WALKER ART CENTER PRESENTS SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THE INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL AT MINNESOTA STATE FAIR GRANDSTAND ON AUGUST 28
Minneapolis, February 14, 2013—The Walker Art Center presents its second Internet Cat Video Festival on Wednesday, August 28, 7 pm, at the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand. Last year the Festival (#catvidfest), the first of its kind in the nation/world, drew a crowd of over 10,000 to the Walker. What began as a social experiment testing the boundaries of online communities and crowd-sourced content resulted in attention from local, national, and international audiences and media and spawned “copy-cat” festivals around the country. For its second edition, the Festival is moving to the Great Minnesota Get-Together this year and bringing along the same spirit of community and collaboration.
TICKETS
Price: $10 (all reserved seating) Note: Admission to the State Fairgrounds must be purchased in addition to the Internet Cat Video Festival ticket.
On-Sale Date/Time: 10 a.m. on Saturday, March, 9
Where to get tickets:
- Online at mnstatefair.org
- By phone at (800) 514-3849
- In person at the State Fairgrounds Box Office during a special limited time opening from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturday, March 9. (Regular box office hours will begin in early June.)
WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL NOMINATIONS
The Walker one again invites your nominations to help curate the festival. Check your browser bookmarks, ask your friends or spend some quality “research” time at work and send in your favorite internet cat clips. New this year, we are accepting nominations into various “cat”-egories including Comedy, Drama, Documentary, Foreign, Musical, and Lifetime Achievement. Show us a new talent or nominate an old favorite and help us shape this year’s lineup. For full details and access to the nomination form visit walkerart.org/catvidfest and submit your picks. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2013.
WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL AWARDS
Which video will walk away with the #catvidfest hardware? Last year, Will Braden’s now iconic Henri Le Chat Noir #2 took home the coveted Golden Kitty Award as the People’s Choice Best of Festival. This year, the Golden Kitty returns, along with new awards for each of the categories. The Golden Kitty will be decided via online vote this summer.
HENRI RETURNS
Will Braden (Henri) will return to the festival to present the Golden Kitty to this year’s winner and to debut a new Henri video exclusively for the Internet Cat Video Festival. Braden will speak at the Walker Art Center on Thursday, August 29 at 7pm, about his experience as an internet cat video producer and the crazy journey since the first Festival. A reception and book signing will be held following the program in the Walker Garden Café.
Tickets to Will Braden’s Walker talk are free and will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at the box office beginning at 6 pm.
NEW THIS YEAR: MN CAT-ON-A-STICK CATEGORY
This year’s festival features a new category just for Minnesota Cats. In the spirit of the Great Minnesota Get-Together, nominate your favorite local feline talent for a chance to be featured in the Festival. Nominations must be publicly available on YouTube or Vimeo to be eligible. Visit walkerart.org/catvidfest and submit your picks into the Cat-On-A-Stick category. Deadline for submissions is May 1, 2013.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
It’s not just about internet cat videos, it’s about watching internet cat videos together.
The Internet Cat Video Festival tests the boundaries of online communities and crowd-sourced public content to create a fun, playful event for all ages. Last year’s festival was preceded by a lineup of related artist projects, music and local animal resource non-profit booths. This spirit will carry over to the Fair, with more live music, special guests and community groups. Look for more announcements closer to summer. Also, because it’s the Minnesota State Fair, the festival will conclude with fireworks.
WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL ON TOUR
Since the First Internet Cat Video Festival debuted at the Walker last August, interest and intrigue about the program has continued. The Cat Video Festival playlist is closing in on a million views and the blog posts and event listings blew away any prior records for web traffic at the Walker. The festival has inspired “copycat" festivals by small groups such as the Somerville, Massachusetts Arts Council, and much larger organizations including the Friskies Awards and Fresh Step's Catdance festival.
One of the most interesting outcomes has been the number of inquiries to re-stage the original Internet Cat Video Festival in other locations. Since the Festival there have been 47 requests from interested sites including inquiries from Canada, Mexico and Europe. The tour started last fall with events at UMASS Boston and The Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego and there are upcoming events scheduled nationally, including the Minnesota State Fair debut of the second festival. As with the original event, each of these festivals reflects its own community to create a unique experience.
Tour Dates
MEMPHIS: Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
Thursday, February 14, 6–9 pm
Screenings at 7 & 9 pm
Must Love Cats! You don’t have to be a so-called cat lady to come to the Brooks for Must Love Cats!, an evening of art-making activities, feline-inspired performances by Opera Memphis, music from DJ Superman, a cash bar, and two screenings of the Walker’s Internet Cat Video Festival.
AUBURN, NY: Auburn Public Theater
Friday and Saturday, March 3–4
Auburn Public Theater brings you the Cat Carnival!
Hey all you cool cats, walk your paws on over to downtown Auburn for a weekend full of fun and games-all for a good cause. The Cat Carnival will be complete with face painting, trivia and games with kitty-friendly prizes fit for the whole family. The Finger Lakes SPCA and the CNY Cat Coalition will have tables set up with important information on the feline community both days and cats and kittens will be available for adoption.
