Rene — Articles on Steve Kurtz & CAE Censorship Case
Topic(s): Art/Politics | Comments Off on Rene — Articles on Steve Kurtz & CAE Censorship Case1. From Counterpunch
2. From North Adams Transcript
3. From Buffalo News
4. From Berkshire Eagle Staff (more complete article)
5. From Seattle PI
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1. From Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/cardoni06172004.html
It May Be Even More Sinister Than It Appears
The Persecution of Steve Kurtz
By ED CARDONI
Editors’ Note: Here’s the latest in the Steve Kurtz case, the Buffalo artist now being harrassed by the FBI. Recall that Kurtz’s wife died, he called 911, they looked at his art and his books and called the FBI, and now the Justice Department has empaneled a grand jury to investigate him and the artists he works with. He’s a really respectable guy and this whole thing is spiraling out of control.
The great local website Buffalo Report recently stated that “BR has been told that the real reason the Justice Department has scheduled a grand jury in the Steve Kurtz case is to cover up their lunatic overreaction in the first place: ‘If the grand jury is looking into this we couldn’t have been out of control, right?’ Wrong. They’re crucifying him just to save face. Your tax dollars at work.”
I don’t doubt that’s part of it, but I’m afraid it might be even more sinister (and more serious) than that. Here’s an email report I sent earlier today to my fellow board members of the National Association of Artists’ Organizations (NAAO), of which Hallwalls in Buffalo is a member, and which last week issued public statements in support of Steve Kurtz and the Critical Art Ensemble:
My Dear Fellow NAAO Board Members,
The demonstration here in Buffalo yesterday [June 15, 2004] was a success, in that it attracted not only strong local support by artists, activists, academics, and other concerned citizens, but contingents of artists who traveled here from distant points of origin: NYC, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Ann Arbor, Alfred NY, and beyond. Nato Thompson, curator of “The Interventionists,” the just-opened Mass MoCA exhibition that was to have included an interactive installation by CAE, drove here from western Mass. for the demo, and I got to talk to him a little. Because the materials and equipment for this installation were among the items confiscated by and still in the hands of the FBI, Mass MoCA is instead exhibiting information about the confiscation and ensuing investigation itself, so visitors to the museum will know what’s going on, and why they are not getting to see this work. To their credit, Mass MoCA is standing behind the artists. [Unlike, in Kurtz’s case, the UB administration above the level of his Dept. Chair.]
The demonstration also got a lot of good press coverage. Today’s press coverage has not yet been posted on www.caedefensefund.org/, but there are some recent links that have been added that are quite good and worth reading: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (angle: Kurtz and other CAE artists have taught or studied at Carnegie Mellon U.), The Guardian UK, and Capital News 9.
Here’s a scary quote from the last named local TV coverage:
“Gloria Maytham of Denver [a visitor to the Mass MoCA exhibition] said, ‘If it originated in Buffalo; Buffalo, you know, had an al-Qaida cell, I want to be protected.'” [All punctuation and grammar are sic.]
In that regard, in talking to people yesterday and reading deeper into the published writings of CAE, my own current theory of the motivation behind the seemingly pointless pursuit of this investigation is that the feds (FBI, Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force, U.S. Attorney’s office) are opportunistically exploiting the convenient hook of suspicious biological material (in the context of post-9/11 anthrax incidents, both real and hoaxed) to go after an intellectual for his IDEAS. Although authorities have themselves determined that the bacterial matter found amongst Steve Kurtz’s personal and professional stuff is harmless, legal to possess, and entirely explicable in the context of the Mass MoCA installation, I’m afraid they, too, may have looked deeper into CAE writings (freely available both in print in bookstores [including Talking Leaves], and as PDFs on http://www.critical-art.net), which are in fact political, radical, and subversive [of corporate control of biotechnology for profit] in all the best senses. In other words, though the germs are harmless, their presence in Steve’s apartment ended up calling attention to ideas and writings that the feds might well deem “dangerous,” because dissident.
