Production history around: Scrape

This is an article about the film ‘Scrape’. This writing came about in a weird reverse situation to my usual articles. At first it was going to just be an article, but then after thinking about it (for too long) I decided to create a film to accompany it. So, it is a quasi-production history, where the metaphorical footnotes are above the title.

I have wanted to weigh in on this for a while. While experimental art (which I consider my home) has always been political, and my writing has undercurrents of politics and my opinions, an overt writing has not happened yet.

The idea of ‘Graffiti politics’ really interests me — people sticking or spraying their political beliefs on lampposts, phone boxes, shop windows, etc. — I have been seeing lots of little battles over time. Before being aware of the subject of this article, I mostly saw Israel vs. Palestine discourse, as well as pro and anti-trans sentiments. I find it so fascinating how a ‘map of political belief’ gets formed by ‘which stickers go where’ in the city. You can also see where contention lies. Some half torn down showing disagreement or ‘hot zones’. I touched upon this slightly in my film ‘Graffiti’.

Today I will be talking about ‘Flag Force’, an alt-right group which exists within Plymouth, but is part of a larger national discussion around immigration and faux-worries regarding freedom of speech.

Regarding the label of ‘alt-right’ — I don’t like it. The reason being that the Overton window has shifted so much that the ‘right’ of today are the ‘alt-right’ of yesterday. So, in reality, the right and the alt-right are one-and-the-same, and most left-leaning parties are actually centrists. Ho-hum.

There are a few threads that led to ‘Scrape’ being made, and I feel that looking at them chronologically does not do it justice.

I think the most direct link was that when my wife and I attended the ‘All Ways Apples Festival 2025’ event (which led to the film ‘Apple’) we thought it would be fun to walk home rather than taking a bus. It was our first time walking through Devonport like that, and we were so surprised by the number of flags everywhere.

Not only that, but the vibe of the locals was so stereotypically right-wing that it was almost funny. You can picture your own rather than me painting a picture for you. I was shocked by how different Devonport was from the City Centre — the idea that two areas so close in terms of distance, can have such polarising energy. Yes, I know that cities are often more left-leaning than outside of the city but walking through and seeing the transition was a different experience. It felt like we walked along the political spectrum, noticing the hue change.

What I really found surprising though, was that the stickers from ‘Flag Force’ had ended up in Mutley.

They also appeared on St. Jude’s road. These are both areas which I would consider touching the city centre. It was not just out of the city, but the peripheral and bleeding over. It really felt as if the ideals were spreading.

Another thread which led to ‘Scrape’ was Halloween 2025 at Leadwork (as seen in my film ‘After Dark’). The band ‘Hissy Fist’ was playing, and they said something along the lines of (and I am paraphrasing) “being punk is not just supporting something, but doing something”. I agreed (and agree) with this, and felt I could be doing more. Yes, when I see stickers which I find disgusting I take them down, and I sign petitions, and I support my friends going through bad times, but with my art and academic practice, I feel I could do more.

There is this tension of not wanting others affected by what I say. As you will see down below that is a real possibility.

There is also this tension of ‘politics in art can feel cringe if not done right’. For example, I am not a fan of Trump (shocker), but I feel that some of the commentary around him can be lazy. It is hearing the same thing, again and again. I want evolution or revolution, not saying something I know everyone will agree with.

…

My relationship with flags is very different from many in the UK. I grew up in South Africa, and seeing the flag of South Africa is a sign of change, and the dismantling of apartheid. It is an inversion in a way — a lot of right-leaning people back home hate the ‘new’ South African flag, for many of the same reasons people in the UK love flying the St. George’s Cross.

This disconnect of ‘my association with flags’ versus my left-leaning peers in the UK is actually what led me to doing my initial deep-dive into Plymouth Flag Force. Much of this will be familiar to anyone tracking far-right activity in the UK, but Plymouth’s Flag Force hasn’t been systematically documented yet. Facebook could nuke their page at any point, so having a disconnected recording of what happens on there seems useful.

I discovered the Flag Force Facebook group on the 21st of September 2025. While this is not the only page of its kind (Our Exeter, Bristol Patriots), I will only be focusing on the Plymouth branch today.

I am censoring all names and faces — unless the posts come from the page admins. I do not want this to be a doxxing post, but rather an exploration of the ideals of those participating in Flag Force activities. However, I do still have all uncensored images if needed for verification.

