No, this thread isn’t about changing the colour of my cat. I don’t have a cat, for a start.
While browsing in a bookstore I saw this book all about cats that paint by getting paint on their paws and then making patterns on nearby walls, glass windows etc. The book was fully of psychoanalytical crap about the how and why of this.
The paintings pictured had definite (though simple and very abstract) patterns to them, and were not mere random splotchings.
There’s no doubt at all that the psychoanalytical crap in the text was just that, but I couldn’t quite decide whether the whole book was a joke, consisting of posed photos of cats near human created paintings, or whether the author was seriously contending that the paintings were actually done by cats.
If the book you’re referring to is “Why Cats Paint : A Theory of Feline Aesthetics” (and I think it is, since I have a copy and what you describe can be found therein), then let me assure you that it’s an excellent put-on job. My wife has a degree in art history, and she says they’re spot-on in spouting the type of bilge that she had to wade through.
Of course, if you want to believe it, that’s fine with me. You may want to check out another book by the same authors, “Dancing With Cats.”
Well, it’s real enough that we can visit it, in a purely electronic sense.
I did spend some time there, and I watched the two short video clips from the “documentary”. Even given that it’s pretty easy these days to fake video, the cat shown certainly appeared to be a real cat putting real paint on a real canvas, and using some deliberation in where and how it did it, too. I’ve also seen the book mentioned in the OP in a bookstore (I came close to buying it, too, but there was something else I wanted more).
At this point, I’m willing to entertain the possibility that there really are painting cats. I’m not sure I’ll believe it unless I actually see it, though. The MONPA site mentions an art gallery in Berkeley, CA (Philip Wood Gallery); maybe one of the local dopers can swing by and report back?
Hehehe.
One of my cats has actually done this in the past, although probably not under what you would call “labaratory” condidtions. Last year, a friend of mine and I were preparing to paint a room in my house. The color I chose for this task was a bright blue. Having cleared the room of furniture, and laid down the appropriate plastic sheeting, I poured the paint into the roller pan. While doing this, one of my cats (a big maine coon female) was watching this procedure with great interest. I went into the kitchen to retrieve the roller (and get a beer). I’d been in there a few minutes when my friend stuck her head into the kitchen and whispered, “Come here quick! You have to see this! And be quiet!” So, I went. Sitting there by the paint tray was my cat, and on the wall were a few streaks of paint, along with a few paw prints in a nice bright blue! As we watched, she dipped her paw into the paint a few times, and then swiped at the wall! Needless to say, it was much harder cleaning up the cat that it was painting the wall. She’s never done this since then, but it was pretty surreal when it happened.
I can’t find my copy of Why Cats Paint at the moment, so I can’t give you the exact wording, but in the smallprint on a page toward the front of the book, there is reference to a project, the name of which contains a word which refers to a field of study. Looking up the word, I found out that it refers to the creation of behavior by pretending that such behavior already exists.
So the book Why Cats Paint may have been a silly book with the serious purpose of determining whether the authors could influence cat owners to recognize previously unsuspected artistic talent in their cats (whether it exists or not).
The “Why Cats Paint” book is one of the most extended straight-faced gags I’ve ever encountered. They carry it off pretty much flawlessly until the very end, when you get to a color plate captioned something like: Installation: Dead Mouse by Fluffy.
At this point, any lingering doubts I had regarding whether they were serious or not were dispelled.
Well so far we have one report of eyewitness cat “painting” and a lot of confirmation that the book in question (and yes now that you mention the name I can confirm “Why Cats Paint” is the book I saw) is a load of hooey, but what still intrigues me is whether the hooey is the psychoanalytical b-s or the whole idea of cats “painting” at all.
If cats do “paint” then presumably there will be authenticated independant film of that somewhere, (which I will trust much more when it is not on a site dedicated to this subject and potentially just part of the hoax).
I’m still curious, though I’m leaning towards the full hoax theory (actually truth to tell I guess I’m sort of hoping, against the grain of my inbuilt scepticism, that it’s true, because I think the idea’s cool).
I can see it now… …and this masterpiece was one of mitten’s earlier works. Done in latex, an excellent example of a feline primative. Notice the basic colors, so popular in the kitchens of the early 21st century. We’ll start the bidding at a million-five…:rolleyes:
I was tipped off to the nature of Why Cats Paint when Kramerbooks placed it in their “Humor” section (alongside Martha Stuart’s Better Than You at Entertaining (showing her holding a tray standing on the water in the swimming pool).
The Author, Burton Silver, is a New Zealand cartoonist and the entire book is a joke. Seems that everyone in the bookreading world realised this except those in the USA (gentle dig). There was a lot of press in NZ shortly after it was released about those in the US being a little gullible. Burton Silver has also written a book called Kama Sutra for Cats, it is also a joke. Another book, Dancing with Cats (mentioned in an above post) is also a joke. They are all very entertaining books but in no way should they be taken seriously!!
Cats may be capable of making a mess with paint on their paws, but they do not draw artistic inverted versions of butterflies sitting on fences, or flowers, or sheep, or anything else.
Oooops! Maybe I’ve let the cat out of the bag!!
P.S. Burton Silver will give interviews and say with a straight face that Why Cats Paint is a serious study of the artistic endeavours both past and present of our feline friends.
I’ve met Burton Silver, and he is very very cool. Eccentric without being weird, funny with subtlety, never takes himself seriously, but has a dedication and an earnestness.
Yeah, but in Thailand elephants who paint are for real. Not a joke. They hold brushes in their trunks and daub colors on the canvas. Their works are sold in real art galleries to fund conservation of their natural environment (and pay for pachyderm upkeep). According to modern art critics, the really talented elephants do not just daub at random, but compose color and form with intelligence and sensitivity.
Concur. This has been covered on NPR on All Things Considered. The elephants also play musical instruments and you can buy the CD (see itfor sale at Amazon).
