11 of the Spiffiest Gifs You'll Ever See

Steve Wilhite invented the GIF in 1987 as a way to send images more quickly over the web. He probably never envisioned that the format would go on to become not only a completely indispensable and ubiquitous part of the internet, but also inspire a generation of artists to create an entirely new art form.

The number of GIF artists has exploded in the last five years, making it perhaps the most exciting medium in the art world today. Here are eleven GIF animators that are making waves in the field.

(Credit: rebeccamock.com)

1. Rebecca Mock's relaxing illustrations evoke the slow and contented laziness of a mid-summer's day. Mock's use of delicate light and unhurried movements capture a moment that just couldn't be conveyed in a still image.

(Credit: dribble.com)

2. This wet and drippy animation by Mike DiLuigi is mesmerizing. The interaction between solid and liquid objects makes for a GIF that’s impossible to watch just once.

(Credit: tumblr.com)

3. Zack Dougherty turns an apple into a floating and otherworldly animation in this GIF that’s both beautiful and unsettling.

(Credit: falcaolucas.com)

4. Portuguese couple Tânia Falcão and Avelar Lucas team up to create elegant and haunting GIFs that employ heavy topographical lines for a novel and intriguing effect.

(Credit: insaland.com)

5. Artist INSA has created his own sub-genre of GIFs by animating real-world graffiti, or GIF-iti as he calls it. He recently created the world’s largest GIF in Rio de Janeiro that measures an astounding 14,379 square meters.

(Credit:blogspot.com)

6. Dain Fagerholm's hand-drawn GIFs loop to create a hypnotizing stereographic effect.

Related story on Yahoo Makers: Seriously Twisted Art

(Credit:dribbble.com)

7. The pulsing GIFs of geometric 3-D shapes by Mathew Lucas point to the beauty of natural objects manipulated in an artificial setting.

(Credit: tumblr.com)

8. Paolo ?eric has been a constant on the Gif scene for quite some time now. His hyper-detailed loops are so enchanting that you can easily get lost browsing his sensational Tumblr.

(Credit: tumblr.com)

9. Matthew DiVito, aka Mr. Div, fashions exciting GIFs that range from warp-speed cubic tunnels to dreamy and drifting polygonic crystals.

(Credit: deviantart.com)

10. Chinese artist Yang Hua Chun takes a new approach to traditional art with whimsical  animations.

(Credit: eranhill.tumblr.com)

11. Eran Hilleli’s employs sharp polygons and trippy colors to create a computer-game atmosphere that still manages to evoke a very human quality. 

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