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Vending Machines: Coined Consumerism
In airports, iPods, headphones and other technological gadgets are sold in vending machines; artists from London to Buenos Aires have converted cigarette vending machines to sell art; along New York City's St. Marks Place numerous kiosks provide "fresh food" for late-night snackers via, you guessed it, vending machines. Marketers have caught on to the trend, too. In Times Square, the clothing company Uniqlo launched a new clothing line by installing human models in vending machines, so passersby could see how the clothing looked out of its packaging.
There is no doubt that the Japanese lead the way when it comes to vending machines and the items they dispense. In cities and suburbs alike, vending machines in Japan are ubiquitous, providing everything from the expected (hot tea, food, candy) to the surprising (umbrellas, toilet paper, liquor, porn). Taking a cue from the Japanese, the growing trend to sell anything and everything via vending machines has caught on across the globe.
With photographs from all over the world and essays that track the development of vending machines over time, Vending Coined Consumerism serves as an intriguing, and mystifying, visual reference-point for every consumer on the go.
There is no doubt that the Japanese lead the way when it comes to vending machines and the items they dispense. In cities and suburbs alike, vending machines in Japan are ubiquitous, providing everything from the expected (hot tea, food, candy) to the surprising (umbrellas, toilet paper, liquor, porn). Taking a cue from the Japanese, the growing trend to sell anything and everything via vending machines has caught on across the globe.
With photographs from all over the world and essays that track the development of vending machines over time, Vending Coined Consumerism serves as an intriguing, and mystifying, visual reference-point for every consumer on the go.
- GenresJapanPhotography
128 pages, Hardcover
First published April 6, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 7, 2023
Does what we consume define part of who we are? Can vending machines reveal something about this question? A very interesting look at this unique form of consumerism. Lots of unique VM are looked at here; one wonders if this is where our society is heading; interpersonal interactions that we take place with machines that attempt to gratify our needs. Kind of scary.
June 6, 2010
'Change is inevitable - except from a vending machine.'
Though this wise book exploring the iconography and history of vending machines form the early forms in ancient Greece to the proliferation of the fantastical inventions of today is printed as yet another evidence of the art of graphic design by Mark Batty Publisher, VENDING MACHINES: COINED CONSUMERISM, in the informed hands of writer Christopher D Salyers is more a statement of our obsession with instant gratification. Have a need? Look around and find a freestanding machine that can dispense money 9ATM), movies (Red Box), of course sodas and junk food of all sorts, tickets, condoms, sanitary pads, instant photos, newspapers, coffee, cigarettes, toys - the list in close to infinite. How these machines developed and became popular, with terms such as 'Automat' becoming a dictionary entry since the 1940s, is the journey Salyers takes us on.
The book is divided into section, each of which explores more fully the type of vending process featured: Weird World (hypodermic needle vending sources!); Japan is the Future; Capsules, Candies & Claw Machine; Retro Vending; In Soda We Trust; and two well composed interviews with Michael Keferl who invented CScout (a trend research agency) of Japan and Clark Whittington, the inventor of Art-O-Mat - an entirely new form of art that is the obvious end variant of an obsession of a machine that does everything else for us!
Throughout the book are brilliant colored photographs of the machines in freestanding position and in details of some particular aspects that spark our interest and curiosity. As Salyers puts it, 'The vending machine, in its truest form, represents an overhaul of the psychology of consumerism - there is no human element to interfere with the advertisements of the medium.' This very readable book is a fine history book of a small segment of our daily lives that has blossomed into a mega-industry, employing millions of workers from design to production to servicing these contemporary robots. The book is a sizzler!
Grady Harp
Though this wise book exploring the iconography and history of vending machines form the early forms in ancient Greece to the proliferation of the fantastical inventions of today is printed as yet another evidence of the art of graphic design by Mark Batty Publisher, VENDING MACHINES: COINED CONSUMERISM, in the informed hands of writer Christopher D Salyers is more a statement of our obsession with instant gratification. Have a need? Look around and find a freestanding machine that can dispense money 9ATM), movies (Red Box), of course sodas and junk food of all sorts, tickets, condoms, sanitary pads, instant photos, newspapers, coffee, cigarettes, toys - the list in close to infinite. How these machines developed and became popular, with terms such as 'Automat' becoming a dictionary entry since the 1940s, is the journey Salyers takes us on.
The book is divided into section, each of which explores more fully the type of vending process featured: Weird World (hypodermic needle vending sources!); Japan is the Future; Capsules, Candies & Claw Machine; Retro Vending; In Soda We Trust; and two well composed interviews with Michael Keferl who invented CScout (a trend research agency) of Japan and Clark Whittington, the inventor of Art-O-Mat - an entirely new form of art that is the obvious end variant of an obsession of a machine that does everything else for us!
Throughout the book are brilliant colored photographs of the machines in freestanding position and in details of some particular aspects that spark our interest and curiosity. As Salyers puts it, 'The vending machine, in its truest form, represents an overhaul of the psychology of consumerism - there is no human element to interfere with the advertisements of the medium.' This very readable book is a fine history book of a small segment of our daily lives that has blossomed into a mega-industry, employing millions of workers from design to production to servicing these contemporary robots. The book is a sizzler!
Grady Harp
August 13, 2010
Great pics of real vending machines around the world, but especially of Japan!
August 11, 2014
The Japanese text was kinda weird considering that this did not focus only on Japanese vending machines.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews