My friend Phil Weglarz, a Bay Area-based arts therapist and allover creative genius, created a fascinating centerpiece for his Thanksgiving dinner table this year. I wasn’t present at the event, but was able to see the art object (pictured) over the weekend when I stopped in to visit Phil and his wife Kate on the way back from my own holiday weekend travels further afield.
Fashioned from merchant discount ads and cellophane, the turkey makes as strong an anti-consumer statement for this holiday season as I’ve ever seen. Quite apart from looking festive, the lurid object draws attention to “Black Friday” propaganda and the waste that it produces, while at the same time inviting us to eat it.
I think Phil should go into business with this concept. People could order the cellophane-discount ad turkeys online in advance of Thanksgiving as they might a regular turkey. Phil could become a millionaire while simultaneously making subversive statements about American consumerism.