I wrote “The Double-Double Double Bind” campaign for In-N-Out to express my delight at the paradox inherent within their burgers. (“They’re all natural, so that makes them good for you, but they’re burgers, so that makes them bad for you, but the ingredients are fresh, so they’re good for you, but those ingredients are beef, cheese, and carbs, so they’re bad for you…”)
Tyler Gonerka comped all of this work for me; I am so grateful for his generous help.
Schrödinger’s Döuble-Döuble at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Activation
Visitors enter a gallery space where they receive 1) a Double-Double burger from In-N-Out, and 2) a seat in front of an enormous closed box. Visitors learn that inside the box is a man who (according to Schrödinger’s thought experiment) currently inhabits multiple states at once: having eaten a Double-Double (thus being fed) and also not having eaten a Double-Double (thus being hungry). When the visitors finish their burgers, they exit the gallery, and the mystery of the man inside the box remains unanswered.
“SCHRÖDINGER’S DÖUBLE-DÖUBLE”
Video
Schrodinger’s cat thought experiment, only instead of a cat, it’s a person, and instead of poison in a vial, it’s a Double-Double from In-N-Out Burger in a pneumatic tube.
We open on a box in an infinite background in a room. In this spot, the wide angle shot (one continuous shot) will continue to slowly punch in on a box in a room. A super comes up over top of the box.
SUPER: SCHRÖDINGER’S DÖUBLE-DÖUBLE
The camera slowly punches in on the box.
VO: IF A SINGLE ATOM DECAYS, THE HAMMER WILL FALL!
IF THE HAMMER FALLS, THE IN-N-OUT DOUBLE-DOUBLE BURGER (SERVED ANIMAL STYLE) WILL BE RELEASED, FEEDING THE MAN INSIDE!
GUY IN BOX: (mumbling) Animal style?
The camera continues to punch in on the box. Slowly.
VO: UNTIL THE BOX IS OPENED, THE MAN IS BOTH FED AND NOT FED!
ONLY A WITNESS CAN UNITE THESE MULTIPLE REALITIES! ONLY A WITNESS CAN COLLAPSE THE SIMULTANEOUSLY FED AND UNFED MAN INTO A SINGLE DEFINITE STATE!
GUY IN BOX: (thumping on box) Someone said ‘animal style?!’
BUT WHO WILL WITNESS THE WITNESS? AND ARE WE ALL LIVING IN UNOBSERVED WORLDS? OUR REALITIES DESTINED TO FORK, MOMENT BY MOMENT? ONE SELF FOREVER SPLINTERING INTO MANY? ONE STORY SCATTERING INTO THOUSANDS, LIKE A FLOCK OF BIRDS BURSTING ACROSS THE SKY?
SUPER: OPEN THE BOX.
EXPERIENCE THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE PARADOX FOR YOURSELF.
Cut to art card: In-N-Out Burger.
