Psychadelic GIFs

That’s pronounced like the peanut butter brand, by the way.

At least, that’s how the original creators pronounced it, back when Compuserve was a thing.  They created the GIF as a compressed graphic format to minimize data usage back in the “Days of Dial-up” for Compuserve when modems ruled the Earth.  But, I bet they never thought that their “little” contribution to computer culture would go so far.  For instance, when the GIF came out, it didn’t have animation as a part of its specification.  It was just a compressed graphics display format.  It was only after its adoption by Compuserve, in fact, that animations became possible for GIF files.

Since then, though, it’s become an art form.  Truly.
Don’t believe me?  Go take a look at this article at This Is Colossal about the animated GIFs of David Szakaly.  They’re incredible!  You may need to give that page just a moment to load, because some of the GIFs pack a lot of visual power and it may take a minute before your browser can completely load the full looping graphic.  It’s worth the wait though.  The article also tells you a little bit about Mr. Szakaly’s artistic path and how his art evolved to the point of making such amazing animated GIFs.

And, since it’s Friday, and, frankly, we’re both slacking at this point, if you want to see more of these incredible animations from David Szakaly, check out his Tumblog that’s just filled with the most amazing, mezmerizing GIFs you’ve ever seen; dvdp.  It’s truly incredible!  I’ll sit and watch those all afternoon, or at least until it’s time to go home or I get yelled at by someone important for slacking on Friday.
(One final note, don’t get thrown off by the navigation on his Tumblog.  To get to the next page of animated GIFs, click the double-minus sign next to the word “time:” at the bottom of the page.)
Y’all have a great weekend!