Scandal at the Gallery: Rick Gibson's Rat Diptych

The Sniffy snuff art was set to be produced in front of the City Library in Vancouver, Canada, a city known for its colorful mélange of libertarians and political activists. Media headlines the day before the show alerted locals who showed up in force, armed with clenched fists and impassioned screams like, "you're twisted man," and the classic, "you're a monster!" Activists also stole the two 25-kilogram concrete blocks from Gibson's van.

The irate crowd spewed the rhetoric of morality while physically attacking Rick Gibson. After he had already announced that the show was canceled and the rat was back in the hands of a nearby pet shop, the animal rights activists still saw fit to hurt a human who hadn't actually injured commercially-bred rodent Sniffy. So who's to say a little art wasn't created that day?

Gibson was chased away from the scene. Terrified by his pursuers, he scampered into a nearby hotel and hid behind the reception desk until management called police, asked them to disperse the crowd and escort the shaken artist out through a side door.

Gibson had pointed out that the split-second execution he had planned for Sniffy would be much more humane than death by slow digestion in a snake's stomach-a common demise for rats sold in pet shops. Sniffy, however, would never face either fate. Lifeforce International members purchased the erstwhile object d'art and saved his little life for only $3.99 plus tax. Media relieved the world with photos and a video of Sniffy happily snuggling in a blanket and running in a wheel after his near brush with mortality.

Today Lifeforce lists the incident on their "Accomplishments" web page, claiming that by saving Sniffy they "protected people and animals from violent, indecent acts" of "exploitative entertainment" that prevent "the development of a compassionate society."

Other Western nations, it would seem, disagree. Americans and Europeans have permitted far more violent acts in the name of artistic edification as exemplified by one Chris Burden, who in a 1971 installation enititled Shoot sustained a bullet wound to the arm. His portfolio also included pieces in which he was dragged across broken glass, crucified, and nearly electrocuted.

Rick Gibson still creates art in Vancouver, although his days of performance art are over. Currently, he works in more benign, less beastial mediums such as sculpture and 3-dimensional anaglyphs. He has since vacated his basement apartment, one of many stops on the 10th Anniversary Sniffy Bus Tour. T-shirts and magnets featuring the rodent's intact face have also circulated among lovers of rats and spectacles everywhere. These items are available for purchase at www.radiax.com.