Chapter 5 of the CAE’s latest book, MOLECULAR INVASION, is not only illustrative of the truly political and radical nature of the CAE’s ideas, but is uncanny in its prescience, given the events of the past month. It is, indeed, prophetic.
It’s important for us all to understand that at this point it is quite likely CAE1s radical thinking and writing (i.e., things clearly protected by the First Amendment, even if the right to possess actual microbes may not be in some cases) that have made Steve Kurtz a target of possible, if not probable, federal prosecution. (Kurtz himself has written in an email statement that he is now convinced that, despite rising protests, the case will not be dropped and that his arrest and indictment are inevitable and imminent; I hope he1s wrong about that, but he1s pretty smart about most things.)
Make no mistake, then: We are no longer merely defending an artist whose work–because created and displayed differently from conventional art work–was initially misunderstood when 911 rescuers called to his home by Steve himself happened to chance upon it, and called in the feds. We are now, even more urgently and importantly, defending an artist/academic/writer/political activist/theorist [and apparent pacifist, I might add] whose self-published ideas and writings as part of the CAE might be construed (MISconstrued) as threatening. In other words, though the microbial matter might not justify prosecuting Steve as a “bioterrorist,” the feds might well conclude that his IDEAS, as articulated in the CAE1s own published writings, DO justify that label, and therefore warrant further persecution.
Moreover, according to this week’s press reports, the U.S. Attorney’s office will not even confirm to the press that a grand jury was convened at all yesterday, or that there is any federal investigation into anything. It WAS convened yesterday, and witnesses DID appear, but we only know this to be true because some of those individuals who were subpoenaed shared the contents of their subpoenas in advance with the national artists’ community, including the specifically cited statute under which Steve is being investigated.
Reportedly, Steve Kurtz is identified as the “target” of the investigation. On advice of counsel, he pled the Fifth Amendment and did not answer questions. Adele Henderson, an accomplished visual artist and Chair of the UB Art Dept., and NOT affiliated with CAE, is identified only as a “witness,” so reportedly WAS able to answer questions, presumably pertaining to Steve’s academic standing, his credentials, the validity of his research, etc.
The remaining CAE members, erstwhile members, and occasional collaborators are identified as “subjects” of the investigation, and therefore, also on advice of their various attorneys, did not testify, but invoked their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination.
The lawyers judged it the lesser of two evils for the subpoenaed “target” and “subjects” (though completely innocent of any wrong-doing) to risk provoking the indictment by refusing to speak than to answer questions that might unwittingly provide grist for the prosecutorial mill.
They expect an indictment to be more likely than not.
Ed Cardoni is director of Hallwalls, a Buffalo arts organization. board president of NAAO Buffalo, NY
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b. From North Adams Transcript
http://www.thetranscript.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,103%257E9049%257E2218853,00.html
Grand jury investigates would-be MoCA artist
By Carrie Saldo
North Adams Transcript
Thursday, June 17, 2004 – NORTH ADAMS — Whether federal bioterrorism charges will be brought against a planned Mass MoCA artist should be determined in the next five days, said Tad Hirsch, a fellow artist and friend of the artist being investigated.
Using the USA Patriot Act, a federal grand jury is considering bioterrorism charges against Steve Kurtz, a Buffalo, N.Y. university professor and member of the Critical Art Ensemble, who was working on an art exhibit about genetically-altered food for Mass MoCA’s “Interventionists” show. The project included use of Petri dishes containing E. coli, and other biology equipment, which triggered the attention of federal law enforcement and fears of bioterroism.
Six people were called to testify before a Buffalo grand jury Tuesday, said Hirsch Wednesday.
Hirsch said one of the six people slated to testify Tuesday spoke before the grand jury — the other five invoked their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.
“Only one person actually testified and I don’t know what was said,” Hirsch said.
