Luminous Landscape Forum

The Art of Photography => But is it Art? => Topic started by: customminds on March 06, 2010, 10:00:13 am

Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: customminds on March 06, 2010, 10:00:13 am
The 1,2,3's on how to kill a Nikon.

video and high res images here.
Wedding Photographer destroys camera (http://www.customminds.com/nikon)


(http://www.customminds.com/nikon/images/51-tearing-out-nikons-guts_JPG.jpg)




Art or not?
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: fredjeang on March 06, 2010, 11:39:48 am
Cheap art called: messing us around. Dali made the point in an old interview: "If Vermeer does any kind of performance, it will always be a Vermeer. If a joker does any kind of performance, it will always be a joke".
They better gave this camera to someone who would have loved to have it and could not.

To me it is art, but very cheap one.

Cheers.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on March 06, 2010, 11:51:54 am
Quote from: customminds
The 1,2,3's on how to kill a Nikon.

video and high res images here.
Wedding Photographer destroys camera (http://www.customminds.com/nikon)


(http://www.customminds.com/nikon/images/51-tearing-out-nikons-guts_JPG.jpg)




Art or not?
Pointless, half-wittted clowning. Not art.

Jeremy
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: ckimmerle on March 06, 2010, 12:23:01 pm
Art needs to have a meaning. This looks more like boredom.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 06, 2010, 01:37:31 pm
It looks to me like the ultimate Canon vs. Nikon brand war. I will guard my Canon equipment closely, because this sort of thing is likely to incite mindless retaliation.

Art? No.

Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: RSL on March 06, 2010, 02:49:11 pm
If he understood fine art he'd know that to be "fine art" it has to be expensive. Burning up a D50 is low art.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: customminds on March 06, 2010, 03:06:41 pm
Quote from: RSL
If he understood fine art he'd know that to be "fine art" it has to be expensive. Burning up a D50 is low art.


heh  (who said fine art?)


i'll share the secret later this weekend.

enjoyed the emotional responses so far.

:-)
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on March 06, 2010, 11:47:49 pm
Quote from: customminds
i'll share the secret later this weekend.

My wild guess: In the first scene, just after you show that the camera actually works, you step out of the video camera view just long enough to substitute the one that was already broken too much to be repairable.


I still won't call it art (sleight of hand, maybe?    )

Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: jasonrandolph on March 07, 2010, 02:53:27 am
Art?  No.  Juvenile?  Unquestionably.  Imagine what a young kid whose parents can't afford to buy him/her a DSLR could've done with a "mere" D50...  What a waste.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: fredjeang on March 07, 2010, 03:30:18 am
Quote from: jasonrandolph
Art?  No.  Juvenile?  Unquestionably.  Imagine what a young kid whose parents can't afford to buy him/her a DSLR could've done with a "mere" D50...  What a waste.
Totally agree...this is pure middle class erasmus kid game having cheap fun and thinking they are the new Joseph Kosuth, they fool themselves.
I'd like to see the same stupid thing with a new hasselblad. But this one is just a joke.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: EduPerez on March 08, 2010, 08:43:14 am
Just one thought comes to my mind: "why?".
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: wthomphoto on March 08, 2010, 09:57:03 am
Quote from: EduPerez
Just one thought comes to my mind: "why?".
Yep, that's got to be the stupidist  f**kin thing I've ever seen.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: LoisWakeman on March 08, 2010, 12:11:06 pm
Quote from: customminds
Art or not?
Do you actually need to ask? - oh yeah, you are plugging your blog.
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: RSL on March 08, 2010, 03:34:49 pm
Quote from: LoisWakeman
Do you actually need to ask? - oh yeah, you are plugging your blog.
BINGO!!!!
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: customminds on March 08, 2010, 04:29:18 pm
Secrets

    First off, had a great time reading all the comments!. ... and yes, I'm glad you can't send punches through the forum. :-P



    The idea of giving the camera to a school, student or Don7849 (a random user) would have been a great idea. (Someone at dpreview said I should fulfill the Kenya mail scam -- that was the best. )


    While some people think I was pretty crazy/stupid/immature to burn a d50, I found it informative and well... very fun. Most of us never see equipment destroyed, especially by a blow torch. I had a great time doing it (I am gearing up for your pyro comments.)


    As for the camera shots, a non-camera person was shooting. i set up the camera for him, but i guess i forgot to tell him about the center spot focus and the minimum lens distance. and no, i won't be burning the 1ds anytime soon.


    And lastly, while I 'proved' the camera was functional... it wasn't. Yes it did take pictures,.... but,.... only bright daytime subjects at M, 1/30 shutter, F4.? and ISO 1600. A set employee this last year decided that holding the camera was not what she desired, so she dropped it. I think at the time 6:10 or 6:20 into the video you can see a huge crack on the bottom of the camera... that was originally there. The lens was also broken from a different drop test - it only could take pictures on M (not A) on the lens. -- zoom was physically impossible.


    As for the valuable parts, the battery and the cheap 512mb memory card, i of course saved those. waste not.


    Now as for the comments about selling for parts. We did that last season. The camera sells for $15 to the camera rapair store then $5 for the lens. Shipping was on us and cost 5-10 bucks to ship. I would be able to eat a super-sized meal at mcdonalds with the profit (or 10 chicken crisps at burger king). We sold 12 broken d40, d50, d70 and d100 cameras last season. and about 20 x 18-55 lenses. (the kit lens broke quite easily believe it or not) We used the money we made to pay for part of one new D40 + lens.


Fixing the camera and lens would have cost more than a new D50 or D40 (if either were still made or sold) and the warranty was no longer valid. (not to mention they probably would not honor it).
lastly, while we did box it and ship it, we didn't ship back to nikon. instead we shipped to a friend as a gag. They should get it tomorrow.