Events include a talk by Scott Stulen from The Walker Art Center, one of the organizers of the Internet Cat Video Festival.
AUSTIN, TX: SXSW Session #CATVIDFEST: Is this the end of Art?
Friday, March 8, 3:30 pm
Austin Convention Center, Room 18ABCD
On August 30th, 2012, over 10,000 people gathered at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for the first Internet Cat Video Festival (#catvidfest). What began as a social experiment testing the boundaries of online communities and crowd-sourcing content resulted in attention from local, national, and international audiences and press and raised public debate around the role of museums in an internet culture. Fractious questions were raised about the relevancy or ridiculousness of the event and the role of the curator in a crowd-sourced environment. Using #catvidfest as a case study, we will question what it means for a museum to reflect contemporary culture in the era of YouTube, explore the challenges traditional institutions face engaging online audiences, and share what we learned from transforming a solitary online viewing experience into a real world social event. This session will include cat videos.
AUSTIN, TX: SXSW Party and Screening with Animal Planet
Saturday, March 9, 5–7 pm
Fado on W 4th St., 214 W 4th St, Austin, TX
A cat-loving happy hour to please, cat lovers, online cat video watchers and all things feline. Animal Planet and the Walker Arts Center join forces to provide entertainment, cat themed cocktails, and chances to preview exclusive new (what else) cat videos. This indoor-outdoor event will feature live music, a showing of the top videos from the Walker Arts Center's Internet Cat Video Festival, previews of the upcoming season of Animal Planet’s My Cat from Hell and the exclusive premiere of a new "Henri" video. Special guest Jackson Galaxy from My Cat from Hell will also be in attendance.
OAKLAND, CA: The Great Wall of Oakland
Saturday, May 11, 2–10pm
http://www.oaklandcatvidfest.com/
The Great Wall of Oakland will host the Bay Area premiere of the Walker Art Center’s Internet Cat Video Festival with an estimated 10,000 cat-lovers and friends celebrating felines and exploring the low-art of internet cat videos together, in real-time. West Grand between Telegraph and Broadway will transform into a cat-lovers wonderland with cat-themed events in every corner, including animal adoptions. Festival attendees can peruse cat products from a host of local vendors, sample delicious food from local food trucks, and participate in a plethora of cat-themed activities including a cat fashion show, cat trick demonstrations, cat art projects, cat-themed bands, and much more.
Cataclysm: Portland's Internet Cat Film Festival
Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland OR
Saturday, May 11, 2–10pm
INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL TOUR T-SHIRTS ON SALE NOW
Internet Cat Video Festival Tour logo t-shirts are available for $20 via the Walker’s Shop:
WALKER ART CENTER INTERNET CAT VIDEO FESTIVAL PUBLIC INFORMATION:
walkerart.org/catvidfest
@catvidfest
#catvidfest
MEDIA CONTACT: Rachel Joyce rachel.joyce@walkerart.org
B Roll of last year’s Festival and images available upon request.
The Minnesota State Fair
The Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest and best-attended expositions in the world, attracting nearly 1.8 million visitors annually. Showcasing Minnesota's finest agriculture, art and industry, the Great Minnesota Get-Together is always 12 Days of Fun Ending Labor Day. Visit www.mnstatefair.org for more information. The 2013 Minnesota State Fair runs Aug. 22–Labor Day, Sept. 2.
Walker Art Center
One of the most celebrated art museums in the country, the Walker Art Center is known for presenting today's most compelling artists, as well as modern masters, including Andy Warhol, Matthew Barney, Jasper Johns, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and Kara Walker. In addition to traveling exhibitions and its world-renowned collection, the Walker presents a broad array of contemporary music, dance, and theater, and the best in film from around the world and down the block. The Walker's 11-acre Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is one of the country's largest urban sculpture parks. At its center is the beloved Twin Cities landmark—the playful fountain-sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry. The Garden features more than 40 works of art and the Cowles Conservatory.
The Walker Art Center is located at 1750 Hennepin Avenue—where Hennepin meets Lyndale—one block off Highways I-94 and I-394, in Minneapolis.
For public information, call 612.375.7600 or visit walkerart.org. Stay connected via your mobile device and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Walker Art Center
One of the most celebrated art museums in the country, the Walker Art Center is known for presenting today's most compelling artists, as well as modern masters, including Andy Warhol, Matthew Barney, Jasper Johns, Yoko Ono, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Rothko, and Kara Walker. In addition to traveling exhibitions and its world-renowned collection, the Walker presents a broad array of contemporary music, dance, and theater, and the best in film from around the world and down the block. The Walker's 11-acre MinneapolisSculptureGardenis one of the country's largest urban sculpture parks. At its center is the beloved Twin Cities landmark—the playful fountain-sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry. The Garden features more than 40 works of art and the Cowles Conservatory.
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