It is frustrating, as they dox people often.

I find it disgusting that they look at someone and decide ‘this is what a paedophile looks like’. However, that is how many of them think. They attach attitudes and beliefs to appearance in general.

They then follow this up with threats. “We know who you are…” Veiled enough that they believe they can get away with them.

Not only do random members of the page do this, but actual admins as well.

It very much is a tactic of ‘do not show that you have an alternative opinion, or else we will name you publicly and make you feel unsafe’.

Regarding many of the accounts which I went into further for deep-dives — this was not cherry-picked, rather, I went into the users which were the most liked within the comments of posts. People who ‘spoke for the community’.

Their plan when going to a protest is literally about being there longer, being louder. It really shows their attitudes.

“We will win.”

“We won again.” Won what? What they do literally solves nothing and just makes people in the city uncomfortable. What meaningful change do they really believe that they are causing? Other than making people forever now cringe when they see the English flag. If you hate a bunch, and you use a symbol every time you do it, it becomes a hate symbol. And they hate many people.

As you can see above, they are anti-benefits. They are also, obviously, anti-refugee.

I find it almost funny how they pretend that their movement is about ‘celebration of the English flag and Union Jack’, but it almost always just the gift wrapping on a set of ideals which they want to shove onto people.

This disdain of hating those from different cultures, beliefs, and ethnicities has the usual connections, many of which align with fascism. Many of the members on the page have ethno-nationalist beliefs and celebrate the connection. Again — if you notice the intro — one of those faux statements of saying ‘everything is a joke’, but actively participating in conversations and stoking a fire. Cowards really.

Even making it apparent in person at their events.

And again, to harp on the satire remark, many of these pages, be it in their profile photos, banners, or post histories, have ties to Reform. This shows not just their beliefs, but political alignment and association. To me, this shows intention for systematic change which aligns with their beliefs, not merely posturing.

I even hid the pets’ identity as they should not be forced to associate with you.

And then there are ties to Brexit, and Tommy Robinson, and Andrew Tate, and being anti-BLM, and an obsession with American politics, and so on and so forth. If you want specific details on any of these let me know. There is just so much, that the process of redacting and attaching it all is not worth the squeeze.

Many remarks made on the page are on the fringe of being racist. I say fringe, because often the remarks are associative rather than direct. For example, them saying things like “oh you want foreigners here, well just wait until they rape your loved ones, then we’ll see if your one changes” and they can argue “no it is culture or religion, not race”. I believe they do this so they can get away with it — going as close to the line as possible without crossing it.

The desire to be seen as not racist so badly. Doth protest too much?

The reason I personally believe they are (collectively) racist, is the way they treat other groups. Such as the disabled, gay, trans. It is the method of attack which goes hand-in-hand with racism. It is the same method. Create a strawman version of what you as a group do not like and make fun of its Flanderised visual characteristics.

I find it tiring, the cognitive dissonance of making things ‘safer for those who are vulnerable’, but being so anti-migrant, anti-trans, anti-disability, and anti-[insert marginalised group here]. At the end of the day, I cannot view it any other way than scrapping at the bottom of the barrel for a reason to hate.

The general trend with them is, if you look different than they do, you are their enemy. Long hair? Leftist scumbag. Artificial hair colour? Leftist scumbag. Use long words? Leftist scumbag. Also, for some reason they are obsessed with saying people on the left eat canned carrots. Whatever makes them laugh, I guess. Overall, it just shows that they have an idea of what ‘correct’ is, and it is homogenised. Everything outside of what they consider a standard model is wrong.

Circling back around to flags, I find this to be quite funny. They are very against people flying flags… if it is not the flag they want flown. With Pro-Palestine protests, they take photos of demonstrators, appalled at what they are doing.

Apparently, according to them, everyone from a location, flying a flag, is a terrorist. Apparently, all people from a location share the same views. When the hypocrisy is pointed out by a member on the page, they are dogpiled upon. No alternative opinion is allowed within the group. It is funny right? Is this not the thing which they often cry about?

There is also the separate aspect, which I am not sure how strongly to push, but a lot of the comments on the page feel like bot behaviour. If you go to these people’s profiles, there is so much of the same content. Photos of English flags and political discourse — barely any individuality such as events they went to, family photos, just… existing… Not all of them by any means, but enough of a percentage that it does feel weird.

