Installations

Date: Saturday, August 15, 2026

Would you like to see Cathenge installed as public art in SW DC?

Group Show featuring:

Over the past few years, I've been very busy with installations of Cathenge, my 3D printed, Space Cat Temple that has appeared at Burning Man and been an SF Arts Commission public installation. For many years, Art Basel has snuck up on the calendar and happened without me attending and I’ve felt left out. Finally, in 2023, the stars aligned - I was ready with the newly designed “Kittolith” to go to Art Basel! The Kittolith is a smaller version (6’ tall) of the iconic Catolith (think Monolith of 2001 in the shape of a cat!) Cat Statue of Cathenge. The Kittolith can be disassembled into parts and fit into a couple of suitcases and taken on an airplane. And so I did just that! I packed the Kittolith up and reassembled it in my hotel room in Miami Beach and brought the Kittolith around to Miami ArtWeek (colloquially known as "Art Basel" for it's eponymous lead art fair)!

From May through October of 2023 I presented at the Cathenge Cat Temple installation at Hayes Valley, San Francisco, a bi-weekly series of "Space Cat Sessions" that were multi-media story-telling presentations, PowerPoint Presentations using hundreds of images, recounting the Saga of the Lyran Space Cats, the "Space Cat Odyssey" of the "Cathenge Mythos".

On Thursday, May 25th at 9PM join us for the second installment of the "Space Cat Session Series" at Cathenge at Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley. Within the uniquely cosmic ambience of David Normal's Cathenge Cat Temple art installation we'll continue to explore the mysteries of the Cathenge Mythos - the epic tale 0f the Space Cats and their journey through the cosmos. In this second session we'll focus in greater depth on the sacred order of the Cat Priestesshood of Pussiopolis and their rituals of Holofelinity - Universal Cat Consciousness.

Space Cat Sessions is an on site multimedia slideshow presentation of the Cathenge Mythos by David Normal with musical accompaniment by Xxhe (Ręal Varnes) at the Cathenge installation. Patricia’s Green, Hayes Valley, San Francisco

Save the date! Upcoming event: Official Reception for Cathenge! Gala Reception!

CREDITS FOR CATHENGE AT PATRICIA'S GREEN:

Last Wednesday, October 19th, the San Francisco Department of Recreation and Parks issued a one year permit for Cathenge to be installed and exhibited at Patricia's Green Park (Octavia and Fell streets, Hayes Valley). This is the green light, the permission, Cathenge has been waiting for! By October 31st 2022 Cathenge will be all finished and ready to receive the public.

Cathenge made it back to Black Rock City this year, 2022! This installation of three Catoliths facing outward surrounding a fire brazier was placed at 3:30 and Esplanade in Black Rock City. The installation was smaller and more intimate than the 2019 Cathenge installation that featured six cats in a 100' circle. The intimacy of the installation, and the fire brazier burning in the center, provided opportunities for late night gatherings where the Mysteries of Holofelinity, the Cat Priestesshood of Pussiopolis and many other subjects were discussed.

Very, very pleased to announce that Cathenge will return to Black Rock City in 2022! We are producing a more compact version of the 2019 Cat Temple with the new and improved "2.0 Catoliths" that have been developed for the forthcoming Patricia's Green public art installation in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. As per the illustration above, the Cats will stand on a triangular platform with a fire brazier in the center.

Two new and improved Catoliths will appear tonight at the Fluffy Cloud Experience. Fluffy Cloud is an immersive light and sound installation first debuted at Burning Man in 2019. The event will be held at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond.

On June 20th David Normal opened the Institute of Crazyology at 1000 Van Ness. The "Crazyology Inaugural Ball" celebrated the installation of the Cathenge Burning Man installation, and was a reunion and respite from the restrictions of the pandemic for the SF BMan and Cacophony Society crowd.

Cat Priestess Saya Olivia Hayashi dances a ceremonial dance as she invoked the power of Holofelinity, Universal Cat Consciousness at Cathenge installation for Burning Man 2019.

Chinese photographer and installation artist, Suci Li, documented Cathenge 2019 at Black Rock City with these gorgeous photos.

Cathenge is now completed and on display at Patricia's Green in Hayes Valley, San Francisco. The culmination of over a year's continuous work by artist David Normal, and intensive collaboration and coordination with a talented team of builders and technicians has brought Cathenge to life. Below are some photos of the newly erected installation.

Los Angeles photographers, Dennis Helladanko and Damon Bivianos, documented Cathenge with these stunning photos.

A view of Cathenge at night with all the Catoliths aglow, their Cat Chakras expressing the power of Holofelinity. In the center can be seen Brad Allen's three Burn Braziers inviting people to gather around their elegant light and their nurturing warmth.

Cathenge at Black Rock City silhouetted in the setting sun upon the playa of the Black Rock Desert. The Catoliths stand in a 100' diameter circle around the central platform where the three mighty propane burn braziers built by Brad Allen are mounted. A scaffold for shibari (Japanese Rope Bondage) was erected by Los Angeles rope artist, Argent Lloyd. Photo by Gurps Chawla.

A lone Catolith with Burn Brazier in the foreground. The Burn Braziers were created by flame effects artist, Brad Allen, using WWII era propane tanks that are spherical. Brad cut these tanks in half to create monumental hemispherical braziers that provided an "eternal flame" type effect that greatly enhanced the sacrosanct atmosphere of the Cathenge Cat Temple at Burning Man 2019. The thickly dusty atmosphere shows clearly the beams of light shooting forth from the eyes of the Catolith - an important part of the Cathenge concept; emulating the cats shooting lasers from their eyes internet meme.