Whether Kurtz is actually charged remains to be seen, but he said friends expect to know more in the next two to five days.
Testimony continued Wednesday, said Hirsch.
Federal officials contacted Wednesday said they could not confirm or deny that any grand jury testimony had or will take place, as those proceedings are secret by law.
And while the hearings themselves are confidential, those called to testify before a grand jury are not sworn to secrecy under law.
However, members of the Critical Art Ensemble subpoenaed to testify are no longer speaking with the media, exchange artist Beatriz da Costa said, but Hirsch and others are speaking on their behalf.
Established in 1989, the Critical Art Ensemble uses some of its art to raise questions about government and the fast growth of technology.
Kurtz has not spoken with the media, although according to the Buffalo News an e-mail statement from him has been circulated among supporters. A rally was held in Buffalo in support of Kurtz and protesting the FBI’s investigation of him.
“I was detained for 22 hours by the FBI. The grand jury will meet on June 15. In all probability, I will be arrested shortly thereafter.”
Mass MoCA associate curator Nato Thompson attended the Tuesday rally for Kurtz.
“I feel pretty personally invested in this at this point,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t generally have any artists put on trial.”
The sentiment at the rally was that Kurtz would be charged, said Thompson, but he said the 250 artists, friends, and supporters for Kurtz remained peaceful during the demonstration.
“It’s really sad because it occurred to me yesterday for the first time that they are really trying to put this guy in jail,” he said. “I thought it was a big mistake that would be clarified.”
In May, Petri dishes and other items that were meant for an exhibit Kurtz was preparing Mass MoCA were seized after authorities discovered them in his home. And the exhibit is not taking place.
Local law enforcement responded to Kurtz’s home after he called 911 to report that his wife, Hope Kurtz, had died of an apparent heart attack. Authorities do not believe her death was related to the materials found in their home.
Those officials contacted the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which eventually led to the subpoenaing of Critical Art Ensemble witnesses for testimony before the grand jury.
At least two of the expected witnesses said they were subpoenaed in North Adams while in the city to work at Mass MoCA.
Paul Moskal, Federal Bureau of Investigation chief division counsel for Buffalo, said the bureau no longer has a role with anything related to Kurtz.
“That’s way beyond my scope,” he said. “We were involved with the initial investigation. The U.S. District Attorney was given that information and it is up to them to determine if a violation of federal law has occurred and at this time we have been no direction from that office.”
Moskal added that even if there were proceedings he would not be privy to that information nor could he comment on them if he did know, which he said he did not.
William Hochul, U.S. District Attorney chief of the terrorism division, also said he could neither confirm nor deny that any grand jury hearings were taking place since any of those matters are confidential.
The proceedings are supposed to remain secret in order to protect the identity of a person who is being investigated, he said.
“It would be very detrimental to have [a grand jury investigation] leaked or disclosed,” Hochul said. “It could have detrimental consequences to somebody’s career or life.”
Hirsch said friends are trying to support Kurtz as much as possible.
“It’s a really difficult situation,” Hirsch said. “And it’s compounded by the fact that the events were triggered by a huge emotional experience. [Kurtz] hasn’t been able to mourn that loss because of all this other nonsense going on.”
In the meantime, he is concerned for Kurtz as well as himself.
“It can happen to anyone, I am facing that,” Hirsch said. “Any socially-engaged artists have to be thinking about that now.”
If nothing else, Thompson said the grand jury testimony and the work the artists are doing is spreading the word about biotechnology.
“Don’t kill the messengers. What they are up to is nothing compared to what is really happening in this culture.”
Kurtz’s attorney, Paul J. Cambria Jr. did not return a call seeking comment.
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c. From Buffalo News
From http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040616/1027278.asp
FOCUS: ARTIST VS. FBI
Art form draws terror scrutiny
A UB professor who uses human DNA, E. coli and other biological agents is being investigated by a terrorism task force, but artists defend his work
By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
6/16/2004
Click to view larger picture
Dennis C. Enser/Buffalo News
John Bill was one of about 100 supporters of Steve Kurtz on hand for a rally in Niagara Square on Tuesday. Kurtz, a UB art professor who is the target of a federal investigation, has said in an e-mail that he expects to be indicted soon.
