So today, we get to share with you
the GIFs made in response to Toyin Odutola's art assignment.
And also the GIFs that were made in response
to that assignment.
Or GIFs.
I mean, you could say that, but you could also say GIFs.
GIFs.
I won.
I am the victor.
If you haven't watched that episode, you should.
You can just click on my face to watch it.
But Toyin asked you to articulate
something intimate and indispensable
to you in the form of a GIF.
And you did a very good job.
We received a lot of great assignments.
And the best of them made use of the form of an animated GIF.
That's an infinite loop of images.
But what we didn't expect so much
was the importance of the explanations that
accompanied those GIFs, how important it
was to hear from the creator.
So let's take a look at what's intimate
and indispensable to you.
WOMAN: Toyin chose her hands.
And she wasn't the only one who did so.
MAN: Yeah, like Danielle de Leon temporarily
lost use of her right hand after an accident.
And when it healed, she swore she'd never take her hands
for granted again.
WOMAN: Or there's Julian, an artist and bass
player who shows his hand with a bass machine head on the back,
opening and closing as the machine head turns.
MAN: And then there's Emma, who loves
being a part of the drumline in marching band,
and finds great value in her hands and, by extension,
her drumsticks.
And other parts of the body are revealed
to be important, as well, like Anna portrays her arms
because she absolutely needs them to give hugs
to those she loves.
WOMAN: And eyes proved to be a very popular choice
for this assignment.
MAN: Exceptionally popular.
WOMAN: Super popular.
MAN: Yeah.
There were a lot of GIFs about, like, eyes and eyesight,
and how hard it is to read a blurry book.
WOMAN: Mikey chose his brain, which
he says controls everything I am, everything I do,
and everything I feel.
MAN: And Zoe depicted her mind, and showed
a selection of things that have influenced
the way that she thinks.
WOMAN: And don't forget this great GIF
by Natalia of the anatomical brain and metaphorical heart.
And there were also a lot of extensions
of the body selected.
WOMAN: Like Grumpy Toes, who posted this GIF
and said, as a pre-everything M to F,
most days I need help making my body feel right.
MAN: Or Dylan Evans, who said, "I cannot move without
my chair.
I cannot walk more than two meters unaided.
And even then, I feel considerable pain.
And my chair is part of me.
It is my legs.
It is the very essence of my independence."
And there was also quite a lot of attention
to the body's capabilities, like these GIFs about breathing.
WOMAN: And these about smiling.
MAN: And Quirksilver's depiction of laughter.
WOMAN: The body's ticks are the subject
of Kara's thoughtful contribution.
She says, we all have the wonderful ability
to be privy to the innermost secrets little ticks
and convulsions betray.
So here are my restless fingers tapping
to the beat of my heart.
See what secrets you can divulge from their rhythm.
MAN: Videoblogger NotThatHunter chose the parts I edit out,
saying, "I am forced to watch myself
more than I probably should.
It's a pretty intimate experience,
as I end up examining my insecurities
in excruciating detail."
I have no idea what that's like.
WOMAN: Charming People in Cardigans chose sleep,
titling this GIF "2 AM Coda to the Night's Fifth
Episode of MythBusters" and explaining,
basically sleep is the worst friend I've ever had.
It never calls or writes.
It always shows up late to my evenings, or not at all.
Charming People in Cardigans is a great name for a band.
It would be.
Yeah.
Like a Weezer type thing.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
It's also a good Tumblr name.
MAN: A few of you chose medications
as intimate and indispensable, like She Must Assemble,
who showed us the little white pills that allow her to live
with a depressive disorder.
WOMAN: And Jennifer Hartley, who depends on Colchicine to help
her live with Behcet's Disease.
She says, "These simple little pills
stop my body from tearing itself apart from the inside out.
It calms my blood vessels down and helps me feel much better.
Meditation is the subject of Rebecca's GIF,
and Erin Michelle's is about sanctuary.
And Cooper made this GIF about solitude and stillness.
Many people chose things as their subjects,
like Jennifer Strange, whose grandfather
died earlier this year.
They used to hunt for rocks together,
and she later found out he made them into these little painted
statues, which he left for her with a note that
said, "don't forget to laugh."
MAN: This person showed us the toy bunny
they received at age six, saying Bunny was safely
stashed in my backpack when I first had to go to the dentist
alone, when I went to give blood,
when I moved away for college, when I explored
the city with my first love, when I hitchhiked
for the first time, and when I hopped on a bus
to the Czech Republic to forget about a heartbreak.
