The Psychedelic and Grotesque Proto-GIFs of the 19th Century

Richard Balzer has spent the past five years curating an online collection of his phenakistoscopes, praxinoscopes, and zoetropes — “optic toys”. According to The Verge “More recently, he began converting these curiosities into GIFs and publishing them to his Tumblr, allowing 21st-century viewers to see what early animation looked like before the dawn of cinema and modern photography. The results are equal parts mesmerizing and grotesque.” Happy Spooky Viewing!

(Via The Verge)