Chinese Whiskers
January 14, 2017 8:52 PM   Subscribe

When Marcel Heijnen took a picture of cat hanging out in a shop in Hong Kong, he didn't know he had just uncovered his next project. He calls it "pure serendipity."

"[I moved to] an area that is rapidly gentrifying, with new cafés and galleries coming up left right and center, but it’s still rooted in tradition, as well — there’s loads of dried-seafood shops and traditional Chinese medicine halls," he said. "I noticed a cat sitting on the counter of one of those stores and photographed it on my iPhone. Then, another and another."

Instagram
There are garage dogs, too.
posted by Johnny Wallflower (31 comments total) 25 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is so cool; thank you! It's similar to the @Bodegacats_ twitter feed, but with haiku. You can find wonderful shop cats everywhere and I'm glad people are sharing their discoveries with us.
posted by Silverstone at 9:18 PM on January 14, 2017 [3 favorites]


Each with their own haiku! And maybe it's just the skill of the photographer, but a couple of those cats really resemble their owners.
posted by Kevin Street at 9:19 PM on January 14, 2017


No mention of what gentrifying neighborhood these cats are from.
posted by halonine at 9:49 PM on January 14, 2017


I'm confused as to what "gentrifying" means in that quote.
posted by I-baLL at 9:55 PM on January 14, 2017


A lot of fat cats in the feed.
posted by wotsac at 9:59 PM on January 14, 2017


What is kitty walking between here?

The slideshow runs into the next one, photos from a rabbit breeders convention.
posted by bryon at 10:14 PM on January 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


I forgot to mention "in regards to Hong Kong" since.... Well, since it's Hong Kong.
posted by I-baLL at 10:16 PM on January 14, 2017


Came for the shop cats, stayed for the rabbit breeders convention... overdosing on cute!
Thanks! I needed this.
posted by TrishaU at 11:11 PM on January 14, 2017 [2 favorites]


No mention of what gentrifying neighborhood these cats are from.

Given the description of drying seafood I would suggest it is Sheung Wan. Mid-Levels is over. Kennedy Town is going through the same gentrification as well.
posted by awfurby at 11:38 PM on January 14, 2017


I loved seeing all the cats in HK. My favourite was one in a Mid-Levels TCM shop that sat on a giant woody mushroom every day.
posted by awfurby at 11:41 PM on January 14, 2017 [1 favorite]


TrishaU: "Came for the shop cats, stayed for the rabbit breeders convention... overdosing on cute!
Thanks! I needed this.
"

Good, it is NOT just me then.
posted by Samizdata at 11:42 PM on January 14, 2017


Cats yay. I Am An Artist And So My Web Page Gallery Will Only Scroll Sideways Boo.

For the love of all that is whiskery, why do Artists have to keep doing this? The UX is, frankly, horrifying. The project, the pictures, and the message are wonderful and I would happily see more, but the medium is crapping on the message.

grumpy, needs scritches
posted by nonspecialist at 3:21 AM on January 15, 2017 [10 favorites]


Haiku is a Japanese art form. What has this to do with cats in Hong Kong?
posted by oheso at 3:27 AM on January 15, 2017 [6 favorites]


Whenever I hear about an artist making a book of cats, I think of this: Going "cat book" by Tim Kreider
posted by rouftop at 3:28 AM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


The neighborhood is Sai Ying Pun. My favorite pic is an intimate (SFW) moment.
posted by Miss Cellania at 4:25 AM on January 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


Suffice it to say
she does her best work
from inside the box


I don't know why, but that one made me crack up (more than the others).
posted by pangolin party at 6:33 AM on January 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


The one that made me snort:

And for my next trick:
My head...under the cleaver!
Someone move me.
posted by ezust at 6:57 AM on January 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah, do check out the rabbit convention. Keep an eye out for the guy exhibiting Domestic Cloud with Nose.
posted by ostro at 7:58 AM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


> Haiku is a Japanese art form. What has this to do with cats in Hong Kong?

It's senryu, not haiku, but aside from that who the hell cares that the subject matter is not Japanese?
posted by ardgedee at 8:09 AM on January 15, 2017 [2 favorites]



What is kitty walking between here?

I think those are caskets, I was curious, too, and searched for images of hong kong caskets as a guess and got some hits of those same wooden shapes.
posted by dawg-proud at 8:15 AM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Cleaning In Progress...
posted by jim in austin at 8:24 AM on January 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Cat 29 is gorgeous. Does anyone know what that pattern is called?
posted by deludingmyself at 8:50 AM on January 15, 2017 [1 favorite]


Does anyone know what that pattern is called?

My tablet hates the layout on the webpage, so I'm assuming it's either the dilute calico or the silver tabby?
posted by fiercekitten at 8:56 AM on January 15, 2017


These cats are all the best cats.
posted by Fig at 9:06 AM on January 15, 2017 [3 favorites]


Cat 29 looks like a dilute tortoiseshell to me.
posted by lazuli at 9:51 AM on January 15, 2017 [2 favorites]


Sometimes I click on a link from Metafilter and as I'm reading the piece I have a brain fart:

"You know who would enjoy this? Mefites. I should post this to Metafilter."

Then I remember.

This is one of those posts.
posted by cichlid ceilidh at 2:36 PM on January 15, 2017 [5 favorites]


I love these pictures. Except for the ones on the food counters.

Meebe...no.
posted by BlueHorse at 8:10 PM on January 15, 2017


Dilute tortoiseshell

I didn't know this was a thing! It's like someone went overboard on the Instagram filters in cat form!
posted by deludingmyself at 9:36 AM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


I didn't know this was a thing! It's like someone went overboard on the Instagram filters in cat form!

Truthfully, I didn't either. I could tell the cat was a tortie, and I know that that sort of frosted/washed-out/pastel-y cat coloration is usually called "dilute," so I googled "dilute tortoiseshell" and found out that it is indeed a thing. Cat coloration is really fascinatingly weird.
posted by lazuli at 11:47 AM on January 16, 2017 [1 favorite]


My dearly-missed Lucy (in front) (shaved regular tortoiseshell Arizona in far rear) was a stunning dilute tortie. She would have made a perfect shop cat too -- loved all people, exceedingly calm in all circumstances. A++++ would dilute again.
posted by Fig at 2:25 PM on January 16, 2017 [3 favorites]


Oh this is about cats? I was hoping maybe it was a YMO video.
posted by technodelic at 6:00 PM on January 16, 2017


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