Leg Day
Video, 2023
About the artwork
A plastic leg is a commonly used motif in Niceaunties’ world, especially in the ‘Plastics Friends’ series. In this AI video, large quantities of plastic legs venture into the city, revealing their out of scale relationship with the urban environment and causing traffic jams on the highway. Some highways appear to be structurally supported by these plastic legs. The scenes switch to the aunties who, completely relaxed in the traffic conditions, are traveling on vehicles powered by plastic legs. This irony is inspired by a language pun where ‘car’ and ‘leg’ shares the same sound, in English and Hokkien dialect respectively. The video is made with the AI programme DALL.E3 and animated with Runwayml Gen2.
Sound design by Niceaunties
Audio explanation
Listen to Niceaunties discuss this work.
Niceaunties is a contemporary artist and designer based in Singapore. Drawing inspiration from the influential women in her family and the distinct 'auntie culture,' her work explores themes of ageing, beauty, personal freedom, and everyday life through AI and digital art. Her life experiences and architectural training inform the conceptual basis of her pieces, while her focus on the nuanced behaviours of 'aunties' highlights the culture prevalent in Asian communities.
These women, embodying a spectrum from strange and funny to mean and kind, profoundly influenced the artist's early life and creative narrative, laying the foundation for the unique storytelling of "Niceaunties." Exploring themes like aging, beauty, personal freedom, and the nuances of everyday life, Niceaunties expresses her vision through the mediums of generative and digital art. Her creations are marked by an amalgamation of surrealism, fantasy, and the vibrant aesthetics of kawaii culture.
Influenced by surreal art, fantasy, and kawaii culture, Niceaunties' art champions empowerment and self-expression.