The holidays are upon us and 2016 is nipping at our heels. The only decision harder than what gift to get your grandmother is what GIF to attach to inter-office emails and Slack threads. We've gathered some of the most festive GIF artists on the net for a series called 12 Days of GIFmas. We'll shine a red and green spotlight on the creative process behind these shareable bites of holiday cheer.The holidays can be fun and exiting, but there is also a sort of madness in millions of people storming department stores rabidly looking for things that will make Christmas brighter. Sorry, Santa, but no one is that jolly all of the time. Joining us in depicting the disturbing and twisted side of the holidays is Berlin-based artist Colin Raff, whose latest exhibition, Shreckfiguren a la Mode, just opened in Berlin this past weekend.Raff's GIF art style is the perfect combination of goofy and creepy, creating an uncomfortable sense of insanity in the viewer, but we just can't look away. His GIFs will leave you contemplating deeply at some times, and at other times laughing that nervous laugh you start doing when someone tells you something so absurd and generally fucked up that can't possibly be true… but just maybe it is.
Where did the idea for this GIF come from?I wondered about jingle bells. How are they made? In this GIF, “Zesty” Raoul (the most sensuous of the reindeers) teams up with Santa to show us.Run me through the process of creating this GIF. What tools/techniques did you use? The figures are very elaborate photocollages, consisting of hundreds of photoshop layers each, animated frame by frame like cut-out animations of old.
How are you celebrating the holidays?
My exhibition opened on the 18th in a gallery space converted from an old 1970s west German department store window. I intend to move around the grotesque figures and otherwise alter the display in subtle ways over the course of the holidays as a form of subliminal celebration. What kind of stuff do you have planned for the New Year?New Years in Berlin means the heavily pyrotechnic Silvester festivities. I hope to record the sounds of firecrackers and overtaxed ambulances. These can be used as sound effects or integrated into waltzes on future animation soundtracks.
To learn more about Colin Raff visit his website.Related:[1st Day of GIFmas] Watch Santa Kick It Poolside
[2nd Day of GIFmas] A Very Snarky Christmas GIF Six-Pack: Absurd Island
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My exhibition opened on the 18th in a gallery space converted from an old 1970s west German department store window. I intend to move around the grotesque figures and otherwise alter the display in subtle ways over the course of the holidays as a form of subliminal celebration. What kind of stuff do you have planned for the New Year?New Years in Berlin means the heavily pyrotechnic Silvester festivities. I hope to record the sounds of firecrackers and overtaxed ambulances. These can be used as sound effects or integrated into waltzes on future animation soundtracks.
[2nd Day of GIFmas] A Very Snarky Christmas GIF Six-Pack: Absurd Island