Ceiling Cat

2003

Date: 5 January 2003 · Place: originally posted to laugh-out-loud cats forums, later 4chan · Figures: anonymous photographer · 4chan /b/, propagation venue · Martin Grondin, LOLCat Bible Translation Project (2007) · Tags: LOLCat, Deity 01. A White Cat Peers Through a Hole On 5 January 2003 a photograph appears online: a white cat poking its head through a hole in a drywall ceiling, staring straight down at the camera. The original poster and the cat are both lost to history. The image lands in cat-photo forums and sits dormant for two years. By 2006 it is circulating on 4chan with the caption CEILING CAT IS WATCHING YOU MASTURBATE in LOLcat lowercase. The voyeur framing turns a cute photo into a theological one. 02. The LOLCat Pantheon Ceiling Cat acquires Basement Cat as his Satan and Monorail Cat as a saint. Martin Grondin starts the LOLCat Bible Translation Project in July 2007: oh hai, in teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh skiez An da Urfs, but he did not eated dem. The project gets press in The New York Times. Ceiling Cat is the moment LOLcats stop being captioned pictures and start being scripture. The meme acquires lore, hierarchy, recurring characters. It is the first meme religion, and the model for every Pepe-as-Kek elaboration that follows. Sources • KnowYourMeme, Ceiling Cat • Martin Grondin, 'LOLCat Bible' (Ulysses Press, 2010) • The New York Times, 'Cute? Pictures of cats on the Internet are' (July 2008)