The Animated GIF's Cannes Moment

There are defining moments in the evolution of an image technology. CNN and 24 hours cable news came of age during Gulf War. The 3D movie had Avatar. Then there’s the animated gif. A doodle in the margins of image technology? Or will it have its defining cultural moment. Here’s a candidate from this week’s Cannes Film Festival where film-maker Lars Von Trier found himself in a hole regarding some provocative statements regarding Hitler, and kept on digging. He assures Kristen Dunst sitting alongside, “there will come a point at the end of this.” And the point was a pick-axe which he used to dig himself deeper into the pit. In the meantime these animated GIFs by blogger Rich Juzwiak capture Dunst sitting alongside, in squirms of discomfort. The GIFs replicate the spasms of agitation as Dunst registers the strangeness of Von Trier’s meltdown. As Juzwiak writes, “Watching her negotiate her reality with what’s happening next to her is an extremely tense, wholly human experience. I salute her squirming as Von Trier dug his hole deeper and deeper in the way I love best – a gif wall. This is no mere wall of shame: it’s one of mortification.”

Thanks Unbeige

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