Click to view larger picture
Click to view larger picture
Dennis C. Enser/Buffalo News
Gerry Falwell of Alabama joins the demonstration for UB art professor Steve Kurtz at Niagara Square.
On the morning of May 11, Buffalo artist Steve Kurtz lost his wife to apparent heart failure.
Now, friends and supporters of Kurtz are afraid he’s going to lose his freedom.
Kurtz, a 46-year-old associate art professor at the University at Buffalo, is the target of a federal investigation into a form of art that sometimes includes the use of human DNA, E. coli and other biological agents.
Support for Kurtz is widespread in the art communities of Europe and the United States. On Tuesday, while six of his friends testified before a federal grand jury investigating Kurtz, at least 100 supporters demonstrated a couple of blocks away in Niagara Square.
Other demonstrations in support of Kurtz were held Tuesday in Vienna, Austria; Amsterdam, Netherlands; and Berkeley, Calif.
“People have come to demand an end to this investigation because they care about Steve and they care about art,” said Jacques Servin, 40, a New York City artist who traveled to Buffalo for the protest. “The word is out in the art community – nationally and internationally. People are very upset.”
Federal agents defended the investigation, saying it was begun after emergency personnel were disturbed by items found at Kurtz’s home after the death of his wife, Hope.
“This case is about public safety, not artistic expression,” said Buffalo FBI spokesman Paul M. Moskal.
One of those protesting the FBI’s actions Tuesday was Nato Thompson, curator of the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Mass., where a Kurtz-designed art exhibit about genetically altered food was scheduled to be showing now. In the space where the exhibit would have appeared, the museum has posted a sign, explaining that Kurtz’s work cannot be displayed because the FBI seized it.
“Steve is a really important artist; an eloquent, peaceful man,” Thompson said. “Anybody who knows him knows he wouldn’t have anything to do with terrorism.”
Kurtz, a studious, soft-spoken man with shoulder-length hair, did not appear at the Buffalo protest. He has not commented publicly on his case, but in a widely circulated e-mail, he told a supporter that he expects federal agents will soon arrest him.
Buffalo police said Kurtz is not under any suspicion in connection with the death of his wife.
But authorities said the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force is investigating him because of the unusual substances and equipment found in his Allentown home after her death.
The FBI reportedly seized computers, vials, test tubes, books on terrorism, and bacterial cultures, including a harmless form of E. coli bacteria.
Members of an FBI hazardous materials team, wearing white biohazard suits with air masks and orange boots, were seen carrying numerous items out of the home on the night of May 13.
So far, Kurtz has not been charged with any crime. U.S. Attorney Michael A. Battle and Moskal both declined to speculate on whether he will be charged.
The two law enforcement officials denied protesters’ claims that the FBI “abducted” Kurtz or that he is being targeted under the Patriot Act because his art is critical of the government.
Buffalo Police have found no evidence that Kurtz had anything to do with the death of his 45-year-old wife, said Capt. Mark Morgan of the Major Crimes Unit. “She had an enlarged heart, and it appears to be a case of heart failure,” Morgan said.
Still, the investigation has outraged Kurtz’s supporters in the art and academic worlds, who accuse the U.S. Justice Department of trying to turn an edgy art exhibit into a terrorist plot.
According to Kurtz’s attorney, Paul J. Cambria, FBI agents in recent weeks have questioned many people who have worked with Kurtz in a group called the Critical Art Ensemble. Since 1989, the ensemble has put on art exhibits all over the world. Some of the ensemble’s exhibits are designed to get art patrons to ask more questions about government and the fast growth of science and technology, Cambria said.
