MISSION STATEMENT

Prattastrophe is a humor-themed art collective fueled by and produced for the students, faculty, and staff of Pratt Institute. Our members prefer to operate anonymously, which gives us the freedom to act under the radar, and frankly, get away with certain (harmless) pranks that would never receive formal approval. Core to our principles are subtlety, wit, and mischief. 

Over the last few years, we created parody posters/advertisements and exhibited them around campus or uploaded them to Instagram. However our pranks recently escalated during the 2023 and 2024 Pratt Design Shows, where we covertly installed unsanctioned sculptures with fake labels. Both pieces remained undisturbed from opening night to teardown a week later, when we were even able to retrieve them. 

Our most complex project to date was a short mockumentary about a feline-humanoid cryptid dubbed the “Pratt Cat”, inspired by the style of MonsterQuest  with humor akin to Cunk on Earth. Quite the ambitious undertaking, we combined elements of scripted interviews, prop-making, costuming, practical special effects, graphic design, 2D and 3D animation, audio production, video editing, marketing, distribution of promotional merchandise, and performance art. All of this culminated in an interactive live premiere on campus, followed by an online release on Halloween of 2023.

Future initiatives include a collection of six "As Seen on TV" style ads for ridiculous products, imbedding a secret piece of architecture on campus, and producing a Da Vinci Code or National Treasure-esque scavenger hunt where members of the Pratt community can decode and follow clues to locate a special prize. 

To date, we are completely self-funded and none of our projects have administrative approval. We do not seek to disrupt institute operations, we maintain no social/political agenda, and we try to be very cognizant of the line where things go from funny to insulting or offensive. Our primary goal and unofficial motto is: “Keep Pratt Weird.” Not everything has to be so formal or tightly controlled – sometimes art school should make you furrow your brow in confusion, snort out a laugh, and say “what the actual fuck.” That is Prattastrophe.