Short videos of skilled and playful workers performing their jobs with acrobatic flair
Kaitlyn Reed created a Twitter thread of videos of (mostly Chinese) workers performing manual tasks with incredible acrobaticism, dexterity and flair; the videos were ganked from Tiktok, the massively popular China-based video platform that is mostly know in the west as a place where tweens make and share elaborately choreographic lipsync videos augmented with a suite of skillfully applied video effects.
As one reply points out, much of this work is brutal piecework performed by badly exploited laborers; nevertheless, the videos are testament to the human capacity to find joy and mastery even under conditions of drudgery.
I've embedded the whole thread below, but here are my favorites:
Dancing noodle-tosser:
- Kaitlyn Reed (@kkaitlynreedd) April 18, 2019
Robot apocalypse?
- Kaitlyn Reed (@kkaitlynreedd) April 18, 2019
Fritter virtuoso:
- Kaitlyn Reed (@kkaitlynreedd) April 20, 2019
Bollard-leverer:
- Kaitlyn Reed (@kkaitlynreedd) April 22, 2019
One of my favorite things about @tiktok_us is when people share videos of their jobs.
- Kaitlyn Reed (@kkaitlynreedd) April 18, 2019
So here's a thread of some of the most unique jobs & talented people I've discovered on #tiktok pic.twitter.com/IhCkC0v6ED
(via Kottke)