Why Cats Paint - it's real!

[Eleven Mike]

I was at a bookstore with my wife last night, when she reminded me that I'd been meaning to pick up a wall calender.  The selection was cheap, but not extensive.  I have a hard time picking out calenders, as there's not many pictures I actually want to see for a whole month.  Although I'm NOT a cat person, I decided to get this wacky calender with pictures of cats painting.  That's right, cats smearing paint on walls with their paws.  

I opened it up to look at it today, and it's full of all this nonsense about respecting the art of non-primates and encouraging cats to express their vision of the world without letting the art become overly-commercialzed.  Each cat artist represented was written up with some folderol about their influences and style and so forth.  This being the twenty-first century, I couldn't tell if this was serious or a spoof.  

I went to the publisher's website, and saw nothing unusual.  It was founded in Berkeley, so I was starting to think this was meant in earnest.  Them leftists are nuts, don't ya know.  So, I looked up Why Cats Paint on Yahoo, and got the following website.  It was only when I noticed the bird art that I began to be very concerned that if this was not a spoof, someone had escaped from the institution and was terribly overdue for electro-shock therapy

http://www.monpa.com/index.htm

Finally, I looked it up on Wiki.  

[Devonai]

My cat considers her deposits into the litter box to be art.  Why else would she spend so much time digging?

[Lee]

My cat's works in clay really stink.

[glockfan.45]

OMG!..............Seems the inmates really are running the asylum.

[gunsmith]

the cat tells me he doesn't hold them cat artist in high regard, why should he paint
when his personal chaufer(sic) could handle the job for him?

[Standing Wolf]

You should hear my cat sing.

[glockfan.45]

I read a little more on the subject and was digusted to learn how they teach these cats to paint. They will mix in a sample of the cats urine with the paint. This encourages the cat to dip its paws and spread its scent over the canvas to mark its territory . Now who in the Hell figured that little trick out and why is beyond me.

[slzy]

would'nt it be quicker just to dip the cat in the paint?

[Dannyboy]

would'nt it be quicker just to dip the cat in the paint?

And then swing it by its tail, resulting in a Jackson Pollack effect.

[Perd Hapley]

I heard they mixed some of Pollack's urine with his paint.  Had the same effect. 

[Fly320s]

would'nt it be quicker just to dip the cat in the paint?

How do you clean the cat?

Or would you even bother?

[pluvo]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=15bwhVxw-Bg

 

[TMM]

you know, i'm pretty sure that this IS a spoof, yet the paintings and all are real. there's a sequel called "why paint cats", which is excellent, with lots of phony descriptions as well.

~tmm

[MechAg94]

I would like to see them get that cat into that wash machine a second time.