London – The Photographers’ Gallery will re-open this weekend following a renovation by architects O’Donnell + Tuomey.
As part of the gallery’s new digital programme, the Born in 1987: The Animated GIF show will run alongside a large-format photography exhibition by Edward Burtynsky.
For the launch, Katrina Sluis, curator of digital programmes at the gallery, asked 40 contributors, including digital practitioners, internet artists and Tumblr icons, to submit a GIF to be shown on The Wall, a digital display in the gallery’s entrance.
The public will be able to post their own GIFs on Tumblr with the hashtag #bornin1987, and these will be displayed on The Wall and the show’s Tumblr page.
‘GIFs are a form of folk web art,’ Sluis tells LS:N Global. ‘At a time when most photographic imagery is viewed on-screen, this art form, which is native to the web, is important to our visual and cultural language.’
For more on the revival of GIFs read our recent microtrend.