A sculpture of a cat inside a glass jar, inspired by an infamous internet hoax.
The work draws from a controversial website that claimed to provide instructions on how to raise a kitten inside a jar, shaping its bones to fit the container. The cat would theoretically grow into the vessel’s form, much like a bonsai tree is pruned and trained over time.
When the Bonsai Kitten website appeared in 2000, it provoked widespread outrage — particularly among animal rights activists who took the claims at face value. The backlash grew intense enough that the FBI launched an investigation.
Though the hoax has been debunked repeatedly, petitions demanding its removal continue to circulate. The outrage has only amplified its notoriety: mirror sites proliferated, the myth persisted, and the cycle of misunderstanding kept the story alive. That dynamic feels emblematic of internet culture itself — a self-perpetuating loop where misinformation and infamy reinforce each other.
In this reinterpretation, the cat leans against a Manfrotto autopole — the kind of stand typically used on photo sets — underscoring the sculpture’s deliberately staged, photogenic quality.
Installed at Kunstverein Wiesbaden.