“These people aren’t bioterrorists. They’re artists, making political statements,” Cambria said. “Steve Kurtz is a peaceful man. But after 9/11, our country has been ripe for paranoia about terrorism, and our government feeds that paranoia.
“(Kurtz) certainly wouldn’t have dialed 911 after his wife’s death and invited authorities into his home if he had any kind of equipment for terrorism in there.”
People who have seen Kurtz’s art say it is not the conventional type of artwork that hangs on the wall of a museum.
Instead of a painting or sculpture, art patrons might see several people from the ensemble playing the roles of scientists, wearing white laboratory coats, surrounded by test tubes and petri dishes. In some of their exhibits, human DNA or a harmless form of E. coli bacteria is displayed.
The work that the ensemble intended to display at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art was called “Free Range Grain.” Instead of a painting or a sculpture, the ensemble built a small laboratory, where patrons could explore the role of genetic engineering in food production.
“People could bring some food, like a loaf of bread, and have it tested there, to find out how organic the bread really was,” said Katherine Myers, a spokeswoman at the museum. “The artists were using science as a way to get people to investigate things, to ask questions.”
In an e-mail that has been circulated among supporters, Kurtz indicated that he expects to be indicted after this week’s grand jury proceedings.
“I was detained for 22 hours by the FBI. They seized my wife’s body, house, cat and car,” Kurtz wrote. “These items were released a week later. In the house, they seized computers, science equipment, chunks of my library, teaching files, ID, and all my research for a new book. The only thing I have gotten back is my wife’s birth certificate.
“. . . The grand jury will meet on June 15. In all probability, I will be arrested shortly thereafter.”
The case has attracted international media attention.
“Art becomes the next suspect in America’s 9/11 paranoia,” The Guardian, a major British newspaper, wrote in the headline of an article last week.
One of the protesters who marched in Niagara Square on Tuesday was Joseph Maniaci, 30, the owner of a Buffalo music store. Maniaci carried a sign reading, “He’s not a terrorist, he’s my next-door neighbor.”
Maniaci said he lives next door to Kurtz on College Street, the scene of the FBI raid.
“Supposedly, the FBI is doing all this to protect people like me and others who live in our neighborhood,” Maniaci said. “I speak to Steve all the time. He’s a nice, decent guy. He’s not a terrorist. I can’t believe our government is putting him through all this when he’s already dealing with the death of his wife.”
“I don’t know one person in our neighborhood who is afraid of Steve or anything he’s doing in his house.”
Buffalo Police said the demonstrators were peaceful, and a detective estimated the crowd at about 100. Organizers of the group said it was closer to 200, with people coming from as far away as Switzerland.
Berkshire Eagle
MoCA and the FBI
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4. From Berkshire Eagle Staff (more complete article)
Where art, science and politics meet, the heat is on
By Christopher Marcisz
Berkshire Eagle Staff
Friday, June 18, 2004 –
NORTH ADAMS — Mass MoCA curator Nato Thompson wanted the show “The Interventionists” to explore the art of social activism. He included in the show an exhibit by the Creative Art Ensemble titled “Free Range Grain,” which attempts to demystify bioengineered food.
“That fear that cloaks the issue really prevents people from seeing the reality of it,” Thompson said. “In [the CAE’s] opinion, the reality is very pressing and growing. They use their work as a wake-up call.”
But the gallery space for the exhibit is largely empty, its contents being held by the federal government, and one of its creators, artist and art professor Steve Kurtz, is the subject of a grand jury investigation that could possibly lead to bioterrorism charges.
At a conference in Australia in March 2002, Kurtz explained the difficulty he had with a similar art performance about bioengineering, particularly the difficulty of convincing people that there was nothing to fear in a harmless form of E. coli.
“The end result is that our little dramatic performance is a little too intense for many,” he said. “The institutionalized public fear rises again, amplified back in an even grander form.”
