Because it is Friday, I would like to share with you my thoughts on a selection of internet cats.
Here is an interesting juxtaposition involving a selection of cats, three of which are approaching the camera in what could be interpreted as either an aggressive or, alternatively, a ‘cool’ fashion. Interestingly, the terms ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ as slang expressions are believed to have originated as early as the 1930’s – the same period which first saw the word ‘cat’ applied as a slang term meaning either fashionable person or a respected performing musician specialising in the swing style – later to evolve into what is known as jazz.
The formation of the three cats when viewed in conjunction with the text that reads ‘we would be snapping’ is likely a playful reference to the musical West Side Story, the music of which was composed by Leonard Bernstein and the lyrics which weren’t. Leonard Bernstein is both Jewish and bi-sexual, however it is not clear whether the creator of the image below is making any direct comment about the Hebrew faith or bi-sexuality per se.
Two other cats appear in what photography experts describe as the ‘background’.
One interesting scientific aspect of background and, indeed, foreground is that the human brain automatically processes image text using perspective which is the ability to interpret the below image as containing three cats closer to the artist/photographer and the other two cats as being further away.
However, it has been demonstrated by the famous neurophysician and author, Oliver Sachs, that various types of brain injury such as a selective stroke in a certain part of the brain may affect the ability to process an image using the facility of perspective. Such an individual would likely read the below image as five cats, two of which are small and randomly floating above the larger cats. Brain injuries of this nature are not necessarily healed, but in some cases the affected individual may ‘re-learn’ to process perspective through alternative routes in the brain so over time the two small cats will cease randomly floating and get bigger.
Siamese cats are known for being cross-eyed and having claws that do not fully retract, which is sometimes linked with furniture destruction. The cats in the image are not Siamese cats.
Thank you for sharing this image with me.
