A Dutch artist famous for making her pet cat into a purse has launched a new controversial project: revealing personal details about everyone who has sent her hate mail over the cat "art."
Katinka Simonse, also known as Tinkebell, has assembled the thousands of e-mails she received since twisting her cat's neck and skinning it with her own hands in 2004, and she has published them along with the names, ages and addresses of each sender, according to the English version of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
The book, "Dearest Tinkebell," is especially controversial because it also includes YouTube videos, MySpace profiles and any other embarrassing information available on the Web pertaining to the e-mail authors, NRC International reported.
Simonse was quoted in NRC as saying that "everything has been obtained legally," and all the published information already was made accessible by the people themselves.
But the book could still be taken off the market since those featured in it have not given their permission, the paper reported.
Other Tinkebell projects include a 2007 exhibit, in which she rescued 61 chicks from a factory then threatened to throw them in a shredder if her audience did not adopt them, and a 2008 exhibit featuring hundreds of hamsters running around a gallery in transparent spheres, NRC reported.
According to the Animal Protection Society, the public prosecutor reportedly is looking into whether the artist can be charged with violating the Health and Well-being Act for Animals, the paper reported.
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