Cat did it!

Cat did it! takes as its starting point the story of Koko, the gorilla who, after reportedly tearing a sink from the wall, used sign language to indicate ‘cat did it’, apparently shifting the blame onto one of her pets. Whether or not the gesture constituted deliberate deception, the anecdote opens onto questions of guilt, responsibility and the impulse to distance ourselves from the consequences of our actions.

Moving between animal behaviour, scapegoating and rituals of ablution, the exhibition considers the act of cleansing as both physical and psychological: from washing the body to ‘washing one’s hands’ of responsibility. Deception and purification emerge as parallel strategies of self-preservation — ways of negotiating discomfort, guilt and the desire to emerge clean from the mess we make.