On a side note, here is something I found on my digital expedition. Some of them refer to themselves as “flaggies”. Well, isn’t that cute?

The amount of ‘flaggies’ in the group may be disconcerting, but many of the people in the ‘Flag Force Plymouth’ group are not from or in Plymouth. They travel around the Southwest to go to other protests, and put up stickers in these places/graffiti to make their causes appear larger than they really are. I have been to a few of their protests now, and their side is really quite small. It is worth remembering. They want to signal loudly.

Going through some of the member’s pages on Facebook is some of the funniest viewing I have done. Some of them are complete caricatures. Several flags in one room. Sports memorabilia everywhere. Adidas covering their bodies and walls. Using AI to present themselves as saviours of the UK… Now notice here how I said, ‘some of them’, interesting innit?

Now believe it or not, I don’t think we should be fighting each other. The powers that be — capitalism (I can hear the eye roll through the internet) — divides and conquers. Many people in the UK are struggling to make ends meet. I do believe that many of them are fond of a time when things were different, but I really do not believe foreigners are to blame. Workers, in general, are not protected. As more competition gets brought in, corporations want to offer less and less. The system is not built to protect individuals from this. We should be fighting for more workers’ rights as opposed to attacking each other.

Here is a person from within the group who holds a similar stance to mine. When challenged with some well thought out points it gets deflected with “we are allowed to like flags”.

I also agree with some members of the group’s no digital ID stance — though I wonder how much they are against it because of its authoritarian possibilities, or because it is a Starmer policy.

To be honest, I believe a lot of them are uneducated. I do not mean this as an insult. I also am not saying this because of the content of what they say either, but the way they say it. A lot of it is tribalism. Us good, them bad. There is no real articulation, just the regurgitation of feelings. I see this, and all I think is that these people are very easy to take advantage of. I do not believe for a second that anyone in the group is going through sources, or has actually tried engaging outside of their bubble.

So yeah. Going through all this garbage has been exhausting to be honest and made me quite depressed about the current state of affairs. It is also one of those things where it takes so much effort to try and argue against, versus how easy it is to just spew ignorance. Most people do not have the time or energy to be able to do this. Even my honesty in this respect feels like I am giving more ground than they ever would.

Back to the video:

When going through all these accounts it made me really think about how all of these right-wing issues are not separate causes, but just rebranding. This is the reason which I went back and used my 2024–05–08 protest footage. I was there, doing something. The reason I say that is, the right jumps onto wagon after wagon, and you can feel exhausted trying to see where they land next, but honestly it does not matter. If they are there, it is for the same reason as the last, just with a new coat of paint.

The audio used in the piece is Fania Katz’s ‘unsettling-liitle-melodie’, which I actually downloaded to my PC on the 29th of December 2024, because I knew I wanted to incorporate it into something.

There were so many audio bugs while editing… a weird screech that appears at the end of clips. Apparently, it is a common Vegas bug. It adds something to the film though, like a scream from hell creeping through. I decided to embrace it.

The way ‘Scrape’ was edited makes the whole ordeal feel so mundane and uninteresting, in the sense that ‘it is just a part of life’, which is weird. It also just makes me sad.

In the edit, I zoom in on faces. It’s for the idea of ‘watching something happening’. There is something weird about the spectator-ness of history. Also, everyone on the Flag Force page using images to identify people — so I decided to play into it. To be honest, I don’t think there is really any harm with people’s faces being shown within this context.

Regarding the shot of me scraping off the sticker in the end, it is something I have been doing for a while. I have been doing the same with the pro-Israel stickers, and anti-trans stickers. It is one of those things of ‘if they have the right and the power to put them up, I have the right and the power to take them down’. Many of these themes and energies were touched upon in ‘Graffiti’, and this adds some nuance to the conversation, I guess.

On a technical note, I accidentally rendered this film at 720p. This was because of the ‘Screenworks Journal’ application I submitted around ‘Tinguely Feeling’, where size of video mattered! I hope it gets accepted.

What has happened between the publishing of the video, and me writing this article? Counter-stickers have appeared throughout the city calling Flag Force Plymouth a bunch of Nazis. So that’s interesting. It is cool to see that the city is active in debate. These too have started to be torn down.