In Times Square, the cat watches you

Next month, a cat is taking over Times Square.

For the month of February, when the clock strikes 11:57 p.m. Times Square’s billboards will be taken over by a zen-filled three minutes of the famous video “Büsi” (Kitty), in which a cat idly laps at a bowl of milk while casually surveying its audience.

“Büsi”was created by Peter Fischli and David Weiss in 2001 and was typical of their fondness for the beauty of everyday life, which fueled their three-decade creative collaboration. “There was just something super-nice about this cat that we were attracted to,” Fischli said in statement.

“To do something that’s more spectacular than what’s going on in Times Square would be impossible,” he explained. “We wanted to do something very simple and quiet.”

The video will appear on 15 electronic billboards across the plaza maintained by the Times Square Advertising Coalition as part of Times Square Arts’Midnight Momentprogram.

The project pairs with a retrospective of the artists, Peter Fischli David Weiss: How to Work Better, which opens at the Guggenheim on Feb. 5 through April 27.

Büsi
Feb. 1-29, 11:57 p.m.-midnight
Times Square