GIF Animation Loop · 2015 · Duration: 1,000 years

AS Long
As Possible

ASLAP a 1,000-year animated GIF loop is an artwork by visual artist Juha van Ingen. The animation was created in collaboration with developer and sound artist Janne Särkelä. It has been playing continuously since 28 March 2017 in Helsinki and is held in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Finland, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, and ZKM -Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe.

Current frame ——————— of 48,140,288 total frames
Computing…
01

The Work

ASLAP consists of black frames with a white number indicating each frame's position in the loop, starting from 1. There are 48,140,288 frames which change at approximately 11-minute intervals, making the total duration of the loop 1,000 years.

The looping function is coded into the GIF file itself — when the last frame has been played the animation starts automatically from the beginning. The ultimate goal is to keep ASLAP playing forever.

"An animation of nothing else other than slowly changing frame numbers might seem a bit boring — but I think it makes it more exciting if you know that the next people to see the same frames of the animation you have just seen will live a 1,000 years from now."

— Juha van Ingen

The work turns eternity into a composition — unravelling the dimensions of time into units we can comprehend, while invoking deep questions of digital decay, institutional memory, and what it means for a cultural object to survive.

The name of ASLAP is an homage to John Cage's composition ORGAN2/ASLSP (1987), which is being performed in Halberstadt for the next 625 years. Cage's title abbreviated an instruction to the performer: As SLow aS Possible.

Frame 1 — the first frame of the 1000-year GIF animation loop
images/ASLAP_first_frame.gif
Frame 1 — 28 March 2017, Helsinki
Frame 48,140,288 — the last frame of the 1000-year GIF animation loop, displaying in 3017
images/ASLAP_last_frame.gif
Last frame — will display after 1000 years
48,140,288 Total frames in the loop
≈ 11 min Interval between frames
1,000 yrs Total loop duration
02

Collections & Exhibitions

The AS Long As Possible playback unit in ARS17 exhibition, KIASMA, Helsinki.
The AS Long As Possible playback unit in ARS17 exhibition, KIASMA, Helsinki.
Permanent collection · Unit 1
The National Gallery of Finland — Kiasma, Helsinki
Playing continuously since ARS17 opening · Transferred to collection storage January 2018 · Committed to maintain playback until 3017
Acquired 2017
Permanent collection · Unit 2
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The second ASLAP playback unit. One of the world's leading museums of art and design, ensuring geographic distribution of the work across Europe.
Acquired 2023
Permanent collection · Unit 3
ZKM — Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe
ZKM is one of the world's foremost institutions for digital and media art. ASLAP is playing continously in the collection archives.
Acquired 2024
The AS Long As time capsule on its way to the collection of KUMU.
The time capsule is on its way to the storage of The Art Museum of Estonia.
Time capsule deposit
KUMU — Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn
The first stainless steel time capsule was deposited in the KUMU collection on 18 March 2017, containing full documentation for recreating the animation from any future point.
Deposited 2017

Exhibition history — transportable unit

The transportable AS Long As Possible playing in LIMA, Amsterdam.
Transportable ASLAP installed and playing in LIMA, Amsterdam.
Nov–Dec 2018
LIMA, Amsterdam
Cultural Matter, curated by Sanneke Huismann. Frames 77,739–82,371.
October 2019
Institut Finlandais, Paris
One day exhibition with symposium. Frames 122,258–122,307. Initiated by Cécile Dazord.

The survival strategy

01
Distributed playback units

The ASLAP GIF file plays continuously on a total of five synchronised physical playback units held permanently in museums and archives in different countries. When one unit is destroyed or needs technical upgrading, a new one is built and synchronised with the remaining units. One transportable unit is held by the artist and is used to temporarily exhibit the artwork in other locations.

02
Future-proof file format

GIF was designed in 1987 and is a very simple file format by today's standards. The playback program will require upgrading over time — at the latest when computers as we know them become obsolete — but the simplicity of GIF gives future generations the means to continue.

03
Stainless steel time capsules

Five stainless steel time capsules contain all documentation necessary to recreate the animation and set it playing from the correct frame. These exist for the worst-case scenario in which all playback units are simultaneously destroyed.

