Another Rat Flat<\/strong><\/em> \u2013 Spacex Gallery, Exeter Festival, Exeter, UK.May 1976.<\/p>\n In the early spring of 1976 I decided I wanted to make a piece of work in memory of the American poet, Lew Welch, whose work I had admired for many years. An opportunity arose during the Exeter Festival of that year. I transformed an old shed in the backyard of Spacex Gallery, turning it into a place for Lew to return to. I provided him with a desk, some paper, pen and ink, and a few other comforts to make him feel at home.<\/p>\n It is strange that as chance would have it I finished the work and opened it to the public exactly five years from the day Lew disappeared. I called the work Another Rat Flat<\/em> in memory of another hut named Rat Flat which Lew had in northern California and in which he wrote some of his poetry.<\/p>\n The door to Another Rat Flat<\/em> was barricaded. Visitors could only peer in through the bars of wood across the doorway. A cord from the bell on the desk connected to a bell pull at the door. I imagined if Lew Welch was to visit my hut it would be because he heard the \u201cring of bone\u201d.<\/p>\n The painted sign at the top reads: A place to return to – a time to come home<\/em>. Next to a photograph of Welch, beside the doorway, was the following note:<\/p>\n On 23rd<\/sup> May 1971, Lew Welch, walked out of the cabin of his friend Gary Snyder in the Californian hill country of Nevada County. He took with him a revolver. He walked into the forest leaving behind a farewell note and scattered poems. His body has not been found. Perhaps today he\u2019ll return to this small room and hear again the Ring of Bone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A poem by Lew Welch:<\/p>\n I saw myself<\/p>\n a ring of bone<\/p>\n in the clear stream<\/p>\n of all of it<\/p>\n <\/p>\n and vowed,<\/p>\n always to be open to it<\/p>\n that all of it<\/p>\n might flow through<\/p>\n <\/p>\n and then heard<\/p>\n \u201cring of bone\u201d where<\/p>\n ring is what a<\/p>\n <\/p>\n bell does<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Visitors who looked into the mirror could see their own face.<\/p>\n Another Rat Flat \u2013 Spacex Gallery, Exeter Festival, Exeter, UK.May 1976. Another Rat Flat May 1976 – Lew Welch In the early spring of 1976 I decided I wanted to make a piece of work in memory of the American … Continue reading \n
<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – Lew Welch<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Ratflat<\/em> May 1976 – doorway<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – main view<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – desk<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – mirror<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – beans<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – books<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – drawing<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/a>Another Rat Flat<\/em> May 1976 – plan<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"