ABOUT THE PROJECT
The goal of this project is to explore and to problematize the aesthetics and language of the unboxing social network format. To proceed, a YouTube channel was built. This project was carried on thanks to the Fondo de Apoyo y Reactivación para trabajadoras y trabajadores Culturales en Pandemia, Antofagasta 2020. ABOUT THE UNBOXING Unboxing is one of the most popular genres of YouTube. It consists of unpacking any product in front of a camera and then uploading the recording (Aparicio). In this genre, flashiness plays a particular role (Sato, 10-13), which translates into the fact that most of the unboxings work around expensive goods that denote a collective aspirational consumer desire (Sato, 10-11), From the first unboxing video uploaded in 2006 (about a Nokia E61) (Kelly), to accumulating 6,5 years of videos of this kind (Kelly), and considering the fact that big tech businesses are making their own videos of unboxing, using them as a marketing strategy, reveal the importance of the format in today's society. ABOUT THE PRODUCTS For this project, the products were chosen from the SERNAC (National Consumer Service, an agency dependent on the Ministry of Economy, Development and Tourism of the Government of Chile) list, that specifies the goods considered as essential during the emergency of COVID-19 (Sernac). ABOUT THE ARTIST Visit https://arenascarter.weebly.com/ REFERENCES Aparicio, Daniel. "El fenómeno del 'unboxing', el arte (y negocio) de sacar cosas de cajas delante de una cámara." 20 minutos, 8 Apr 2016, https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2714870/0/unboxing/desempaquetar-productos/youtubers/?autoref=true. Retrieved 12/03/2020. Kelly, Heather. "The bizarre, lucrative world of 'unboxing' videos". CNN, Feb 13, 2014, http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/13/tech/web/youtube-unboxing-videos/. Retrieved 12/03/2020. Sato, Silvio Koiti. "Abrindo a embalagem na rede: reflexões sobre o consumo e cultura digital a partir dos unboxings vídeos." Congresso Internacional Comunicação e Consumo. 2016. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Silvio_Sato/publication/309187054_Abrindo_a_embalagem_na_rede_reflexoes_sobre_consumo_e_cultura_digital_a_partir_dos_unboxing_videos_1/links/58037d3108ae310e0d9f396c.pdf Sernac. "Cotizador de Productos Básicos por Coronavirus." Sernac, https://www.sernac.cl/portal/619/w3-article-58435.html. Retrieved 12/03/2020. |