03

Reception

"The work turns eternity into a composition, unravelling the dimensions of time into chunks we can comprehend while also invoking questions of digital decay."
Hyperallergic
"A wake-up call about the meaninglessness and impermanence of the constant stream of net effluvia we digest."
Vice
"With 1,000 years of GIF-life ahead of us, there's no excuse not to see this GIF at some point in your — comparatively — short, short life."
Milk
Essay · 2015
"The Itch for Eternity"
Pontus Kyander, writer and curator

The first extended critical essay on ASLAP, published online to coincide with the work's initial presentation at FISH Gallery, Helsinki.

Review · 2015
First press coverage of ASLAP
Claire Voon, Hyperallergic

The first journalistic article on ASLAP, written by Claire Voon for Hyperallergic, establishing the work in the discourse around durational digital art and media preservation.

Publication · PDF · 2018
As long as possible

A critical publication produced in conjunction with the LIMA Amsterdam exhibition, comprising eight texts by heritage curators, conservators, art historians, and artists examining the work's conceptual, historical, and technical dimensions.

Texts by: Cécile Dazord · Sanneke Huismann · Juha van Ingen · Pontus Kyander · Jan Robert Leegte · Alexandre Michaan · Gaby Wijers · Kari Yli-Annala. Translation by Laurie Hurwitz.

Download PDF (2.6 MB) →
04

Technical Documentation

File specifications
FormatGIF89a
Total frames48,140,288
Frame interval~11 minutes
Duration1,000 years
ContentBlack frame, white numeral
Loop modeInfinite (coded into file)
Year created2015
Started28 March 2017, 12:00:49.154 EEST
GIF Player 2.0

The custom playback software — developed by coder Jani Lindqvist, with earlier work by Jouni Miikki — plays the GIF file with precise frame timing and handles synchronisation between geographically distributed units. The player was finalised in March 2017.

In 2020 the Finnish National Gallery initiated a documentation project to record in technical detail the code and functions of both the ASLAP GIF file and the Player 2.0, ensuring that future generations can reconstruct and maintain the work.

External hardware was crafted in stainless steel cases by Jukka Merta.

Binary code exhibition
The 5714 A4 pages containing the binary code of ASLAP frames 1-38538 exhibited in the ARS17 exhibition.
The 5714 A4 pages containing the binary code of ASLAP frames 1–38,538 exhibited in the ARS17 exhibition.

During the ARS17 exhibition at Kiasma in 2017, the 5,714 A4 pages containing the binary code of ASLAP frames 1–38,538 were exhibited alongside the playing unit — a materialisation of the file as a physical document.

The GIF format

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) was developed by Stephen Wilhite for CompuServe in 1987. Despite the rise of technically superior formats, GIF's simplicity ensures it remains readable across platforms and time. The specification has not changed in over three decades.

In the early World Wide Web, GIF was the dominant medium for net art. Flash displaced it in the mid-1990s; the 2010s saw GIF's second cultural life through image-sharing platforms. ASLAP uses GIF as a conceptual medium precisely because of its age, simplicity, and indestructibility.

GIF specification: W3C — spec-gif89a.txt https://www.w3.org/Graphics/GIF/spec-gif89a.txt Reference format: GIF89a Colour depth: 1-bit (monochrome) Compression: LZW Animation: Multiple image blocks Loop control: Netscape Extension block
Time capsule contents

Each stainless steel time capsule contains complete documentation sufficient for an independent future civilisation to reconstruct and resume the animation from the correct frame number at any point in the 1,000-year span.

  • The original GIF file
  • Full technical specification of the GIF format
  • GIF Player 2.0 source code and documentation
  • Frame synchronisation instructions
  • Start timestamp and frame calculation method
  • Hardware assembly documentation

The first capsule was deposited in KUMU, Tallinn on 18 March 2017.

