The Fascinating Art of Egypt's Protests

Some of the Egyptian protesters looked a little less cheery on Tuesday than they did a few days ago. President Mohammed Morsi said that he's not stepping down, but there art was still fascinating, and there remain many ways to get the sense of scale, emotion, and taste from the uprising as the clock ticks on an ultimatum the troubled leader now says he rejects.

Some of the Egyptian protesters looked a little less cheery on Tuesday than they did a few days ago. But their protest art was still fascinating. The selfies on Instragram showed a self-awareness that they were part of something historic. President Mohammed Morsi said that he's not stepping down, tweeting, "President Mohamed Morsi reaffirms his upholding of constitutional legitimacy, rejects any attempt to act outside of it, calls on the armed forces to withdraw its warning and rejects any domestic and foreign dictates." (Translation by The New York Times.)

Sometimes only video can give you a sense of the scale of the protests. This GIF is from Arabic TV footage.

Anti-Morsi graffiti by shahdshaker:

Another shot, with the caption "Leave already you son of a bitch ahhhhh:

Another unusual sign in Tahrir Square, posted by abazasuxxx:

Another interesting sign, by hazhooz:

Some things are universal:

Like kids, by noreenelhossary:

And kids with fashionable glasses, by rawandorgham:

Rebel cat, by mariamelkeretly:

But not everything is cute. There are plenty of reminders of how serious the situation is. Plainclothes cops in the Kit Kat neighborhood:

Pro-Morsi:

Anti:

(Non-Instagram photos by Associated Press.)