THANKSGIVING DINNER IN 5 SECONDS is an apparatus for cooking a Thanksgiving meal using an existing method known as rocket-triggered lightning. The sculpture is a recipe of one part pseudoscience, one part functional sculpture, one part humor, and a dash of cynicism. The work critiques the American obsession with cutting corners to save time. The notion of a "lightning-fast" Thanksgiving dinner is analogous to the practice of putting up a plastic Christmas tree—both represent a quick-fix way to fulfill social obligations. Thanksgiving Dinner in 5 Seconds employs a do-it-yourself amateur aesthetic that recalls fragments from American history: Native American totem poles as monuments to kinship; Thanksgiving as an event marking that first (mythical) meal between indigenous people and European settlers; the wild turkey as a symbol of the American frontier; Ben Franklin's experiments to harness lightning for ordinary household use; and the theological controversy over Franklin's attempts to redirect lightning.
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