Art world comes to the cause of arrested artist

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GMW: Art world comes to the cause of arrested artist

" GM WATCH " <info

Sun, 3 Jul 2005 22:55:03 +0100

 

 

 

The government sure has it's priorities straight huh? I am sure glad

that they are protecting us from dangerous art like this. We all need

to be thankful that they also take their duties seriously to protect

the rights of allopaths to kill millions each year, that the FDA

protects the rights of drug companies so that they can use babies and

children as guinea pigs for toxic drug experiments, and Big Pharma and

Big Medicine can go rolling along unimpeded in their quest for profits

over people.

 

 

 

 

GM WATCH daily

http://www.gmwatch.org

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Art world comes to the cause of arrested artist

By Robert L. Pincus

UNION-TRIBUNE ART CRITIC

 

 

Union-Tribune, July 3, 2005

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/features/20050703-9999-1a03polart2.html

 

Imagine this scenario: You are a well-established artist and respected

university professor. You wake up one morning to find your spouse of 25

years isn't breathing. You call 911. Paramedics arrive, accompanied by

police.

 

There are a few petri dishes in the house, because your conceptually

oriented work involves scientific-style installations and issues. So, one

of those workers decides you just might be a terrorist and calls the

FBI.

 

The next day, as you are on the way to the funeral home, you are

detained by the FBI and the Joint Terrorist Task Force. You are held

for 22

hours without having your Miranda rights read to you. Your home and even

part of your block is cordoned off; your computer, books, manuscripts

and anything else deemed suspicious are confiscated by workers in hazmat

suits. Even your spouse's body is held for further analysis.

 

Sound like the outline of a compelling novel or film about governmental

abuse of power? Sure. But this story isn't imaginary. It is what

University of Buffalo professor Steven Kurtz, a member of the artists'

collaborative called Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), experienced in May 2004

when someone who answered his 911 call decided to make a call to the FBI.

 

This tale doesn't end there; Kurtz is now facing charges that could

result in a 20-year prison sentence.

 

Artists across the United States and beyond have taken up Kurtz's

cause, because they feel it is their cause, too. Following an earlier

fundraiser in London, an auction to raise money for his defense was

held at

the esteemed Paula Cooper Gallery in New York in April. Those donating

work included some of the best-known contemporary artists – Chris

Burden, Ann Hamilton, Barbara Kruger, Sol Lewitt, Louise Lawler, Brice

Marden

and Kiki Smith, among others.

 

" We feel that artists' and intellectuals' First Amendment rights are in

serious jeopardy under this administration, " stated Helen Molesworth,

one of the auction's co-organizers, shortly before the event opened.

" It's so important, for all of us, that our abilities to be creative

thinkers are not hampered by government. " (Molesworth is chief curator

for

exhibitions at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio.)

 

For some years, Kurtz has been a pivotal member of the CAE, a

collaborative of artists that, through books, writings on the Web and

exhibitions, has reflected on such subjects as what it calls " the

flesh machine "

(the scientific/medical establishment) and on genetically engineered

food. And the group's installations have incorporated bacteria and food

testing because of its broader interest in demystifying science for the

lay person.

 

The argument could be made that the FBI and the Terrorist Task Force

were being reasonable when they followed up on a phone call and sampled

the materials in Kurtz's petri dishes. But the government has continued

to pursue prosecution, even after the Commissioner of Public Health for

the state of New York declared that the samples of bacteria in the

petri dishes were harmless.

 

While there apparently wasn't enough evidence to bring bioterrorist

charges, the government is pursuing wire and mail fraud charges against

Kurtz and Robert Ferrell, a former head of the Department of Genetics at

the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health.

 

" These laws (on fraud) have been on the books for more than a century.

Whether it (the bacteria) is or isn't harmful isn't an element of the

offense. The case centers on property acquired by fraud or

misstatement, " said U.S. Assistant District Attorney William Hochul on

Thursday.

He's the prosecutor on the case, which is being tried in New York.

 

Ferrell's crime was to have helped Kurtz obtain $256 worth of benign

bacteria, which means he didn't follow the fine print of his contract

with a company called American Type Culture Collection. The firm itself

has taken no legal action against either Kurtz or Ferrell. Yet if

convicted of the government's charges, artist and scientist could

serve up to

20 years in prison.

 

Kurtz, himself, tries to be philosophical about his situation.

 

" When you stand up to authoritarian parts of the culture, stuff like

this will happen, " says Kurtz. " People I know say it's inevitable.

 

" I would temper that point and say it could happen to lots of people,

and somehow I got picked. I certainly got the booby prize on this. "

 

Standing up, in CAE terms, means confronting troublesome subjects. As

part of The Free Range Project, the CAE lets people have the opportunity

to bring in food to be tested for genetic modifications. It had been

presented in a European venue but couldn't go on view at the

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in May 2004 because much of

the materials

were confiscated from Kurtz's home.

 

" Molecular Invasion " was the CAE's companion book on this subject,

which argued that some science can be scrutinized by everyone.

 

" Amateur discourse clearly has a place in the transgenic debates since

some levels of study can be reviewed by nonexperts, " they write. " The

stakes are too high for product safety testing to be left solely in the

domain of corporate and scientific experts. "

 

One can speculate that the government isn't sympathetic to the latest

Critical Arts Ensemble project either, which looks at the history of

germ warfare and issues of American policy about biological warfare and

bioterrorism. Toward this end, Kurtz had acquired three bacteria that

have been used as educational tools in schools. They were in his home at

the time of the search.

 

Having to deal with the case has forced him to work a lot slower, he

says. But, he adds, " The FBI is not going to stop us. If anything, we're

more committed to what we do, not less. "

 

Looking at the government's goals, he speculated, " They are trying to

develop an internal enemy that fits into their canon of fear. Bob

(Ferrell) looks like a friendly grandpa. And if they can convince

people that

even he could be a terrorist, then who isn't a potential terrorist? "

 

The Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund has raised enough money to

defend him adequately. In May, at the most recent hearing before a

judge in

Buffalo, Kurtz's attorney, Paul Cambria, asked that the case be

dismissed. He argued that the government intentionally misled the

judge when

obtaining the original search warrant. Any ruling on this won't likely

happen until late July or August. Still, if events don't go the

government's way, it can appeal, of course, forcing Kurtz to raise

more funds

for his defense.

 

He believes that his irreplaceable materials won't ever be returned.

 

" Even if the case concludes, " he says, " they'll probably think of some

way to keep the investigation going. "

 

While hearings about the wire and mail-fraud charges have gone forward,

a Buffalo grand jury subpoenaed CAE member Steven Barnes. After

testifying, Barnes told a reporter, " It seems apparent that the

prosecution is

still trying to pursue some kind of biological weapons charge. "

 

On what basis they might bring charges is unclear, though initially the

Justice Department's Assistant District Attorney William Hochul was

trying to use a section of the Patriot Act, which expanded the earlier

Biological Weapons Statute.

 

" Apparently, " writes the CAE in a recent essay, " the U.S. Justice

Department is now trying to make CAE into an example of what can

happen to

citizens whose only 'crime' is having thoughts of dissent enacted within

the sphere of legality and the alleged protection of constitutional

rights. "

 

Whether Kurtz and Ferrell's fraud charges are dismissed or not is only

one reason for attention to be paid to this case. The larger issue

centers on whether the government's " war on terror " is having a corrosive

effect on artistic expression.

 

 

 

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