05

Timeline & People

2015
Van Ingen conceives ASLAP; begins collaboration with Janne Särkelä to build the GIF animation.
Animation completed in August; decided it will be started in 2017 to coincide with GIF's 30th anniversary.
The AS Long As Possible installation in FISH Gallery, Helsinki.
The AS Long As Possible concept is presented as an installation in FISH Gallery, Helsinki.
Concept exhibited 10–20 September at FISH Gallery, Helsinki.
First press coverage by Claire Voon (Hyperallergic); essay "The Itch for Eternity" by Pontus Kyander published.
Supported by AVEK (Finnish arts funding).
2016
Coder Jouni Miikki begins developing the playback program.
Kiasma agrees to acquire the first ASLAP unit and to start the animation at ARS17.
Agreement finalised with Finnish National Gallery. Legal work handled by Tuula Hämäläinen, covering maintenance and presentation over 1,000 years.
2017
28 March — ASLAP starts playing at 12:00:49.154 EEST in Kiasma, Helsinki.
Jani Lindqvist finalises GIF Player 2.0 in March. Hardware cases crafted by Jukka Merta.
18 March — First time capsule deposited in KUMU collection, Tallinn.
15 June — GIF 30th birthday celebration at Galleria Rankka, Helsinki (frames 10,458–10,468).
After ARS17 exhibition, playback unit transferred to KIASMA collection storage.
2018
14 January — Playback unit moved into permanent collection storage in Kiasma building.
7 Nov–12 Dec — First exhibition of the transportable unit at LIMA, Amsterdam. Frames 77,739–82,371.
Opening with Van Ingen in conversation with Cécile Dazord and Alexandre Michaan.
Publication As long as possible released with eight critical texts.
2019
11 October — Transportable unit exhibited at Institut Finlandais, Paris (frames 122,258–122,307). Symposium with Van Ingen, Philippe Bettinelli (CNAP), Virginie Lemarchand (Frac Franche-Comté), introduced by Alexandre Michaan.
Mai van Ingen made a cake for the frame 123456 celebration!
Mai van Ingen made a cake for the ASLAP frame 123456 celebration!
20 October — Frame 123,456 milestone celebrated in Van Ingen's studio.
2020
Finnish National Gallery initiates archival documentation project. Janne Särkelä and Jani Lindqvist document the GIF file and Player 2.0 in technical detail for future generations.
2022
28 March — ASLAP reaches frame 240,832. The animation has played without interruption for five years.
2023
Second ASLAP unit acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.
2024
Third ASLAP unit acquired by ZKM — Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe.
2025
First exhibition at ZKM planned for 2026.

Core collaborators

  • Juha van IngenVisual artist — concept, direction
  • Janne SärkeläDeveloper & sound artist — GIF construction
  • Jani LindqvistCoder — GIF Player 2.0
  • Jouni MiikkiCoder — early player development
  • Jukka MertaHardware — stainless steel cases

Institutional partners

  • Leevi HaapalaDirector, Kiasma — acquisition
  • Arja MillerCurator, ARS17 at Kiasma
  • Tuula HämäläinenLegal Counsel, Finnish National Gallery
  • Anu LiivakDirector, Art Museum of Estonia
  • Annika RäimContemporary collection, KUMU
  • Susanna SääskilahtiFinnish National Gallery — documentation project
  • Margit Rosen Head of Department Wissen — Collections, Archives & Research, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
  • Morgan Stricot Media and Digital Art Conservator, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe
  • Matthieu Vlaminck-Maurer Computer-based Art Conservator, ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe

Critics, curators & writers

  • Claire VoonJournalist — first article on ASLAP
  • Pontus KyanderWriter & curator — "The Itch for Eternity"
  • Cécile DazordHeritage curator — publication & Paris
  • Sanneke HuismannArt historian & curator — LIMA Amsterdam
  • Alexandre MichaanMedia art conservator — LIMA & Paris
  • Gaby WijersDirector, LIMA
  • Jan Robert LeegteArtist — publication text
  • Kari Yli-AnnalaArtist-researcher — publication text
  • Philippe BettinelliCurator, CNAP — Paris symposium
  • Virginie LemarchandFrac Franche-Comté — Paris symposium
  • Kati KivinenCurator, Kiasma — LIMA talk
  • Laurie HurwitzCurator & translator
  • Johanna RåmanDirector, Institut Finlandais

Supported by

AVEK (GIF creation, 2015) · Alfred Kordelin Foundation (time capsules) · KIASMA · KUMU · FRAME (LIMA exhibition) · TAIKE · Institut Finlandais (Paris exhibition)