In Très Mall, Derek G. Larson constructs a surreal, philosophically-driven satire set within the purgatory of an infinite shopping mall, an allegory for late-capitalist consumption. The animated series features a rotating cast of intellectual heavyweights, including Noam Chomsky, David Joselit, Priyamvada Gopal, McKenzie Wark and Boris Groys, weaving high-theory discourse into an absurdist digital landscape. Through painterly animation, Larson interrogates how ideology and spectacle permeate contemporary life.
Presented in dialogue with Made in Mexico: The Anti-Communist Cartoons of Dibujos Animados S.A. (1952–56), Larson’s research unearths a forgotten chapter of Cold War diplomacy. These USIA-funded films leveraged modernist aesthetics to broadcast American interests across Latin America. Working with Byron Davies and Carlos Oliva Mendoza, Larson uses archival materials and critical essays to expose the dual nature of animation as both an artistic experiment and a tool of state persuasion. Together, these projects reveal how animation, from 1950s propaganda to modern consumer satire, remains a powerful mirror of our political reality.
New York, NY
Très Mall Full Series on DIS
Screening of "Mexican Animation, Propaganda and the Cold War," on the anti-communist propaganda project carried out in Mexico from 1952 to 1956 by the United States government. Archivo General del Estado de Oaxaca (The General Archive of the State of Oaxaca AGEO)
7pm Wednesday, February 11, 2026
