Anh Van Nguyen

The animation offers to reflect the contradictory relationship between the mind, the body, and the environment. The eyes can see the changes in the scenery yet it cannot distinguish whether what is real or simply a dream. All the familiar objects seem to stretch themself and blend in together, where only color streaks are left behind. I inserted myself as the doll turning to sleep, yet at the same time, I am aware of whatever is happening surrounding me, whether it is the sound from the radio, or the vehicle moving on the road. I feel my body exists in constant motion while also feeling completely still. All of this confusion is presented by two distinct visual qualities with the outside world blending together like paint. On the other hand, the body has a defined feature to itself but could never stay still as it morphs and blends itself to the surrounding environment.

Sometimes, I woke up only to find myself in another dream, albeit a different one this time. It was a strange realization I came to, after witnessing the same scenario time after time. I saw myself moving across different dreamscapes, feeling my limbs moving yet not able to lift them. Rolling with giant heads, spinning through hands, and even sprinting on non-existent legs. Sometimes, I could even form a thought inside a dream, thinking about how long I had lingered here. There was a ringing tune from my alarm, a sound that screeched into one’s ears trying to wake me up. I wanted to turn it off, yet the difference in reality had made it so that no matter how far my hand reached, I could never grab my phone 5 inches away. As the ringing got louder, only then did my already opened eyes open. A sunlight was shining across my room.

Be Bao Bun is a 30-second animation looping the daily routine of an individual consuming bao buns to express themself. My work is inspired by a Vietnamese phrase saying a child’s gloomy face is like an afternoon bao bun, mushy and undesired. A phrase in which the person’s self-expression is linked to a characteristic of an unalive object. There is no malicious intention behind it, as it is usually used by adults to tease kids and hint at them to look brighter and behave properly. However, growing up, I hated being called that, as it made me feel ashamed of myself for hindering people around me by crying and being sad. Through that experience, I found it interesting how it is a roundabout way of showing disapproval of the person’s behavior by attaching them to an object that no one desires. Thus, I create an absurd version of reality where the situation is flipped, with the individual being the inanimate one, and their entire emotional behavior depends on consuming the anthropomorphic object that is the bun. Since the action keeps repeating itself, even though the act itself seems nonsensical, it transforms into common sense.

Two-Scales is a 60-second 1920×1080 pixel art animation. This animation symbolizes escapism, a temporary escape from reality, by indulging in games. This piece consists of two main parts; one side represents the space of reality, while the other side represents the space of escapism. Tackling the inner conflict of human nature, it shows that each person needs to evaluate and position themselves appropriately so that they cannot break down at any moment by getting too attached to one specific thing in life.

Spiral is a 42-second animation done by applying charcoal and erasing to create motion. It is done through observing and monitoring objects, then transforming them through the spiral. From eyes to the running body, from dark to light, the animation speaks to the transformative nature of things in life through the use of charcoal. More often than not, it is easy to assign a certain form and silhouette to things we are familiar with and stick with it. Through applying and erasing charcoal continuously with each frame, the work expresses the moment in time as things drawn are shifting, whether it is significant or not.