Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 experimental film “Koyaanisqatsi” juxtaposes chaotic urban imagery with serene nature scenes, reflecting on the imbalance between technology and the natural world. This piece, “Ǫªτ$ï” compresses the original into a miniaturized, grainy endlessly looping GIF. This transformation holds an inherent critique – an echo of the original – of the relentless pursuit of progress at the cost of environmental and spiritual balance, ultimately symbolizing digital consumption and the degradation of meaning through technological encroachment. Ǫªτ$ï underscores the tension between the vastness of the original work and its condensed form, reflecting society’s failure to heed the film’s message, drawing attention to the erosion of meaning in the digital age.
Process:
To get the original 1.2GB video file into this format, I utilized a combination of HandBrake and FFmpeg within a bash script. HandBrake was first used to reduce the resolution, framerate, and bitrate, bringing the file size down under 100MB. Next, FFmpeg was employed to convert the compressed video into an endlessly looping GIF with further optimizations on the palette. This process ensured the file was efficiently compressed while maintaining the core visual and thematic elements.
