Katz had, by a simple and systematic operation, proposed a new interpretation and a rereading of Maus: all the heads of the different caracters had been replaced by cat’s heads. As Art Spiegelman had published MetaMaus, with a bonus DVD, to return to the genesis and the extensions of Maus, La 5e Couche returns to the genesis and the sequels of Katz by publishing MetaKatz, with a vinyl record as a bonus. Metakatz is the act which would constitute the “closure” of Katz. A closure, which would not be one, of an act which poses questions but which no longer exists and can no longer exist, Katz having been destroyed. It is a question of carrying out the theoretical and critical act, which will perpetuate these important questions, those which were explicitly posed and the others, as well on the legal level as artistic. Metakatz looks back on the history of copyright and its exceptions (parody, quote, pastiche), on the history of the art of diversion, collage and sampling (as old as art), and on the necessary changes in law and creation in the digital age. Artists, critics, lawyers, social scientists, destruction facility specialists and anonymous blog users were invited to contribute with their feedback and investigate other rip-off practices in comics, research the use of animal metaphors in storytelling or produce derivative works. Metakatz comes with a seven inch vinyl that documents the industrial destruction of the book Katz. Belgium: La Cinquieme Couche | 210 pages | hardcover edition | 200mm x 230mm | 2013 | SOLD OUT
