Rat Catching (Studies in the Art of Rat Catching)
Quarto [28 cm] Photocopy of a mockup photo collage. Bound with three metal rings. Seemingly the plans for the conceptual art book that Glover would publish in 1988, "Rat Catching." Glover's "Rat Catching" was based on an 1896 edition of "Studies in the Art of Rat-Catching" by H. C. Barkley. Here, in this odd mockup, one is presented with a succession of photocopied pages representing Glover's artistic manipulation of the 1896 edition of "Studies in the Art of Rat-Catching" by H. C. Barkley. In this photocopy, Glover has crossed the original author's name out and replaced it with "Crispin Hellion Glover." Crispin plays with the original contents of the book throughout adding sketches and notations.
The collection of photocopies opens up with a photocopy of an inscription from Glover "To Pat Edington [sic] / The best art / collector / encyclopedia and / maker / in the whole world / Crispin / Hellion / Glover / In the summertime / 1987."
Patrick Eddington (aka “Pat the Cat”) was a Utah artist and former high school art teacher, who spent over two decades corresponding with numerous artists and authors. He had has his goal, the desire to create “The Cat Project,” where literary and visual artists around the world were asked to produce original works about cats, which would be included in a traveling exhibition and book. This goal was unfortunately never realized, however in the process, Eddington forged many friendships, and frequently corresponded on a personal level with a variety of contemporary artists and writers whom he admired, over the course of many years via postcards and letters. Often, he would exchange gifts with the artists in the mail. He gained many artistic pieces and signatures in this fashion. This odd Crispin Glover piece, with the photocopied inscription to Eddington, is an example of the type of relationship and correspondence Eddington so often forged with the artists that he looked up to.
The question of where the original example is (assuming there is one) remains a mystery. Item #58641
Despite the fact that this is a Xerox, this is still a curious ensemble, and seemingly rather limited.
Price: $300.00