“madcatlady” is a YouTube channel run by a person who is really good at generating CGI graphics. She uploads videos of CGI worlds and characters, sometimes setting the videos to music, other times using voiceovers.
“madcatlady’s” videos are insanely creepy. The characters and music in her videos are the stuff of nightmares. Sometimes the camera zooms in really close to a character’s face, and it makes my skin crawl because the character is so detailed in such an unsettling way. But I don’t want to give you the impression that “madcatlady” is bad. On the contrary, “madcatlady” is probably one of the most prolific artists of the twenty-first century.
My best friend and I have a favorite “madcatlady” video, but it was taken down by YouTube because it was too far ahead of its time. The video was called “Tom R Toe,” and it depicted an old man, bobbing up and down on a farm with this computer generated voice saying “Tom R Toe” over and over again, but it sounded like it was saying “tomato,” and it was all set to some cheap-sounding MIDI music. The motion of the man had this weirdly erotic vibe to it and was stilted in a way that got under your skin. It’s creepy, but it’s just a work of art, so after you watch it once and get over the “what the hell” phase, it’s pretty funny and lovable. A lot of “madcatlady’s” videos have this strange dichotomy of weird and lovable, repulsive and charming, sublime and meaningless.
“madcatlady” is the kind of art that elicits reactions along the lines of “ummmmm, okay?” and “hahahaha what the hell?” or maybe just “wut.” With a little bit of patience, though, “madcatlady’s” videos are very rewarding to watch. They bring to life the jolting and spastic motion of dreams, and the associative nature of our subconscious (see the video “viral vacuum”). It’s exciting to see people use technology to create art this captivating, and I hope “madcatlady” spawns more YouTube artists who are inspired by her vision.
