Make the hidden visible – Page 4

“Simpson’s couch gag (series 22, episode 3)“
An animated ‘couch gag’ intro to an episode of The Simpson’s directed by Banksy & produced by Matt Groening for 20th Century Fox.

Every episode of The Simpsons opens with a ‘couch gag’. The one in episode 3 of series 22 is guest-directed by the British graffiti artist Banksy. Starting as usual with a tour of Springfield which ends with the Simpson family sitting on their couch in front of the TV, it then takes viewers into the unbelievably exploitative South Korean sweatshops where the show’s animators work and Simpsons merchandise – including t-shirts, toys and DVDs – is produced. This gag clearly doesn’t show exploitation that’s happening along 20th Century Fox’s real world supply chains. Ranks of animators don’t work in grim and grimy sweatshop conditions with child labourers, rats and toxic chemicals. Unicorns don’t punch the holes in their DVDs. And the tongues of severed dolphin heads don’t lick the tape that seals warehouse boxes. The animators pointed this out afterwards. So what was Banksy trying to say? Lots of people speculated online.

Page reference: Will Davies, Thomas Edwards, Joseph Englert, Chris Henshall, James Osbaldeston, Jack Parkin, Michael Swann & Aidan Waller, (2018) Simpson’s couch gag (series 22, episode 3). followthethings.com/simpsons-couch-gag.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 32 minutes.

Posted on August 21, 2024June 23, 2025 by Ian Cook

Employee Visualisation Appendage

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Fashion

“Employee Visualisation Appendage“
A conference talk prank by The Yes Men at a ‘Textiles of The Future’ conference in Tampere, Finland – filmed & featured in ‘The Yes Men’ movie.

Cultural activists and ‘identity correctors’ The Yes Men set up a fake World Trade Organisation (WTO) website and offer a man called Hank Hardy Unruh to speak at conferences on its behalf. The organisers of a ‘Textiles of the Future’ conference in Finland believe the website is genuine and invite him to give a talk. In the conference hall, the audience watch his assistant ripping off his business suit to reveal a gold lamé telematic suit underneath from which he inflates a huge phallus. This ’employee visualisation appendage’, they say, will allow future managers to give electric shocks to sweatshop workers when their productivity levels dip. To the Yes Men, this gold lamé performance exaggerates to ridiculous proportions the inhumanity of the WTO’s neo-liberal ideology and its dehumanisation of supply chain workers. It’s outrageous and kind of obscene (both the ideology and their performance). Movie audiences find it hilarious. But why is there such a muted reaction in the hall? And what impacts (if any) might these reactions have on the lives of workers in textile supply chains? This compilation page is arranged a little differently than others on our website because this prank had two audiences: the conference delegates and the movie audiences. We find this example fascinating. It’s fair to say that it’s memorable. But where – and upon whom – did it make an impact?

Page reference: Tom Best, Tom Gibson, Beth Massey, Chloe Rees, Kate Ross & Jemma Sherman (2019) Employee Visualisation Appendage. followthethings.com/employee-visualisation-appendage.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 47 minutes.

Posted on August 17, 2024July 2, 2025 by Ian Cook

Plastic Bag

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My shopping bag | Recycle my waste

“Plastic Bag“
A short film directed by Ramin Bahrani and narrated by Werner Herzog for ITVS’s Futurescapes series.
Published on YouTube, embedded above. Search online for other streams here.

Remember those thin plastic bags that used to be available, free, at the checkout? This is the starting point for Ramin Bahrani’s short film. What lives do these bags lead after the shopping is emptied from them at home? How long do they live? Where do they end their lives? Do their lives ever end? And what if one of them could tell that story for itself (in a droll Bavarian accent)? What would it say? One may think it’s exciting to have finally been chosen, there at the checkout, to fulfil his destiny. To help a shopper carry their shopping home. The shopper-bag relationship is short-lived, but beautiful. But what if that shopper later uses you to pick up her dog’s poo? And put you in a bin? How would you feel about her then, as your life continued, further and further away from hers? You’re not the slightest bit biodegradable. Your life is going to last for ever, starting in a landfill dump. What’s it like to be there with millions of bits of other trash? Imagine being caught in the wind, blown through the countryside, travelling hundreds of miles, over maybe thousands of years, ending up in the sea, with the fish, possibly causing them all kinds of problems. Who and what might you have seen and met on your journey? What would you ponder about your life now its purpose is so far in the past? This film has a silly and unbelievable plot, but its also wonderfully moving, hilarious, thought-provoking. Viewers are surprised to find themselves empathising with an object. Caring about its fate. How its life could have been different. Maybe this is the best way to change people’s minds about the mountains of waste created by capitalism and its commodity culture. Maybe it’s the perfect film to illustrate vital materialism, assemblage theory, affect and/or dark ecology. Even if Bahrani didn’t set out to do so. Maybe you have to watch it to write an essay. Maybe it’s just too long or just plain stuuuuupid. Like a childish spinoff from a well-known movie franchise like Toy Story. Ugh. Watch and read for yourself! This page is a wild ‘follow the thing’ ride into debates about environmental justice and reponsibility.

Page reference: Molly Healy, Josephine Thompson, Daisy Aylott, Lily Andrews, Kate Ward, Charlotte Rooker, James Swain, Edward Denton & Ethan Langfield (2025) Plastic Bag. followthethings.com/plastic-bag.shtml (last accessed <insert date here>)

Estimated reading time: 76 minutes.

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Tag: Make the hidden visible

Simpson’s couch gag (series 22, episode 3)

Employee Visualisation Appendage

Plastic Bag

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👻 Who's haunting Halloween?

🎅 Who's been good this year?