setting for the music. Kim introduces her geomungo, its silk strings and bamboo stick, and explains her breathy singing techniques, before eventually inviting electronic and rock-influenced sounds and projections into the performance. The traditional music starts to sit alongside something louder and more modern, although not always to its benefit.

The strongest moments are often the simplest, when Kim is left with the geomungo and her voice. She does not need much help to be effective at what she does. At times the backing track and projections become overbearing and threaten to take over the performance itself, rather than allowing the music to do the work.

Still, Kim gradually lets herself go with it. “From now on, I'm going to be a rock star,” she announces, and the performance becomes louder, more energetic and more personal as she clearly starts enjoying the room as much as the room is enjoying her. I Am the Bizarre is where that transformation really comes alive.

The traditional music is pulled into the modern, reshaped and made into something new. It is energetic and clearly comes from a genuine passion for the music, but the additions do not always improve what was already there.

PLASTIC by Minyoung Kim. Credit Sang Hoon Ok.