4) FERAL CAT FEEDING STATIONS
Feeding stations are provided by MRFS to numerous feral cat colonies within Massachusetts. These stations consist of an insulated space that can accommodate up to six cats that enter and exit the shelter at their own will. Volunteer "feeders" provide food twice a day to cats that use the shelter. Feral cats using the feeding stations are neutered or spayed through an adjacent volunteer program also provided by the MRFS. In this way, the feral cat colonies remain healthier than on their own accord and their population is controlled.


Figure 1 - Feral Cat Feeding Station

5) BENEFITING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY
In researching the feral cat colonies, much needed documentation for the MRFS will be created to map cat colonies, feeding stations, and will potentially include high-level business processes. The extent of these documents will be limited due to the restrictive timeline of the project. The documentation will provide a basis for the design of an object that will benefit the local community:
• acknowledge efforts of volunteers
• promote the organization within the local community
• provide insight into the feral cat phenomena relative to administered human influence
6) COMMUNICATING WITHIN THE REALM OF ART
From the perspective of communicating with a larger community that includes art museums, this project will provide insight into the particularities of the feral cat phenomena relative to administered human influence. Of greatest interest is the intersection between these semi-autonomous cat colonies with programs established for their well-being that have been instituted by organizations and individuals. Beyond cats, we share a general interest similar to that of the Situationists in respect to studying and mapping outcomes resulting from the introduction of a foreign element into a previously established environment. Specifically, we are interested in the role that the "feeding stations" provided by MRFS play in the feral cat colonies.

7) DESIGNS UNDER CONSIDERATION
We are interested in designing objects in response to the feral cat feeding stations provided by MRFS. The structures produced by MRFS are distributed to cat colony areas where "feeder" volunteers bring food twice a day. One aspect of these designs and the materials used is their shared characteristics with human domestic structures. The shape of the structure and use of carpeting, pink foam insulation and wooden shingles all directly reflect a domesticity that raises questions about our relationship with these semiautonomous feral cats. These feeding stations also have a symbolic value within the local community which associates the structures with feral population.

Several variations of the project are currently under consideration. Each variation has specific implications on the production processes and distribution. It should also be noted that no approach excludes any other, in other words it may be beneficial to combine these ideas into a multi-pronged approached ... however this is unlikely due to time and resource limitations that currently apply to this project. Project designs currently under consideration include:

I.
  Complete design (conceptual, structural, material...) of a new feral cat feeding station that will be distributed by MRFS to feral cat colonies. The structure will be presented in the context of an art museum alongside research materials, documentation and mapping.
II.
  Appropriation of existing feral cat feeding station design for miniature replicas that will be distributed by MRFS to volunteers of donors. The multiples would be presented in the context of an art museum alongside an original full-scale feral cat feeding station, research materials, documentation and mapping.
III.
  TOO EXPENSIVE, OUT OF SCOPE, BUT FUN: Institute GPS tracking of cats belonging to a specific colony and make data available to MRFS. Distribution of tracking devices would be handled during spay/neuter weekend program. Real-time cat locations relative to feeding stations will be projected in the context of an art museum alongside a full-scale replica of an existing feral cat feeding station, research materials, documentation and mapping. The projection of cat and shelter positions will be overlaid on an anonymous blank map to ensure the security of the animals.
IV.
  TOO EXPENSIVE, OUT OF SCOPE, BUT FUN: Institute physical sensor on flaps of feral cat feeding stations. Transmit data (entries and exits) to internet gateway host. In an art museum, a replica of the feeding station is equipped with Ethernet connectivity and a robotic element that pushes or pulls the door flap when the cats enter or exit the real-world feeding station. This would be presented alongside research materials, documentation and mapping.
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