Category: film
A pig in a hundred pieces: Christien Meindertsma
If you have been looking for a go-to explanation of the ‘follow the thing’ approach to material culture studies, this is your lucky post. Here artist and designer Christien Meindertsma – author of PIG05049 – explains it beautifully.
If you’re curious about PIG05049, we posted her TED talk on it here. She explains more in this video, too.
This costs more than 5p: the life story of a plastic bag.
On the day that shoppers in England start to pay for plastic bags, let’s watch this film which “traces the epic, existential journey of a plastic bag (voiced by Werner Herzog) searching for its lost maker, the woman who took it home from the store and eventually discarded it. Along the way, it encounters strange creatures, experiences love in the sky, grieves the loss of its beloved maker, and tries to grasp its purpose in the world.”
Where presents come from…
Dear followthethings.com shopper
Christmas is the busiest time of year for global capitalism. It’s also the best time of year to ask ‘who made my stuff’? Or, better, ‘who made the stuff I’m going to buy for my friends and family’? And ‘who made the gifts they’re going to gove to me’? There’s lots to think about.
We have been putting together a Christmas ‘shopping’ list for over a decade and it’s full of fascinating information and thought-provoking stories with which to teach and learn about this time of year. Watch some classic Christmas movies. Read some shopping guides, supply chain news, and perspectives on the season from NGOs, artists and academics.
How to think critically about and with Christmas? We have some ideas
Festive feelings
Ian et al.
[last updated December 2025]
Our Christmas movies
A short to warm up your audience:
Tesco pulls Christmas cards reportedly made by ‘Chinese prison slaves’ (2019)
or
Xmas Unwrapped (2014)
Where’s this from? See our page in this film here.
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