"Drawing is a very meaningful time for me to meditate," said acclaimed South Korean animation director Ahn Jae-huun through interpreter and Ohio State associate professor Danielle Pyun during his recent visit to campus. Jae-huun's so-called "meditations with a pencil" were screened throughout the final weeks of September at the Wexner Center for the Arts, highlighting a decades-long body of work concerned with the everyday moments in Korean life. "As a Korean artist, I do my best to describe Korean things as best I can," he said.
Ahn Jae-huun spent many years working as an animator for such shows as The Simpsons and Family Guy during a time when much of the studio animation work in Korea supported American films and television. Jae-huun then started his studio, Meditation with a Pencil, dedicated to depicting Korean life in hand-drawn, 2D animations that celebrate the country’s scenery, culture and traditions. The studio creates films under the ideal of “drawings that cure and colors that touch one’s heart.”
Jae-huun’s experiences range from film to digital animation processes, and he is one of the only Korean filmmakers to have directed shorts, television series, commercials, original video animation and feature-length films. His short film, One Day of Hitchcock, won several awards in Korea, and his works have appeared in many international film festivals where they have received prizes that include the Grand Competition - Feature Film at Animafest Zagreb and the Contrechamp Jury Distinction at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
During a live Q&A ahead of a public screening of Green Days (2010) as part of the Cartoon Crossroads festival on September 26, Jae-huun was asked what makes Korean animation distinct from that of other nations. He explained that in South Korea, animation for children still predominates and the animation industry is not as developed as those of Japan and the United States.
"It could look to westerner’s eyes that Korea might not be distinct from China and Japan," he explained through his interpreter, "but when you take a close look at it, you will see distinct features from each other," and it is those cultural distinctions that Jae-huun seeks to capture in his work.
It is that specficity, he hopes, that makes his films both unique and relatable. "I try to build solidarity and create a bond among people through my films," he said.
"I feel compassion and passion is more important than talent. I strive hard to pour my whole heart into the films I produce. Green Days has 110,000 hand drawn pages. Every page has my thumbprint and that effort is the most important thing."
Jae-huun’s visit was made possible through an Office of Academic Affairs Visiting Artist Grant and featured collaboration with Cartoon Crossroads, the Columbus Metropolitan Library and the Columbus College of Art and Design. The residency was co-sponsored by Ohio State’s Office of Academic Affairs, Department of East Asian Languages and Literature, Department of Art, Department of Design, Department of Theatre, Film, and Media Arts, Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, East Asian Studies Center, Institute for Korean Studies and Wexner Center for the Arts.