Plastic continues at Anatomy Lecture Theatre at Summerhall until 31 August 2026.
Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩
Plastic is an experiment in music as theatre that stretches the mind through the captivating work of a sound and visual artist.
Minyoung Kim’s presentation combines music, gesture and projection in an exploration of the contradictions in the human condition exposed in our fascination and dependence on plastic. She creates an ecstatic experience for liberating mind and body. The extremes of this sound world are not for the faint-hearted, given the sheer volume conjured up.
There is immense variety in Kim’s programme which is supported by sound engineer Hyunjin Lee. It is liberating to watch the confidence with which Kim challenges herself to confront human experience and encourage the audience to do so too.
Kim creates a magical space and a childlike world of wonder, with images of bubbles, spirograph flowers and twisted spaghetti talons, contrasted in other numbers with harder, abstract pulsations reminiscent of scientific models, all created by videographer Deawoon Kang. It’s quite a spectacle.
While the gloss paint on the ceiling partially reflects the main screen, the visuals are front-on like in a cinema. Larger surround projection would suit the compositions better. The use of digital tools to mix, loop and project an unseen world contrasts with the natural and human world. Kim’s use of the gayageum, a large traditional Korean wooden zither with six silk strings, is complemented by her own bodily expression and singing, rooted in the tradition of Korean sung poetry.
Beguiling gestures of the left arm lead the sound out to the audience where it mixes in the space with the visuals, while the right hand is fully occupied with the drumstick which coaxes, thrashes and strums.
Kim’s creative persona is immensely strong as she embodies her musical experience. The stage presentation is beautiful and humble, especially the folding up of the body to signal the ending of a piece. There is some verbal explanation revealing motivation.
Her artistic intention in contorting our senses into heightened mental states is to question attitudes toward plastic and the planet. Our bond with the plastic that congests our world might seem restraining, but by rethinking our relationship with it, we can free ourselves to appreciate the potential it also brings to the world.
In conclusion, motivic repetition drives the howling up from the depths, building to a crescendo that elevates it into the light of understanding, while a final projection visually chants ‘no fear’ into space.
A curiously different and worthwhile experience.
Charlotte Purkis
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