On Tuesday, a grand jury in Buffalo heard testimony on the possible charges. Six artists and art professors who were subpoenaed invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify. A total of nine people have been subpoenaed in the case, including, just yesterday, one of Kurtz’s students.
The investigation into Kurtz has riled the arts community, many of whom accuse government prosecutors of overreaching and of misunderstanding a complicated art exhibit whose media — Petri dishes, test tubes and bacteria — are far from the oil paints or paintbrushes of conventional art forms.
Began with a death
The chain of events began May 11, when Kurtz awoke at his home and found that his wife, Hope, had died. Investigators later determined the probable cause was a heart attack, but police were alarmed by the array of scientific gear in his house. The property was cordoned off, and police contacted the FBI. The case eventually drew the attention of the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force and is now in the hands of prosecutors at the U.S. attorney’s office in Buffalo.
Neither Kurtz nor the authorities are commenting on the investigation, but several media reports cite an e-mail Kurtz sent to friends saying that he expects to be arrested and charged in a matter of days.
According to the subpoenas, the government is investigating possible violations of the U.S. Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989. The law was amended in 2001 by the USA Patriot Act to include several certain biological agents.
The amended act reads, “Whoever knowingly possesses any biological agent, toxin, or delivery system of a type or in a quantity that, under the circumstances, is not reasonably justified by a prophylactic, protective, bona fide research, or other peaceful purpose, shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 10 years, or both.”
Among the items still being held is the exhibit scheduled for “The Interventionists,” which opened May 30. The project, “Free Range Grain,” is the work of Kurtz and fellow CAE member Beatriz da Casta.
The work was on display in November in Frankfurt, and includes a DNA extraction laboratory that is used to demonstrate the degree to which genetically modified food has worked its way into the food supply. The artists examined German grocery products, which tested positive for genetically modified food despite tight European Union rules preventing their import.
“They were trying to put to the test the idea that genetically modified organisms have borders,” Thompson explained.
For the Mass MoCA show, they were going to test local food and products labeled “organic” for genetically modified strains, and post the results.
“You can think of them doing a laboratory as a form of theater,” Thompson said.
Thompson said the work looks more like research than conventional art, but is designed to help viewers understand the issues and ethics behind genetically modified organisms by taking the information out of the hands of biotech companies and large research institutions.
“Part of CAE’s claim is that all the complex language around science is designed to keep everyday people out,” he said. “They claim that’s very dangerous because [business] interests might not be everyday people’s interests.”
Thompson said he first became aware of the CAE in the 1990s through its books on critical theory, science, art and politics. In 2000, as a graduate student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he heard Kurtz speak and described him as “one of the most articulate and intelligent artists in existence.”
Kurtz was a founding member of the CAE in 1987. The group’s early work focused on information technology and the media, but in recent years it began focusing on genetically modified organisms and bioengineering.
It is either ironic or inevitable that Kurtz would find himself under such scrutiny: For years his work has explored the intersections of art, science and politics, and many times he and the CAE’s work has challenged assumptions of the capitalist system and public safety.
In his remarks in Australia, Kurtz acknowledged the difficulty that the ensemble has sometimes faced.
“Whether developing shows in Australia or in the U.S., scientists will say off the record it would be fine if you did this, but the public reaction would be insane, and they are not prepared to take responsibility for this,” he said. “Risk-assessment issues come up. Now we know this is safe but — this is especially true in the litigious U.S. — we are not willing to challenge these issues in the courts.”
Other potential concerns also appear. Kurtz said that he did not recognize intellectual property. And among its other projects, the CAE actively encouraged civil disobedience, in the form of “reverse engineering” of certain biotech crops from major corporations like Monsanto.
In 2001, Kurtz and Beatriz da Casta collaborated on a project called “GenTerra,” an interactive exhibit designed to guide viewers through the ethical maze of genetically modified organisms. At the culmination of the performance, viewers were able to “release” into the open a harmless, bioengineered form of E. coli.