WOMAN: Or there's the t-shirt Yasmine
wore the first time she attended a Pride canal
parade in Amsterdam.
It's text advertising a Dutch LGBT youth
union with the phrase, "I'm a lesbian, so I was born lucky."
MAN: Griffindork19 shared with us
this t-shirt quilt made by their mother
they received after moving to New York from a small West
Virginia town.
The quilt is described as a comfort zone.
Those shirts tie together my family and my friends.
They've got memories of parties and naps
and books and picnics and road trips.
The quilt reminds me that I have a place in the world,
that I am connected.
And places also proved to be significant,
like Jay Fry's special place is his bed.
WOMAN: And Creation and Consumption
shows us the circuits lab, where we admire the simple beauty
of a sample and hold circuit.
This electrical engineer says, without oscilloscopes, we
are as good as blind.
But with them, we become privy to the secrets
only electrons know.
MAN: Jennifer made this GIF from pictures
she took on a motorcycle trip with her dad and brother.
WOMAN: And Emily made these beautiful GIFs of a place
she misses tremendously.
She says, Montreal is really cold and gray
and there aren't any jobs there.
And sometimes when you inhale, your nose hairs
freeze together.
But it's also where I found community
like I haven't found anywhere else.
People figure largely in your GIFs.
Katie, who is finishing her studies in neuroscience
and psychology, made this and said, "What really
struck me was how amazing it is that we are all just clumps
of cells and impulses all linked together
in a human-shaped blob, but that those clumps of cells
are put together in such a way that they have the capacity
to understand and empathize with and love other clumps of cells
and all their complexities."
MAN: Nina posted this GIF of her brother
and his, quote, ridiculous hair, which
she say she mocks the heck out of but wouldn't
want him to change.
WOMAN: Connor O'Keefe made these great GIFs of intimate moments
with his indispensable friends.
MAN: And Taylor Stone made these illustrations of her
with her best friends, Mikey and Eli.
And babies.
Can't skip the babies.
WOMAN: This little one belongs to Eclectic Jesse.
MAN: And this baby is Meg Gilbert's.
Peek-a-boo.
And reading and writing are certainly
important to many of you.
From the act of writing to bookshelves,
we saw lots of book-related GIFs.
WOMAN: And journals.
Lots of you like to journal.
And there are also lots of you who
find music indispensable and intimate,
like Sarah Dunne, whose favorite record is "Abbey Road,"
and Sam, who plays the French horn,
and Mary VCat who posted this GIF and said,
singing is my life.
This trio from Geeks Dance listed
their intimate indispensable to be dance, improvisation,
and working with others.
WOMAN: Dancing is also indispensable for Joss,
who shows us steps from an English folk dance and says,
as someone with muscular problems, particularly
in my legs, simply being able to dance is incredibly joyful.
And in a stunning turn of events,
it turns out that making things is, of course,
crucial to the art assignment audience, as well.
There are a lot of knitters out there,
including Julia, who says creating with fiber
is a big part of her life.
And FTArtCraft posted this GIF, saying
what's most important to them is the idea of giving life
to their sculptures.
WOMAN: This programmer says, were I a painter,
the keyboard would be my brush and paint.
MAN: And Jason Lin, an origami artist,
chose light, which allows us to see,
and paper, which allows us to express.
WOMAN: And Emily Eifler gave us these incredible articulations
of the indispensability of the line.
MAN: Valerie2776 describes her relationship
with art in the Cleveland Museum of Art as private and personal,
especially this work by George Bellows, "Boy in a Blue Coat."
WOMAN: And Daffy Daff shows us their three favorite artworks
by Anish Kapoor, Roxy Paine, and James Turrell
in the Garden of Jerusalem's Israel museum, and says--
MAN: Those are the works I find myself constantly visiting.
They never look the same.
They're dynamic, despite being very clearly static.
And this is what I love about them.
When I make my way, like in the GIFs,
to each one of those pieces, I can always
feels the fog in my head clearing.
And so I sit next to them, looking
at the amazing view of Jerusalem,
until I feel better about everything.
These GIFs made us feel better about everything.
Yeah, thank you so much.
This is such a rewarding collaboration with us.
Please continue to make your intimate, indispensable GIFs,
and hashtag them with the art assignment.
And don't forget to check out our Tumblr,
where we repost our favorite responses to assignments.
Yeah.
Thank you so much for watching.
And please don't break the law.
Don't break the law.
Is that-- is that applicable here?
Yeah, it's always applicable.
It's just good advice.