#with no idea that this is an art piece id genuinely love and deem important

[cheddar-baby]

people taking that compilation of photos of a cat licking a womans face as sexual / calling it full on zoophilia is more revealing of how they think than anything in the artwork L0L like why are YOU seeing it that way....

It does speak to a very strange world view. Like the piece is intentionally supposed to be uncomfortable because its a wall sized collage of poorly lit photos of a woman pretending to makeout with a cat but its a really big stretch to go from oh thats strange and uncomfortable to "this is zoophilia" this is pornographic. This is animal abuse at the highest level. The lack of recognizing its both just clearly not porn and that its clearly being presented in a gallery space, spaces we all know often host illegal porn.

Like i fully get being uncomfortable because it gives you very good reason to be, the piece is baiting you to be uncomfortable as a means to begin unpacking why that is. Its using the viewers assumption of photography as truth against them. The lighting is intentionally dark, amateurish on camera flash, and framed in extreme closeup (used often to show intimacy or claustrophobia). Then it has the scale (it is like 8-10 feet high) and repetition of the kissing to really cement the feeling. All of which is intentional on the artists part. Its a pretty normal thing for cats to lick peoples faces or sniff your face (idk what the cat was actually doing i wasnt there while it was shot) no one really questions this outside of it being gross that pets lick themselves clean its a pretty accepted thing. But you add that bit of posing to make it look like for that split second you took the photo that you were kissing the cat back and it transforms the entire thing.

Its really smart in how it instantly cuts through people to immediate disgust and discomfort. When i saw it in person i sat there stunned infront of it for 10 minutes because its genuinely incredibly striking and punctures you right in the gut. But when you peel away at it you get a really great lesson on photography theory. These photos aren't real at least in the sense that no photos are real, they are manufactured and sculpted by the artist. This is what photography is about it isnt a document of truth its a heavily manufactured object that just happens to look real.

The piece is asking you to be uncomfortable its baiting you into discomfort. Which in itself is a fun emotion for art to envoke but the real beauty and genius of the piece comes out of unpacking that emotion and peeking behind the curtain.