Made in China, 2019
Animation, GIF
Technique: Animation | GIF
Software: C4D | After Effects
Client: Self-initiated
Design and Animation: Yixue Li
Software: C4D | After Effects
Client: Self-initiated
Design and Animation: Yixue Li
One has probably encountered the following line of text engraved on their tech products: Designed by [x] in California; manufactured in China.
As a parody of tech commercials, this animated GIF plays on the language used by tech giants in order to point out the hierarchy in the global supply chain—a hierarchy of languages, cultures, economy and class. The text on the product is written in a language that its makers do not speak. It is an expensive product that is not easily affordable by its makers. It has to be proudly designed in California—a product of the high technology ethos of Silicon Valley—to justify the fact that it is made in China, the world’s factory of cheap products.
As a parody of tech commercials, this animated GIF plays on the language used by tech giants in order to point out the hierarchy in the global supply chain—a hierarchy of languages, cultures, economy and class. The text on the product is written in a language that its makers do not speak. It is an expensive product that is not easily affordable by its makers. It has to be proudly designed in California—a product of the high technology ethos of Silicon Valley—to justify the fact that it is made in China, the world’s factory of cheap products.