April 3, 2006
Charmaine Wheatley
A Night of Romance, Adventure, and DIY Vegetarian Cuisine

On a rainy evening, two diners (Rasha Shamoon and Josue Cedeno) arrived at 7:15pm. They were subsequently locked in and left by their lonesome. A sheet of instructions sat on the red-draped table. First, turn on the iPod by the windowsill. Narrated by Canadian artist Charmaine Wheatley, the recorded audio welcomed the diners and guided them with a step-by-step recipe on how to make their own "DIY Vegetarian Sculpture Cuisine."

A white square box contained all the materials they would require to make their meal - a popcorn bunny. In case they ran into any hitches, a number for Technical Support was provided. But first, a little champagne.

Rasha and Josue proceeded with enthusiastic diligence, taking out the marshmallows, corn syrup, butter, wax paper, eye candy options, and popcorn. First they melted the butter, then poured in the corn syrup, stirring constantly. Next came the marshmallows and popcorn, mixing all ingredients evenly... With a sculptor's sensitivity, they begun the arduous journey of shaping the very sticky popcorn into a loving, edible bunny. For inspiration, a Julia Childs-like video of the artist looped on the television, showing her perfecting the same culinary process.

After about an hour, in between more champagne, a call to Technical Support, taking pictures with the supplied throwaway camera, and an apparent food fight, Rasha and Josue finished their... well, stubby-eared rabbit (or perhaps it flopped over).

Nonetheless, it was a great success! Anticipating that the couple might still be hungry afterwards, the artist's final instruction saw them opening an envelope in which they found a Golden Arches Gift Certificate.