Rat Piece is a compendium of documents regarding Kim Jones’ infamous piece of performance art on February 17, 1976; in which he lit three live rats on fire in a cage, causing their torture and consequent death. The piece, performed in front of 30 students on the California State University Campus in Los Angeles, caused an enormous public backfire, initiating the dismissal of the University’s gallery director, gallery space, and a general state of ambivalence about the ethical limitations of action done in the name of “conceptual art”.

In this publication (which contains a signature from the author in 1990) Kim Jones has compiled the original artist statement, announcements, and initial media clips on the performance; the outcome is a concise collection of data that informs on the multiplicity of angles from which the controversial piece was received and understood by the public, the media, as well as Jones’ fellow artists and performers.