There is a website for a New Zealand Museum, specifically, the “Museum Of Non-Primate Art” (MOPA -http://www.monpa.com/index.html). One of the galleries features art by felines. There is a book, “Why Cats Paint - A theory of feline aesthetics” by Heather Busch (curator) and Burton Silver (art critic) showing cats painting (and selling for 5 figures! OK, I can buy that), and no doubt the authors are serious (OK, maybe). What I wonder about is the chapter entitled, “AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.” The chapter features pictures of authentic looking cat mumies (natural mumification rather than actual) and somewhat fake looking amulets and papyri. Is this stuff serious? Do such artifacts such as the “Aperia Cats” (Phakat Museum, Cairo)and the funerary papyrus of the Lapis Lazzuli Cat (Bodlian Library, Oxfoird) really exist?
Lemee see can I make that make sense. You sayin these cats painted pictures of mummies? I have seen copies of “Whisker’s Mother” or to give its actual name. “Study in Black and White Tabbies”. And what’s the diff tween a “natural” and an “actual” mummy? The cat was sacred to the Egyptians, peer. Remember the story of how Joseph had Pharoah store away all that grain? Rats and mice just love stored grain and cats just love rats and mice. It was a capitol offense to harm a cat. There are thousands of mummified cats,actual mummies,naturally. Some are kinda primitive ,wrapped in straw, others got right fancy sarcophagi with lapis lazuli and other gems. Lots of statues of gold and jewels, too. There is a goddess often depicted with the head of a cat, but I don’t r’collect her name or duties right now.
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
Let’s be serious here folks! I am not talking about Bast the cat headed goddess, or mummies that were made (as offerings or as pet funerals). And yes, I know cats were diefied defenders of the grain stores. What I am talking about here are natural mummies (mummiefied by natural conditions as opposed to human agency). The pictures show two feline corpses which are clasping a payrus. The feline mummies may very well be real, but the implications are that it was noticed, even in ancient times that cats made specific markings for “reasons”. The amulets in the image, look fake, altho I might buy the premise that felines have been making art for thousands of years.
Where’s the Cat Goddess when we need her?
Ray
Cat goddess notwithstanding, p. 17 of said book, features a group of symbols representing the “Ebut or painting apparatus used by the cat.” It also features a symbol showing two question mark-like elements (based, if we accept this stuff at face value) on the backside (curled tail & anus) of a cat and symbolizing the “Nildjat or ‘the contemplative cat…’” All I want to know is, “Is this stuff on the level?” I’d like to hear from the real expert, Unca Cece.
Link for any interested - Aperia Cats (3000 BC): http://www.monpa.com/wcp/history.html
Check it out.
Er…
Peergynt. Um, sorry to have to do this to you, but you’ve been fooled.
The book is a very clever joke by a fellow named Burton Silver. He’s an odd, fun fellow, a cartoonist (I’ve met him) who likes to poke fun at people, and see how they react to absurd silliness.
You are one of his victims.
-PIGEONMAN-
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Shadow of the Pigeon -
Weirdo of the Night
But nowhere on that site is it explained why cats do paint. I take it you can’t get dogs, horses or pigs to paint? Certainly monkeys will paint, and while they might not always act in as neat a form as refined cats may act outside their catboxes, they’re probably less messy than some human artists.
I live only a few blocks away from one of the modern seats of interest in cat painting that existed for a year or two over on Solano Avenue in Berkeley/Albany, CA.US.That studio has been gone, now, a couple of years. They shoud’ve hung in there until the present fad in TV commercials that use animal actors.
Here’s two examples of your typical feline artist at work, including sound; but these artists don’t seem to explain their work very coherently. Actually, nowhere on these MonPa pages do I see any explanation as to why the cats engage in this profession. (Probably because they couldn’t stand to be like human lawyers or doctors.)
I wonder how much they themselves ever are able to put in their – whoops, no pockets. And about this importing of them from New Zealand – Berkeley recently charged a large landlord, of numerous of its appartment buildings and of buildings in India, with importing underage women for nearly unpaid labor in a restaurant and for more personal purposes of said landlord. They better check out Enzedder cats also. Listing your cat in your will doesn’t count when (s)he brings in those five-figure sums per painting.
And what about those Aibo robot dogs? If they’re going to cost that much ($2500 to $3000), they ought to paint, sing and tell lies faster than doctors and lawyers put together.
Ray (They don’t. It’s just their way of getting surplus nail/claw polish off.)
Huh?
Great cites, Nanobyte, cat dancing, who ever thought?
Are you driving with your eyes open or are you using The Force? - A. Foley
Hey guys, Guanolad/pigeonman is right on, check out: http://mcgovern.co.nz/netwav98/30aug99.html
An afterthought, but where oh where did Burton get those cat mummies? California Velcro Crop/MankatoMinnesota anyone?
And birds can also [url=http://www.monpa.com/ba/index.htmlpaint .
If you weren’t interested, don’t blame me; blame the cat-painting page with its link to that page.
Ray (The birds. . .what art is really for?)
Sorry, that’s: Birds can also paint .
Hey Nano, Piegeonman/Guanolad is RIGHT. Burton Silver is a Cartoonist! Cats Painting, Ornithological Dejecta (bird poop) and Contemporary Erotic Japanese Paper Sculpture (ORIGAMI) is a great big PUT ON. Checkout: http://mcgovern.co.nz/netwav98/30aug99.html
a publication discussing business websites. By pluging his name into a search engine, I got a postage stamp issued to honor him and some other cartoonists. Have you ever seen the sites on the California Vlecro crop or Mankato, Minnesota? At least they are more obvious. Places that deal with cat lovers sell this, and I doubt any have really checked or questioned it. As I noticed, some of the artifacts look a bit fake, but the put on is quite a job!