Movement (Online)

Here are some small weekend movements of mine in gif form, because animated gifs are a strange and fun way to convey a tiny sense of movement, and I like them a lot. It's weird thinking about the cultural significance of gifs to people of my generation. All the blinking Livejournal icons and glitter graphics, and some of the earliest gifs I made of myself being silly for my Bebo profile picture. Those were glorious days, full of glorious gifs.

In particular though, I like the use of gifs on Tumblr, in this particular way, as an extension of a picture of yourself. You, as normal, but with a little extra. That little bit of movement that adds a bit of reality. A bit of humanness. A nice, neat little bit of you, with the mess of movement included. With a reference to your constant breathing, your endless movement as a living creature.

It's a nice acknowledgement of your fleshy, squishy, real self. I like seeing pictures of my friends and people I follow in various places online, and I also like the stop motion reminder that they are really alive, and there, and breathing, and moving.

So look, I'm alive. I blink, and breathe, and my clothes crumple as I shift around on cushions, and things are happening all the time. It's nice. An oscillating reality and a comforting constance.