THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

First, I thought about what readymade can to use, and I decided on a can of crabmeat.  For goodness’ sake, I was canning the whole universe!  It would be rude to the universe if I used a cheap can.

So, I bought a crabmeat can.  I opened it with a can opener and I ate the contents.  The crab was now in my body.  Then, I washed the can clean.  I peeled off its label and neatly glued the label on its inside wall.  I put the lid back where it had been.  I soldered it in place and sealed the can. 

At that precise moment.. this universe was canned!  This universe in which we existed was entirely put inside the crabmeat can.  Don’t you see?  It was sealed in the can, with the crabmeat label posted on the outside.  Granted, we humans have yet to know whether the universe is structurally closed or opened and what it is like on its edges.  Even so, using the crabmeat can, I completely wrapped it, including its mysteries.

Akasegawa Genpei, “A Can of the Universe”, in Copeland/Anti-Museum