Intangible Asset Number 82: The Main Characters
MAIN CHARACTERS
SIMON BARKER
”The most persuasive and individual voice in drumming in Australia.”
-Paul Grabowsky
Simon Barker is a drummer who specializes in jazz and improvisation on the western drum kit. Simon has played and toured extensively with many of the finest Australian and international talents, including Elvis Costello, Paul Grabowsky, Sheila Jordan, Vince Jones, & the Australian Art Orchestra. His peers consider him amongst the top in his field. He is an adept and sensitive musician, constantly pushing musical boundaries and developing new styles. Simon is an unlikely but likeable lead character with a slight awkwardness and humility that belies his wonderful talent and depth.
As an innovator in his field, Simon is dedicated to the exploration of music, continually striving to expand upon his skills, knowledge, and sources of inspiration.
Simon’s fascination with Korea goes beyond a love of the music and philosophies. He is envious of a music that engages the whole community and has utilitarian purpose. Insights into his thoughts provide an intimate examination of what it means to live the life of an artist in contemporary Western Society.
This documentary is not about a westerner looking for a quick fix of Asian spirituality. Simon Barker is a true aficionado and perpetual student of music, and his respect for other musicians is evident throughout the piece and in his contextual narration.
KIM DONG-WON
”I am the bridge. You have to step on my back and head, and you have to go further than me.
That’s the duty of the student. I want to be a strong bridge, and then when you climb up
on my back and my head, you can be the next bridge. That¹s the duty of the teacher.”
-Kim Dong-Won
Kim Dong-won is a skilled and respected performing artist who regularly tours the world with Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Project. He is also a professor of traditional music at Wonkwang University in Seoul and Kim Duk-su’s Samulnori School in Buyeo. The particular journey that we follow in this film was sparked by Simon¹s introduction to Kim Dong-won, who proves to be an excellent guide and teacher, describing concepts and philosophies in poetic terms with deceptive simplicity and resonance.
BAE IL-DONG
Bae Il-Dong built his vocal strength by living on a rock by a waterfall for seven years. His home was a makeshift hut of branches and reeds. Through heat, rain and snow, he sang 16 hours a day, breaking and callusing his voice against the noise of the rapids. Here is one of the most intriguing and committed artists one could meet.
”Looking back now, I don’t know how I lived like that.
But I believe in reincarnation, and I believe I was born with this destiny.”
- Bae Il-Dong [Korean pansori singer, recalling the seven years he spent living
by a waterfall learning to sing]
After Bae Il-Dong is introduced to Simon, he takes him to the waterfall on Chiri Mountain, where he was taught in the oral tradition epic songs of up to eight hours in duration from his grand-master. Although his style of singing, pansori, continues today, Il-Dong is one of the last of a long line of pansori singers to endure so many years of hardship and endurance to learn his art. Although they can¹t speak in a common tongue, Simon and Bae Il-Dong discover they share a strong connection through music.
KIM SEOK-CHUL (and Korean Shamanism)
Kim Seok-chul is a Shaman and grand-master drummer, and South Korea’s officially designated Intangible Asset Number 82. At the time of filming he was eighty-four years old, living a hard life in the mountains of the eastern seaboard.
There is scant documentation about Kim Seok-chul’s complex improvisational style, even though he has been declared a National Asset and his rhythmic vocabulary is considered one of the most advanced and unique in Korea. Mr Kim is featured on only eight recordings. At the time of filming, no transcriptions of, or information about, his music was available. All Simon had learnt about the Shaman¹s music had been through his own transcriptions and from the oral tradition of teachers in Korea.
Shamanism has been marginalized in Korea for many centuries with the rule of the Confucians and later, Japanese occupation. It is a very powerful and durable cultural force, but it is hidden in contemporary Korean society. So it remains that neither records nor any other forms of materials concerning shamanic professionals are sufficiently available today. Foreigners find it highly difficult to meet shamans or see shamanic practices, unless they are guided by someone who has knowledge of shamanism and are granted access.
Throughout the journey, much is revealed about shamanic life and practices, serving to accentuate the lost opportunity of meeting Kim Seok-chul. Shamans are religious professionals who, it is believed, are able to put themselves into a state where they directly experience possession or ecstasy, and in such state are the people’s connections to the spirits. A Shaman¹s job includes creating harmony, helping people accept life’s harsh truths, ensuring happiness, health, prosperity and longevity, assisting families coping with grief, and reconciling Œhan, a specifically Korean concept dealing with the sorrow carried across generations or between the living and the dead).
Music is integral to the ritual and to achieving the state of ecstasy. In the process of the performance, the music progresses through intricate interweaving, while the tempo increases subtly until the musicians achieve a momentum of perfect coordination. Psychological tension builds up steadily, inducing the supernatural power in the shaman. Kim Seok-chul fulfils this role in his community in Pusan. There are a number of such performances in this film from Kim Seok-Chul, other shaman musicians in his family, and disciples of his music.
Kim Seok-chul passed away a few days after the filming of his meeting with Simon. This film is an invaluable record of the master, his music and his community, and his last ever ceremony.
