SITUATION #174

Unboxing Photoshop by German photo artist Adrian Sauer deals with the popular online phenomenon of unboxing. This involves the unpacking of electronic, cosmetic and fashion products in front of the camera – sometimes in the form of a prosaic demonstration and sometimes staged as a sensual display with voyeuristic overtones. In the twelve-part photographic series, Sauer’s hands can be seen as they introduce us step by step to the object of desire – in this case, the image-editing software Photoshop: from opening the package and removing the shrink wrapping all the way to taking out the actual product. Unboxing Photoshop demonstrates a contemporary visual phenomenon that seeks, through the gaze, to (vicariously) satisfy a fundamental need of our consumer society, namely to own a product. At the same time, the reference to Photoshop illustrates the increasing shift of the photographic production process from analogue into digital form.

On Sunday, 22 September 2019, at 4 p.m., Adrian Sauer will be talking to Mona Schubert (assistant curator Fotomuseum) about his artistic practice and about fetishistic tendencies of modern-day visual consumerism. The conversation will take place in German in the SITUATIONS/Porn exhibition space (Grüzenstrasse 45).

More by Adrian Sauer: adriansauer.de