CHICAGO — In the GIF world of twohundredfiftysixcolors, there is no time to process visual imagery; viewers are left with reaction options to each short GIF much like those found on a Buzzfeed post. It’s all <3, LOL, WIN, OMG, CUTE, WTF, UNBELIEVABLE, SCARY, FAIL TRASHY, OLD, EW, <heart break! or whatever and then it’s over. Even for a person who spends many hours a day at a computer, this film is torturous, and a painfully accurate experience of today’s over-saturated internet media environment. Certain gifs will keep playing over and over in your mind long after the credits role. It is a perfect portrait of the Internet world we live in.
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With the launching of Vine and the increasing ease of shooting portable video, you might be a little tired of the GIF. It’s so short! So looping! There’s no sound! Fortunately, Tim Baker and Chris Shier have come up with a way to freshen up your GIFs — by melting them.
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Whether or not you think 2012 was the Year of the GIF, the fact stands pretty certain: the Graphic Interchange Format is all around us. One place where this is readily apparent is Wikipedia, where GIFs are used to illustrate everything from mathematical principles to how to correctly write a Japanese character. And of course, because the internet has only exacerbated our human tendency to collect and list and display things, someone has made a website that cycles through all of the GIFs on Wikipedia.
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We hate to discuss art trends because it makes art sound like fashion, but, alas, they’re real and they happen. Remember that whole “prop paintings up on objects” trend last year, well, this year I\we spotted a few things we wanted to point out as the year comes to a close.
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Have you waited till the last minute to do your holiday shopping for all your arty friends? Not a problem — we have a slew of gifts for you that won’t take any time at all to deliver. They’re GIFs! Easily giftable and transmitted instantly over email or the social network of your choice, GIFs make the perfect gifts.
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