japanese filmmaker turns traditional woodblock prints into amusing animated gifs

back in 2015, designboom featured the work of atsuki segawa, who activated traditional ukiyo-e woodblock prints through animated gif art. since then, the japanese filmmaker has been continuing to bring historic compositions to life with a humorous and contemporary twist — some with quirky additions like light shows and laser beams, others more whimsically animating today’s omnipresent tech presence through the inclusion of drones and cars. 

from the 17th through 19th centuries, ukiyo-e woodblock prints and paintings populated the japanese art and cultural movement. artist katsushika hokusai popularized the trend with his series of ’36 views of mount fuji’, depicting scenes of the renowned mountain captured in different seasons and weather conditions, from a variety of different places and perspectives. these compositions were created through the cooperative effort of craftsman, who each adopted traditional techniques to sketch, carve and colorize the works. segawa’s animations give life to the otherwise static scenes, adding a new dimension to the traditional craft. 

h/t: spoon & tamago

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