If a picture paints a thousand words, then what about two pictures? Put them together to tell a story, make them move, and you’ve got yourself a GIF. Cute, right? Or maybe a little annoying?
But is GIF a new art form? Art is many things to many people and if you google the word art, you will probably find a definition to fit your personal bent. I like this one: ”The expression or application of human creative skill and imagination.” By this definition, ancient cave drawings, my own crude paintings, insta-gram photographs and GIFS qualify, as well as Picasso and Sherman.
But, if I think a piece is rude, crude or socially unattractive, I prefer the definition: “the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”
Art, like beauty, is heavily influenced by one’s culture but ultimately belongs to the eye of the beholder. I choose what appeals to me. You choose what appeals to you.
I’ve seen these moving images before. I just did not know the term GIFS, short for graphics interchange format. I find them amusing, obnoxious, flashy and funny but up until now, have never considered whether they are art. I did find that creating a GIF involves challenge, choices, infinite possibility and a sense of accomplishment and pride at the final product. Art or not, thanks to this week’s WordPress challenge, I have another tool for telling my story and am a few steps closer in narrowing the ever-increasing technological, generational gap. After all, I don’t want that little girl with the missing teeth to say that her grandmother is still in the stone age.
(cartoon from article: “Oldest Confirmed Cave Art Is a Single Red Dot“)
Never knew what a GIF actually was/stood for. Thank you!
Very cute. I think I’m fairly tech-savvy, and then I talk to someone who really is and realize that I’m not even tech-literate!
Ha Susan, Baby-steps and a patient son – the way to do it!
Well, that little girl is the epitome of cuteness, I must say.
You just found out about this yesterday … and then did it? Wow. I’m cheering for you! And loved the grandaughter . . .too cute!
Thanks for sharing your art!
I made the gif – but now I don’t know how to get it into a post -? I downloaded it but I don’t know what program to use to open it – when I click on a photo type my default is Microsoft editor but it doesn’t ‘gif’ – I just get one of the shots in a static image …
I’ve tried to answer your question in your e-mail. You don’t need to download it. just copy address and paste in the URL of add media section. good luck
Thank you –
How did you do this? I have two shots that need to be displayed in this way …
I used http://www.makeagif.com. They walk you through it. I think you’ll like it. Can’t wait to see yours
Thanks – I’ll take a look at this and then we’ll see.
I applaud your intrepid spirit and determination to learn more about our tech-world!! Because I prefer to write poetry and emails, I tend to drag my feet and not learn something till I have no choice but to do it! Maybe you could give a class here–for the tech-challenged (dweebs). As for the GIF–moving pictures aren’t for me; they bother my eyes/aggravate headaches. Different strokes, etc! However, the granddaughter is precious!! God bless you–love, Caddo
Thanks Caddo. They can be annoying but click on the link in innamazing’s comment. It’s quite nice. Keep up your poetry cause we all love it!
Oh you’re right–that is nice!! Thanks for chatting!
I’ve done this using a couple of ppt slides – toggling back and forth – much to the delight of my oldest grandchild. I was not aware that there was such a thing as GIF (OK, so I’m still in the technology dark ages – but I’m trying to catch up!) THANKS for adding to my “art collection.”
I know Rebecca. Never heard of gif until yesterday. Oxford dictionary voted it word of the year! Who knew?
I like this! I consider some GIFs to be art, because they are so beautiful, so stylish, so deep. This is one example http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mdagx28cPN1rksgdwo2_250.gif I think they are also really good to portray emotion, just like photography. I mean there’s happy GIFs, there’s sad GIFs… not all of them have to be “silly” and “funny”.
Yes. Thanks for the dance and thoughtful comment. Lovely
You rock, Gwen!
Sweet!