Tubulus Plasticus was born from a strange overlap between ecological anxiety and internet absurdity. In 2020, South Korea experienced an actual outbreak of stick insects—partly due to an unusually warm winter. Around the same time, plastic straw regulations were being introduced, debated, and eventually reversed. Somewhere between this environmental confusion and the viral “Get Stick Bugged LOL” meme, a fictional species emerged in my imagination: a stick insect evolved to mimic plastic straws.

The animation explores how something seemingly harmless or even cute—like a bug that looks like a straw—can gradually become an unsettling presence. The insects begin by quietly blending into the city, but their accumulation hints at a deeper discomfort. The story is absurd, but not far from the truth.

I wanted to reflect on the idea of mimicry not just as camouflage, but as surrender. Inspired by Roger Caillois’ idea of animals dissolving into their environment, Tubulus Plasticus imagines mimicry as a kind of abandonment—where synthetic life forms adapt not to survive, but to disappear into the waste we’ve left behind.

As a motion designer with a background in painting and experimental video, I often approach serious topics through playful visual metaphors. This project is one of those moments where humor and unease intersect, where the silly slowly becomes serious.

Screenings