The Cat and Mouse Game

This video shows a young, inexperienced castrated and tame house cat with little connection to his animal instincts, playing with lab mice who have like the cat, never been like nature intended, but have lived as pets or laboratory test subjects for generations. This work forces both creatures to confront and interact with each other for the first time within the confined space of a white cube to test the myth of the cat and mouse game.

“Cat and mouse game” is an English-language idiom that means "A contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes. The cat is unable to secure a definitive victory over the mouse, who despite not being able to defeat the cat, is himself too nimble to be caught. In extreme cases, the idiom may imply that the contest is never-ending. The audience’s expectation is important in this video where I have tried to balance the tension with a constant stalemate.

Stills from the video: