Rick Gibson

Rick Gibson
Gibson in 1989 with the contraption he planned on using to crush Sniffy the rat
Born	1951 (age 65–66) Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Nationality	Canada
Known for	Holography, Sculpture, Performance Art, Anaglyphs, Lenticulars
Notable work	Foetus Ear-rings, Cannibalism, Sniffy the Rat
Website	http://www.rickgibson.net

Rick Gibson (born 1951) is a Canadian sculptor and artist. He was born in Montreal and he studied Psychology at the University of Victoria. Between 1973 and 1974 he drew weekly comics for the student newspaper. After completing his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1974 he moved to Vancouver. He lived in London, England from 1983 to 1989. He received a Master of Science degree in Interactive Art and Technology from Simon Fraser University, Surrey in 2004.

In 1976, he became the holography assistant for the American new media artist Al Razutis. In 1978 he received Canadian government funding to build his own holography studio and study holographic special effects. He exhibited the results of this work in Vancouver at the Helen Pitt Gallery in June 1978 and again in Victoria at the Open Space Gallery in June 1979.

In an attempt to solve a holographic problem, Gibson experimented with freeze-drying techniques. He produced a series of sculptures that explored the ethics of using legally embalmed animals and humans as art supplies. These sculptures were first exhibited at the Unit/Pitt Gallery in Vancouver, Canada in 1981. The same works were later shown in November 1984 at the Cuts Gallery in London, UK.

During the 1984 exhibition of freeze-dried sculptures in London, UK, Gibson was given two dehydrated human fetuses from an anatomy professor. They were 10 weeks in development and had been dehydrated for 20 years. Gibson re-hydrated both fetuses, freeze-dried them and attached them as earrings to a female mannequin head. The sculpture was titled Human Earrings. They were exhibited at the Young Unknowns Gallery in south London in December 1987. On Thursday, 3 December 1987, the sculpture was seized by the Metropolitan Police. Because of this incident, Gibson was expelled from Goldsmiths College on 21 December 1987, where he was studying post-graduate art, design and technology. On 11 April 1988, Gibson and the gallery owner, Peter Sylveire, were formally charged with the common law offences of exhibiting a public nuisance and outraging public decency.