Who: Annie Hung, Animator and Illustrator
Her aesthetic: The animations of Hung (@uuuunyy) have a way of putting a smile on one’s face. There are the adorable, somewhat off-kilter 2-D cartoons (think a mohawked, leotard-wearing green figure fighting off virus-like enemies) set to irresistible beeps reminiscent of ’90s video games.
Then there are spacey 3-D animations that have ranged from rats performing an R&B track by local indie musicians Weish and Isa Ong for Chinese New Year, to the trailer of last year’s Cartoon Undergrounds festival and best described as a pastoral episode of Wallace & Gromit on crack.
Further showcasing the breadth of this 22-year-old’s abilities, one of her latest posts depicts a 3-D rendering of herself (togged out in a fashionable rainbow-striped top, no less) at the computer, only to reveal that the visual virtual Hung is working on is of the exact same scene.
The Inception-style work sums up her design philosophy: to create something “fun and quirky, with a dash of something that’ll make my audience uncomfortable”. (PS. She counts Adventure Time and Japanese horror manga legend Junji Ito as the biggest influences on her art.)
What got her started: “Back in primary school, I would download AMVs (anime music videos) off Youtube, trace them frame-by-frame, and change the characters to my own for fun. The satisfaction of seeing the characters move gave me some sort of kick.”
On Singapore’s animation scene: “I feel that most of those appreciating local content are also the same people creating it. It’s nice to have a tight-knit community of artists, but the market remains niche. We’re blessed to have events such as GIF Fest and Cartoons Underground, but these only happen once a year. And while one should support local artists, you ought to look at the value of the content, rather than how hard it tries to be local.”
