It is truly a Caturday, Saturday, May 16, at St. Pete’s ARTpool Gallery as it presents Wild Things, a night focusing on animals and art, which includes the SPCA Tampa Bay presenting the first Florida showing of the Internet Cat Video Festival.
What the hell is an Internet Cat Video Festival, you ask? It started in 2012 at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis when employees took popular cat videos from the World Wide Web and pieced them together in a reel for public viewing. Approximately, 10,000 people attended the showing and the Festival has been touring worldwide since.
Curator of this year’s reel, Seattle’s Will Braden, made his own cute kitty famous with his black-and-white existential spoofs Henri, Le Chat Noir. (French for Henri, the Black Cat.) Henri’s award winning videos will be featured in the presentation along with many soon-to be-famous felines in multiple formats including music videos, bloopers and documentary style clips. There will be cats fighting with dogs, cats fighting with birds, cats falling into bathtubs, hero cats, Jedi kitties, addicted kitties and cats in space, just to list a few.
The night begins at 8 p.m. with animal inspired art throughout the gallery and cat-costumed acrobats flying high. The 70-mintue video shows at 9 p.m., followed by a live fashion show with cat-centric make-up and clothing, including outfits to be sold to benefit the SPCA. Attendees are encouraged to dress as their favorite animal for entry in a costume contest. (And though you can come dressed as your favorite fuzzy buddy, please leave your pets at home.)
The SPCA will also have info about adoptable pets, so you can find your own future Henri, Lil’ Bub or if lucky enough, the greatest of all famous kitties, Grumpy Cat.
8 p.m., May 16, $10 general, $20 VIP, ARTpool Gallery, 2030 Central Ave., St. Pete, 727-324-3878. artpoolrules.com.
