Seattle artist behind viral ‘Kitty Cat Dance’ meme turns to crypto art market after years of ripoffs

2 min read

4 years ago Curated by Theresa Wysocki

Photo caption: Steve Ibsen’s cat Kayla was the star of an internet meme called “Kitty Cat Dance,” created in 2004. Screenshot via YouTube. Article by Kurt Schlosser. GeekWire – March 10, 2021.

Seventeen years ago, Steve Ibsen was getting ready to leave his house when he noticed his cat, Kayla, sprawled on the bed. Amused at her dance-like pose, Ibsen snapped a series of photographs of the cat.

The aspiring animator, who was 17 at the time, stitched the images together and wrote and performed a short song to create a simple video that he uploaded to his high school blog, G-shack.com. In the time since, “Kitty Cat Dance” has become a well-known part of the internet’s vast meme culture. And it’s been stolen, copied, uploaded and profited on by lots of people who were not Ibsen.

That all changes Wednesday as Ibsen, who lives in Seattle’s White Center neighborhood, is auctioning off the original digital file to try to immortalize his work, and capitalize in some way off the wave of interest around digital art and collectibles, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and blockchain technology. […]

Update, Friday, March 12: “Kitty Cat Dance” sold early Friday for 2 ETH, or about $3,500. Ibsen said he was “super satisfied” with the payoff.

“Obviously more money is always more money but that is a good chunk of cash for an artist like me,” he said. “The biggest relief I’ve had through all of this is being the one to mint my own NFT of my work, not somebody else.” […]

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