3 designs for Crossings

CATZEBRA WEBSITE

Catzebra is a sister folly project to A Song For Jack. As part of MIR, 2017, the artist made three designs for a zebra crossing for cats. Cats have a different perception of depth and the designs using hard contrasting tones appears as narrow walk ways with the sides falling away.

Over a weekend, people were invited to bring their cats to test the versions and see a preference.

The work was intentionally absurd in a functional sense but if sited in an area with a high cat population, it is considered the walkway would be adopted by cats as they released that drivers slowed down with seeing the marking. So in reality it is a human warning device.

A painted, permanent version of Cat Zebra would be viewable from Google earth and draw interest in the city which decides to show that it is the place for new ideas. Cat Zebra is primarily a device for allowing diverse thinking.

The concept of the Cat Zebra is really about asking what type of urban environment do we want to live in and how can a local authority show creative bravery to present this piece as an example of urban sculpture than say ‘we think about things differently.’

An estimated 230,000 cats are killed each on road, while unlike Dogs, Cat deaths do not require to be reported. Cats provide an incredible social function for their owners and everything is linked. Catzebra is a statement for integrated thinking.