The rebirth of animated GIFs: ‘liberation in constraints’

I’ve just enjoyed Anil Dash’s paean to the enduring art of animated GIFs.

I agree that the recent revival of the format has reached a whole new level of sophistication. I’ve been a huge fan of if we don’t, remember me for some time (the source of the image above). In taking a few judiciously chosen frames from a film, iwdrm creates something new, something distinct from the original film, yet still affectionately linked to it. It is not merely a video clip. It is not merely a fragment of a whole. I don’t think it’s overblown to say it has become something like its own independent art piece, something you might expect to see in a gallery installation. Have a browse of the site and you’ll see what I mean.

Full steam ahead, GIF artists. Show us what you can do.