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Zolloc’s Unsettling, Absorbing GIFs and Videos

Zolloc is the moniker of Austin-bred, New York City-based artist/animator Hayden Zezula. When cctvta.com last checked in with the Tumblr-lauded phenom, we called his gray-toned, mutant baby-filled GIFs “chill-inducing.” Many of the GIFs in this piece take on a more abstract form, vague structures that bubble and evolve. There’s still an organic aspect to those creations, and somehow, the artist’s work maintains its ability to be both absorbing and inspire uneasiness.


Zolloc is the moniker of Austin-bred, New York City-based artist/animator Hayden Zezula. When cctvta.com last checked in with the Tumblr-lauded phenom, we called his gray-toned, mutant baby-filled GIFs “chill-inducing.” Many of the GIFs in this piece take on a more abstract form, vague structures that bubble and evolve. There’s still an organic aspect to those creations, and somehow, the artist’s work maintains its ability to be both absorbing and inspire uneasiness.

https://vine.co/v/5AzuJJ9DHjM

https://vine.co/v/51wVuFugUxO

https://vine.co/v/5OYBOnmFiXj

And Zolloc still having fun with limbs. His choruses of hands and feet in bold colors are joyful and parade-like. Dancing shaggy figures are meticulously crafted enough to make a dozen loops still not enough to fully take it all in. The nature of the GIF is that its behavior is eternal and predictable, yet certain Zolloc creations make you think that something new could take place at any time.

https://vine.co/v/5Ax3DeuWjr9

https://vine.co/v/55lgOE3b32L

For this year’s Olympic Games, Zolloc created animations for Yahoo Sports. His kinetic, wrapping shapes display the power of Olympians, even while working with still images. They’re not as wild as some of his eerie creatures, yet seeing his animation against real-life backdrops adds to their otherworldly nature.

Zolloc has also been able to capitalize on the video functions of Vine and Instagram in his work, with more than 100,000 followers on the latter.

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