Thank you all again for checking it out. I hope you can watch it again with a little more fun knowing its not really 'working'.



And remember, when I have a blow torch in my hands, you might want to keep your cameras away!

Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: RazorTM on March 09, 2010, 07:11:13 am
Quote from: customminds
Secrets

    First off, had a great time reading all the comments!. ... and yes, I'm glad you can't send punches through the forum. :-P



    The idea of giving the camera to a school, student or Don7849 (a random user) would have been a great idea. (Someone at dpreview said I should fulfill the Kenya mail scam -- that was the best. )


    While some people think I was pretty crazy/stupid/immature to burn a d50, I found it informative and well... very fun. Most of us never see equipment destroyed, especially by a blow torch. I had a great time doing it (I am gearing up for your pyro comments.)


    As for the camera shots, a non-camera person was shooting. i set up the camera for him, but i guess i forgot to tell him about the center spot focus and the minimum lens distance. and no, i won't be burning the 1ds anytime soon.


    And lastly, while I 'proved' the camera was functional... it wasn't. Yes it did take pictures,.... but,.... only bright daytime subjects at M, 1/30 shutter, F4.? and ISO 1600. A set employee this last year decided that holding the camera was not what she desired, so she dropped it. I think at the time 6:10 or 6:20 into the video you can see a huge crack on the bottom of the camera... that was originally there. The lens was also broken from a different drop test - it only could take pictures on M (not A) on the lens. -- zoom was physically impossible.


    As for the valuable parts, the battery and the cheap 512mb memory card, i of course saved those. waste not.


    Now as for the comments about selling for parts. We did that last season. The camera sells for $15 to the camera rapair store then $5 for the lens. Shipping was on us and cost 5-10 bucks to ship. I would be able to eat a super-sized meal at mcdonalds with the profit (or 10 chicken crisps at burger king). We sold 12 broken d40, d50, d70 and d100 cameras last season. and about 20 x 18-55 lenses. (the kit lens broke quite easily believe it or not) We used the money we made to pay for part of one new D40 + lens.


Fixing the camera and lens would have cost more than a new D50 or D40 (if either were still made or sold) and the warranty was no longer valid. (not to mention they probably would not honor it).
lastly, while we did box it and ship it, we didn't ship back to nikon. instead we shipped to a friend as a gag. They should get it tomorrow.


Thank you all again for checking it out. I hope you can watch it again with a little more fun knowing its not really 'working'.



And remember, when I have a blow torch in my hands, you might want to keep your cameras away!

I thought to myself that this camera had to be broken in some manner--just seeing you "take a photo" with it wasn't proof enough to me that it was fully functional.  I love the rage which you've incited on various internet forums with this little stunt.  I quite enjoyed it myself  
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: LoisWakeman on March 09, 2010, 09:40:59 am
More a sigh of mild ennui than rage here....
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: customminds on March 09, 2010, 10:26:30 am
Quote from: RazorTM
I thought to myself that this camera had to be broken in some manner--just seeing you "take a photo" with it wasn't proof enough to me that it was fully functional.  I love the rage which you've incited on various internet forums with this little stunt.  I quite enjoyed it myself  


Haha, thanks Razor.  You were correct.

Truth be told, I watched some kid 'fake'-drop his camera (D3) and made it look like it still worked... then put it into a non-working microwave and 'it still worked again'.... i thought to myself... I can do better.

So, by destroying it I did expect an 'offended' response from the the viewers.  But, I also hoped each person would look to their equipment with a renewed appreciation -- And, just hopefully, go out and use their camera.  

Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: PeterValk on March 18, 2010, 01:18:00 pm
"We sold 12 broken d40, d50, d70 and d100 cameras last season. and about 20 x 18-55 lenses"

What the heck are you doing to your equipment?
Maybe it's time to buy something more durable, or be more careful.
Nikon probably gives you wholesale discounts by now I guess.

Peter
Title: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Greg Campbell on March 20, 2010, 04:12:19 pm
This mindless destruction seems more an Ego Exercise than any attempt at 'art.'
Zero stars.  FAIL!  LOSER!
Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Michael West on August 11, 2010, 10:56:39 pm
The velvet elvis of bad performance "art" at best.
Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Robert Roaldi on August 13, 2010, 01:17:20 pm
Maybe it's just me, but when I saw the vid, I thought it was a spoof or a joke. And I thought the question "is this art?" was pretty much tongue-in-cheek. I think the reactions were a bit too serious-minded, although I like the expression "velvet elvis".
Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: ErikKaffehr on August 13, 2010, 01:33:18 pm
Hi,

No art in my humble view, more like "utter meaningless violence".

Best regards
Erik
Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: OldRoy on October 13, 2010, 04:08:08 pm
No, it isn't: this is how it's properly done:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Foundation_Burn_a_Million_Quid

A Leica M9 would have been a bit of a statement though, with the right lens ...
Roy
Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: soslund on October 15, 2010, 02:27:13 pm
This mindless destruction seems more an Ego Exercise than any attempt at 'art.'
Zero stars.  FAIL!  LOSER!

Ditto.  Loser.  Grow up.  Though I am married, I would NEVER hire you to shoot a wedding.  What an utter, fantastic waste of time and bandwith.
Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Lonnie Utah on October 25, 2010, 01:00:07 pm
Sure it's Art.  Art at it's very nature is "created" to produce an emotional response in people.  This response is not always a warm and fuzzy one.  This is exactly what this performance has done, just look at all of you that felt obliged to reply.  I have no problem with it. 

“No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.”- Ansel Adams

Title: Re: How to Kill a Nikon (is this art?)
Post by: Gemmtech on January 21, 2011, 10:43:57 am
I suppose flying two jets into the WTC is "art"  ???  STUPID