500 People Trace Lines, Fail Beautifully [Video]

Vimeo user clement valla gave users an exceptionally simple task: Trace the figure you see on the screen. The twist was that the next user didn’t see the original shape, just the previous user’s trace. Very quickly, the line barely resembled the original image, became shakey, foreshortened, and then just a collection of hash marks veering off to the right of the screen.

The result is not only interesting to watch, but a commentary on communication. Like the telephone game, it becomes impossible to reconstruct the original information, and that even the simplest form of communication — drawing a line — is hardly perfect. So, marvel at the horror of our collective isolation, or marvel at the beauty of the animation; but please, marvel.

(Vimeo via BoingBoing)