I saw a charmingly animated gif of life’s great annoyances going around on Twitter over the weekend, garnering well over a hundred thousand retweets and likes. The problem was: it had no source. Luckily, the video it spawned from isn’t hard to find.
“Unsatisfying” is a short animation that depicts just that. Unsatisfying things. That perfect sunny-side-up egg, with the yolk tragically cracking mid-fry. A basketball just barely missing the hoop. A download that halts for no particular reason at one percent away from 100. A claw machine grasping an arm of a teddy bear, but then losing grip as it pulls upwards. “Unsatisfying” is an ode to life’s little grievances. The things that don’t ruin our days, but damn sure try to.
an ode to life’s little grievances
The one-minute animation was developed over the course of Summer this year by Parallel, a Paris-based motion design studio. They created “Unsatisfying” with the help of sound design by Zelig Sound and music by Samuel Barber. In honor of the project, the studio is hosting the “Unsatisfying Challenge,” where anyone can make their own brief animations, and submit them to Parallel. If you dare subject yourself to such greatly experienced terrors, you can watch the short for yourself below.
You can participate in the Unsatisfying Challenge now by submitting your own original short animation by November 15th to Parallel, according to the countdown.
