In April 2019, the art unit "Canned Ring" devised by Private Contemporary Art, which collected about 50,000 retweets and more than 175,000 "likes" on SNS, was released in August 2019. .. The canned ring is produced by Ikimon Co., Ltd. as a "canned ring collection" that realistically reproduces the canned food of Maruha Nichiro Co., Ltd. A total of 6 types, including salmon cans and snow crab cans that are often found in the canning department, have been added to the lineup.
We asked Mr. Katsutoshi Fujiwara, a second-class contemporary art soldier, and Ikimon Co., Ltd., a toy maker that commercialized the product, about the process leading up to the commercialization of the canned ring.
Being "canned food that everyone can imagine"
――The canned ring released this time is a remake version, and it seems that the "crab can ring" exhibited at the 2007 exhibition was the first to appear. Please tell us the reason why you decided to use the crab can as a ring. ..
Fujiwara: Private contemporary art creates a variety of works and presents them at exhibitions every year. The theme of the 2007 solo exhibition was "crab", and the crab can ring was one of several works based on the theme. The trigger was a loose motive, such as "If you make a can of crab smaller, it will look like a ring."
――The motif of the two types of canned rings, which is a remake of the crab canned ring posted on SNS in April 2019, looks around the canning department in the store, especially "canned food that everyone knows". It seems that you chose what you think. Is choosing a well-known design important in creating the "bad art" that builds the world of weakness humor?
Fujiwara: I'm very concerned about the "standard image that people think". If the subject part becomes selfish, the arrangement will not be transmitted.
――These two types of canned rings, which have been well received on SNS, have been announced for quite some time since 2007. How did you come to the re-production and announcement?
Fujiwara: There was a large-scale solo exhibition in Kanazawa during this year's Golden Week, and it was necessary to exhibit a large number of works, so some of the works I made in the past that I do not already have, due to technology and materials, have become complete. I recreated some of the things I wasn't satisfied with. The canned ring is one of them.
I didn't use SNS before, but recently I've uploaded my work to my homepage and SNS, and I also uploaded an image of a canned ring on SNS to announce my solo exhibition.
――When you posted a work that was previously only seen at the exhibition hall on SNS, you heard that there was such a reaction. It's a great success as an announcement, isn't it?
Immediately after the posted work became a hot topic, Ikimon Co., Ltd. talked about it, and then the story of commercialization went on. What criteria were used to select the 6 types of canned capsule toy version? After all, can't we remove the mackerel cans that are still booming?
Fujiwara: After getting permission from Maruha Nichiro, I, Ikimon, and Maruha Nichiro made a request for canning and rubbed it together. Three points were used as the criteria for selection. Speaking of canned foods, we focused on the products that everyone can imagine, the variety when they are lined up, and the cuteness when they are small.
Maruha Nichiro's products were all candidates, but I wasn't honestly aware of the mackerel can boom. By the way, the "salmon boiled salmon bones" that I often eat was omitted from this selection.
―― (Laughs) Then, what is the appeal of Maruha Nichiro's canned design, which Mr. Fujiwara, a fan of “salmon boiled in bones” thinks?
Fujiwara: For example, the red and white design of "Akebono Salmon" has been familiar for a long time. Speaking of "canned food," I think the design comes to mind.
It's more interesting to make it official instead of making it a "parody"
We asked Mr. Nagasawa of Ikimon Co., Ltd., a capsule toy maker, how he commercialized canned rings.
――It seems that it wasn't long before you spoke to Mr. Fujiwara after the SNS posting became a hot topic.
Nagasawa: Yes. I've had a relationship with Private Contemporary Art for a long time, and an interesting work has been uploaded, which has become a hot topic on SNS, so I contacted him immediately.
I thought that Maruha Nichiro's official was more interesting, so I officially obtained a license. I thought it would be more like our company to make the foods sold by the manufacturers more elaborately than the so-called "parody products" that change the product name a little.
――It's common. When I thought, "Oh, that product is getting smaller and becomes a strap!", The name is a little different (laughs).
Nagasawa: It's familiar in the gacha-gacha industry ... (laughs) The canned ring has been elaborately miniaturized while being checked by Maruha Nichiro many times during the manufacturing process.
――What kind of content did you confirm?
Nagasawa: I kept the ratio to make a ring so that the actual canned food could be reduced as it is, but since the aspect ratio differs depending on the type of canned food, I often adjusted the size. We borrowed the data on the label of the can from Mr. Maruha Nichiro, adjusted the color and size to the last minute, and confirmed it.
In addition, we proposed several patterns of plating paint, such as dark gold, light gold, glossy, and low-gloss, and asked you to choose from them.
――It seems that the canned ring is a realistic reproduction of the texture of the can.
Nagasawa: Since metal is used not only for plating but also for the material itself, I think it has a texture that is comparable to that of an accessory while giving it a canned feel.
The canning ring is made of die-cast metal by using a mold to pour metal into it, so that you can feel the metal feeling as a can and the metal feeling as a ring.
Canned rings, which are also noted for their high accuracy as miniatures, are scheduled to appear in the gacha-gacha corners of game centers, home electronics mass retailers, Tokyu Hands, TSUTAYA, etc. all over the country. It is installed at Maruha Nichiro's antenna shop "Maruha Nichiro Plaza" in Toyosu, and it seems that you can definitely get it here.
The more elaborate it is, the more funny and joyful it is to put a can on your finger. It comes with a chain, so you can enjoy it as a realistic miniature even if you attach it to your bag!
【profile】
An art unit consisting of Shane Kagoya and Fujiwara Katsutoshi, a second-class contemporary art artist. Produced "bad art" that adds laughable spices to contemporary art, such as "Gure Daruma", "Kokeshi Array", and "Summer in Nazca, Summer in Peru". Although it is a unit, the work is not a joint work, but a solo two-person style that each person creates and brings to the exhibition. 
Official URL:
Private Art of Contemporary Art | Homepage Bijutsu Techo
http://www.gb-2.net/gb2/
Contemporary Art Private Fujiwara's Twitter Account
https://twitter.com/f2touhey
Ikimon Official Twitter Account
https://twitter.com/ntc_ikimon?lang=ja