Kurtz was quoted in an essay about the project from the Creative Capital Foundation, which provided a grant for the project.
“The original idea was to try to do a participatory theater project that would get people hands-on involved in the production of these transgenic organisms,” Kurtz is quoted as saying. “Our feeling was that people seemed to have an unreasonable fear of GMOs [genetically modified organisms] and this is counterproductive in terms of resistance. There are some GMOs that are actually good, and others that are pollutants for profit. For us, the question was ‘How can we set up a sphere where people can sort through their feelings?’ So GenTerra was all about those dialogues around policies that deal with transgenics.”
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5. From Seattle PI
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/visualart/178466_fbiart18.asp
FBI inquiry left Henry Art Gallery curator uneasy
Held questioned about artist Steve Kurtz
By REGINA HACKETT
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER ART CRITIC
Nothing in her experience as associate curator at the University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery prepared Robin Held for her interview with the FBI.
Two agents came to the University of Washington recently to ask Held about artist Steve Kurtz, the subject of a grand jury investigation into bioterrorism in Buffalo, N.Y. Although well-known in performance art circles for the rigor of his thinking and his interest in the politics of genetic manipulations, Kurtz needed the FBI to make him a star.
His case has shocked artists and art professionals around the world and rallied many to his side, including Seattle artists, who are planning a benefit.
Kurtz, 46, isn’t talking, on advice from his lawyer. He and his group, Critical Art Ensemble, were included in Held’s exhibit titled, “Gene(sis).”
Among the artifacts of his performances in “Gene(sis)” were sealed petri dishes with the kind of E. coli that is commonly used in science labs in colleges and universities around the world, said Held.
The show went off without a hitch and has been touring nationally ever since.
Job well done, thought Held. Then, two weeks ago, she heard from the FBI.
Kurtz’s troubles began when his wife of 25 years died of a heart attack on May 11. He called paramedics, who were disturbed to see Petri dishes in Kurtz’s studio. The idea that his art includes the use of human DNA as well as other biological agents did not reassure them or the police who first responded.
Enter the FBI and the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. Although neither claims the death of Kurtz’s wife had anything to do with material in his studio, the FBI took the artist and associate art professor at the University of Buffalo into custody, seizing his work and initiating a federal grand jury investigation.
Kurtz is currently out on bail, and federal authorities are in the process of building a case against him.
“He’s caught up in some Kafkaesque drama,” said Held. “I don’t know what I was expecting from the FBI, but they asked incredibly inflammatory questions. … I remember one of them asked, ‘If you heard there was an explosion in Buffalo that killed 100 people and Steve Kurtz was involved, would you be surprised?’ I said, ‘Yes, of course, there couldn’t be an explosion involving Steve. He’s an artist, not a terrorist.’ ”
The Seattle FBI refused to comment. “We don’t confirm if we’re investigating someone,” said FBI spokesman Robbie Burroughs.
After closing at the Henry, “Gene(sis)” ran without incident at the Berkeley Art Museum in California and the Fredrick Weisman Museum of Art at the University of Minnesota.
To date, federal agents have not confiscated Kurtz’s part of the exhibit. However, the FBI seized Critical Art Ensemble’s performance artifacts on the theme of genetically altered food that were scheduled to be part of an exhibit titled “The Interventionists: Art in the Social Sphere” at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in North Adams, Mass.
MASS MoCA (www.massmoca.org) left a blank space where the art would have been, with a sign explaining that the FBI seized the art prior to the exhibition.
Demonstrations in support of Kurtz and the Critical Art Ensemble have been held in many parts of the world. In Seattle, artist John Feodorov is putting together a benefit performance for the artist in August at Consolidated Works. (contact: john@johnfeodorov.com). “I have great respect for Steve Kurtz and his work,” said Feodorov. “We need to get off our butts and support him.”
P-I art critic Regina Hackett can be reached at 206-448-8332 or reginahackett@seattlepi.co