Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
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RIO DE JANEIRO — Whether you pronounce GIF with a hard “G” as in “gift” or like Jif the peanut butter, there’s no arguing that what you’re about to see is the largest animated GIF in the world.
(For the record, here’s where my linguistics-loving brain comes down on the issue, no matter what the creator says.)
If you spend more than a little time on the Internet, chances are you’ve seen a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), or a computer file format that compresses video images into a loop of animation. Here are a slew of adorable examples for your reference.
With that out of way, let’s talk about anonymous UK street artist INSA. He explains in this video that his artistic philosophy revolves around the meeting of art and the Internet. He creates art in real space with the wish it will exist “even more” in online space. In other words, he’s making GIFs using stop-motion techniques as he paints mural after mural on the same wall or other surface. He calls it “GIF-ITI.”
In this video, INSA fully decides to “Pump Up the Jam.” He created four paintings in four days in a huge empty lot in Rio de Janeiro. Each painting was photographed from an orbiting satellite, which he then turned into the world’s largest painted GIF.
Trust me, it’s super neat. And it only took 576 collective work hours.
If you just want to see the final product, start watching at the 3:01 mark.
