Winter coats, gourmet treats, memory foam beds - we pamper our pets with pretty much everything, so why stop with giving our pets the gift of acting?
Austrian duo Alex Bailey and Krõõt Juurak are performance artists with a twist - their audience consists entirely of cats, dogs, and other household pets.
"Animals have been entertaining humans throughout the ages in circuses and zoos, entertainment by pets has overtaken the Internet, every pet is in a sense a performer for humans. We wanted to reverse the roles and offer the animals the position of the viewer," Juurak says in a statement on the pair's website.
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Known professionally as Performance for Pets, the duo uses their own research in tandem with consults from various pet psychologists to create and deliver artistic shows for a furry audience. Always attempting to connect with their onlookers, Juurak and Bailey rely on body language by walking on all fours and shaking an imaginary tail to create a (usually) interactive experience with their curious crowd and have performed over 80 times, all over Europe.
"Cats always leave the room at first but they always come back, they are the most ardent of observers," Juurak said in an interview with BBC.
While the shows are designed with an animal audience in mind, you don't need four legs to catch a viewing - the pair invites everyone in the family to sit in and enjoy a show.
While certainly unique, Performance for Pets isn't the only service designed to connect and even heal animals through the power of art. One Missouri shelter has introduced a reading program to help shy or anxious dogs overcome their fears, and a new line of short films has been scientifically proven to lower stress levels in some housepets.
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For Bailey and Juurek, their performances serve as a thank you to our furry and unconditionally loving companions, and it looks like most of their supporters are happy to see the tables turned!
Would you go see a performance? Tell us in the comments below.
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