Virtus
Virtus
On June 12th, 2023 I attempted to climb and BASE jump off Lotte Tower, the project took 8 months to plan. Unfortunately for me, I reached 73rd floor before been trapped and escorted off the building by security personnel.
I was sent to Jail in Seoul Songpa Police Station. Dehydrated and starving I was in a state of devastation, I felt like a failure and I had shame upon myself for not succeeding in my mission.
Read the full story of my Lotte tower climb here: http://shardclimber.com/lotte-tower-attempt/
Around 1 week after getting released from Jail, I needed a haircut and so searched online for an English-speaking barber. I found Blackmarket Barbershop in Itaewon and made my way towards it. Upon entering the barbershop I was impacted by the creativity within the interior design, the shop had a very mystical energy about it.
It was clear that every detail of this interior was a careful calculation, from the plants to the retro arcade games, it all came together to create an eccentric atmosphere.
I sat in the barber chair and asked Beau Walder for skin fade. Beau asked what I was doing here in Korea and so I spoke at length about my story of climbing Lotte tower.
After the haircut we had a beer together from the Blackmarket Bar and then exchanged contact details. Speaking with Beau it was clear to me that his identity totally matched the design of the shop he had created. The barbershop in itself was a living entity of which Beau co-existed with.
5 days went past…. I really felt there was something important to be found in that space and with beau, so I came back and had some beers until the early hours of the morning. We had extremely in depth conversations, our frequencies were very aligned. We found that we had a lot in common, Beau like me is a lone wolf- he left his home country in Australia 10 years ago on a mission to build something new in Korea. He developed his career initially in printing and then took it upon himself to build his own barbershop which also serves as a gallery, cafe and bar.
He did this all on his own… building the shop with his bare hands with no safety net to fall back on. Beaus calculated and obsessive mindset when it comes to meticulous detail totally mimicked mine. Like me, Beau is always on the recce… always seeking the next creative project.
At this point in time I was homeless in Seoul awaiting the result of my legal case, He allowed me to sleep in the barbershop, provided me with coffee, food and beer.
I slept within his business and I was fascinated to see how it all operated as days turned to months, I was privileged to meet hundreds of his customers.
Along with barbering Beau specialises in screen-printing art. He has worked with major artists and also creates his own work as-well.
Beau and I were both mutually inspired by each others work and so we felt it was important to create a piece of art which symbolised our time together. We brainstormed different ideas and we became transfixed with the idea of creating a print from my story of climbing and jumping off Europes Tallest Rollercoaster. We felt the rollercoaster was appropriate because it represented courage in the face of extreme fear. Likewise, we mutually appreciated the aesthetic of the lattice structure attributed to the rollercoaster.
We collected all the different materials and inks from Eulji-ro and spent all night carefully screen-printing 30 copies with four gradient layers on 700gsm cushion paper.
The process of printing mimicked how I would approach climbing a building in relation to the meticulous calculations. I felt at one with the process.
We called the print “Virtus.”
Virtus direct meaning comes from Ancient Rome: Courage along with Military Strength. We felt that this had correlations to the courage of the stunt.
Likewise, the colours of Ancient Roman military uniform was that of SILVER + RED, where we had also predominantly used the colours of SILVER + RED.
The location of the Rollercoaster was in Spain, Tarragona. In the year of 218 BC, during the time of the Punic war Tarragona become the main Military BASE of the Roman empire.
To add to all this, Beau also has the tattoo of Virtus across his stomach.
“VIRTUS”-signed and numbered is now on sale at Blackmarket Barbershop and online via the website Www.blkmrkt.store/products/virtus
My perceived “failure,” with my Lotte Tower stunt had turned into my greatest victory and adventure of my life so far. There are no failures in life, just new opportunities to grow.
Written by,
George King
The Shard Climber
