Sunday, July 27, 2008
Unboxing Videos and the Nikon D700
The unboxing videos are so curious. A new product arrives and ineluctably YouTube videos follow of the product being taken out of the box. It seemed to start with Apple products which are elegantly swathed in minimalist packaging material. Minimalism doesn't work in art but it does in industrial design.
I guess you could consider these unboxing videos a logical extension of fetishized product photography. Especially car ads and fashion spreads. In fashion photography women and men are objectified with the clothing and shiny accessories bestowed the charismatic appeal.
The unboxing itself is fetishistic — the extreme consumer, devolving into cult member. These videos are the Japanese tea ceremony without the tradition and caring. Ideas take u-turns in contemporary life (and to no notice): materialism becomes spiritualized; in this instance, a cargo cult without prayers for anything more than the object itself.
This video is of the unboxing of the new Nikon D700.
Full frame cam. Looks very cool.