There’s a fitness center in which a flowing carpet leads to a wave pool, a gallery in which a chain is run through a floating black gem, and a modernist living room with an undulating wood stove in the center. The piece asks a viewer to navigate through rooms of GIF, each of which, from what I’ve been able to divine, represents a part of the psyche. Tom Hancocks’s Idle Self is a great example of this. The best versions of these projects use the platform to realize ambitious projects. This irregularly updated website lead by Daniel Rehn and Sarah Caluag invites artists to display a collection of GIFs in whatever way they see fit. Apparently Google changed the network design frequently, and the column width became much smaller, making it a much less appealing environment for many artists, so they left. Now, almost no one uses the site any more. Most were artists I was unaware of in 2011, but now see regularly each exhibits their GIFs regularly.Īs I reported earlier this year, 2011 was described as the “golden year” for animated GIFs on Google+. They include Anthony Antonellis, Eva Papamargariti, Yoshi Sodeoka, and Giselle Zatonyl to name a few.
Artist Lorna Mills recently rattled off the names of no fewer than 17 artists she’d met through the network. The site allowed users share large files, and as a social media network, it made it very easy to meet like-minded people. In 2011, artists who made animated GIFs flocked to Google+.
That diversity of perspective has only increased the relevance and complexity of this art form. Additionally, whereas prior chapters in GIF art’s history have been dominated by developments in the North America and Europe, today’s GIF makers come from all over the world. The most defining characteristic of these new GIFs are the larger file sizes, and the consequently increased amount of visual information they can contain. In this last section, I will outline some of the more seminal sites and exhibitions from between 20, as well as some very recent developments. As with the Tumblr history outlined in the previous chapter, there’s too much activity to document all of it. Limited run online exhibitions have grown in popularity, as have brick and mortar events. Social networking sites have become a lot more accommodating to larger GIF file sizes. Much has changed in the world of animated GIF makers over the past few years. The previous installments are “ The Early Years: 1997–2008”, “ Group Blogs, Surf Clubs, and the Beginning of Social Networking,” and “ A Brief History of Animated GIF Art: Part Three, Tumblr.” Welcome to part four of this brief journey through the rich history of one of the newest and most popular art forms, the animated GIF.
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