ROUND 27 | Pet Rock: A Home For Pebble
On View: September 5 – September 26 2026
Opening Reception: September 5, 2026, 6-9 PM
Cage Match Project is proud to present Round 27, “Pet Rock: A Home For Pebble” by Pat Wolf. In this exhibition the Sisyphean nature of existence is explored through Wolf’s attempts to care for an enormous pet rock named Pebble transforming the cage into a mere enclosure. Pebble had panache, attitude and ambition; she once lived off the land, and wanted for nothing. Fate, however, is a fickle mistress and, well, times change. As the world populated with humans, Pebbles’ surroundings began to change, decay, and eventually vanish. The humans took from the wilderness, commodifying it in the form of “themed environments”, Bass Pro shops, Rainforest Cafes, Water Parks, all perverted trophies of man’s conquest over Mother Earth. Pebble was no exception.
Drawing on his background in set building for film and television, this project explores our need to anthropomorphize objects and animals in order to find deeper meaning in both nature and the mundane- while putting an ironic twist on them highlighting the commodification of our good intentions. The process of accurately recreating something that took millions of years to create such as a boulder, out of completely inorganic materials such as styrofoam and truck bed liner destabilizes the viewer’s sense of scale in the physical and temporal register. Round 27 speaks to themes of commodification, absurdity, and the clash between humans and nature. In the face of austerity Pebble reminds us that humor can be a vehicle to engage collectively with heavy subjects like environmental degradation and late stage capitalism.
Artist
Pat Wolf is a multidisciplinary artist from Austin, Texas whose work includes sculpture, installation, and performance art. After graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute with a degree in printmaking in 2014, he moved to New Orleans, LA and became involved in the underground party and parade scene. During this time, Pat spent over a decade working in various industries such as film, fabrication, art handling, and building Mardi Gras floats. Using discarded materials from each of these jobs, he collaborated with other artists to transform dilapidated warehouses into venues for parties, plays, interactive performance art, and drag wrestling. Pat recently moved back home to Austin with his family where he works as a carpenter, continuing his work creating unique objects and immersive environments. Pat’s work deals with themes of absurdity, deconstruction, and transformation through a playful lens.