"CANNED FRUIT" is a video piece I shot in my living room, using my roommate's digital still camera, which had some limited AVI capability. Because of the short lengths of the movie clips, I had to do a great deal of compositing and combining of the elements in order to make the piece flow seamlessly from one scene to another.

The audio tracks are taken from two public domain films, courtesy of the wonderful online library of the PRELINGER ARCHIVES. In one audio clip, an enthusiastic male narrator describes the wonderful advances in can-making technology, and how the "miracle of the can" has led to the efficient harvesting of Mother Nature's bounty. In the other audio clip, a snippy female narrator warns a young girl about her the dreadful consequences of her bad habits. Bad habits, in the 1950s sense of the term, meant not making your bed every morning or not brushing your hair before school. The narrator's tone becomes increasingly smug, wheedling, and frightening. The final admonition is chilling ... "It's a little too late for tears now, isn't it?".