The GIF Elevator

June 1, 2017 by GIPHY Arts

The GIF Elevator is an ongoing installation on display at the Museum of Moving Image showcasing the importance and diversity of GIF art today.

Each year The GIF Elevator features newly commissioned GIFs by six artists, animators, and illustrators who represent some of the most important and influential GIF makers working today. The inaugural artists for 2017 were Mr. Div (Matthew DiVito), Dain Fagerholm, Render Fruit (Clara Luzian), Lorna Mills, Paul Robertson, and Rafia Santana. Their practices represent a sample of the extraordinary breadth and diversity of the contemporary GIF. Each artist created four original GIFs that were presented on the walls and ceiling of the Museum’s elevator, an exhibition environment that offers a unique and intimate encounter with the work. Each installation is on view for two months and the GIFs are published on Giphy.com to coincide with the opening of each installation.

To mark the opening of The GIF Elevator, GIPHY Arts co-hosted a panel discussion with the Museum of Moving Image featuring artists Matt DiVito, Lorna Mills, and Rafia Santana about the history of the GIF, and their respective artistic practices. The panel was run by GIPHY Arts Community Curator, Ari Spool, and MoMI’s Curator of Digital Media, Jason Eppink. It was followed by a GIF Dance Party, turning dancing guests into animated GIFs in real time.

Press

Moving Image Debuts Elevator Covered in GIFs

GIFs bounce around an elevator in new show at Astoria’s Museum of the Moving Image

Check out the Museum of Moving Image website for more information.