via re-title.com:
Critical Art Ensemble / Institute for Applied Autonomy
Seized7 June 2008 to 18 July 2008
SEIZED examines the physical artifacts of the 2004 FBI investigation of Buffalo artist Steven Kurtz. The items the FBI seized from his home are represented here in photographs of the negative spaces they left behind: missing computers, books, notes, props from performances, lab equipment and unfinished manuscript. Balancing these empty spaces is the voluminous pile of garbage left behind by federal authorities at the Kurtz residence, providing a rare window into the anatomy of a "bioterror" investigation. Hand drawn maps, "to do" lists, and countless articles of protective clothing are set against a backdrop of several hundred energy drinks and over thirty pizza boxes. To date, none of the seized items have ever been returned.
In addition, documentation and ephemera from the Critical Art Ensemble projects confiscated by the FBI and Department of Justice are on display. Finally, we present Marching Plague -- the project the FBI attempted to stop through seizure of the research and materials needed for its production and presentation.
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center
341 Delaware Ave
Buffalo, NY 14202[...] The resulting exhibition will offer a strange amalgam -- part survey of CAE's recent body of artwork, and part exploration of an attempted bioterrorism investigation.
www.critical-art.net
www.caedefensefund.org
www.appliedautonomy.com
Also (via email):
ARTIST CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN PRECEDENT-SETTING CASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2008
CONTACTS:
Email: [email protected]
Dr. Steven J. Kurtz: (716) 812-2968
Lucia Sommer, CAE Defense Fund: (716) 359-3061
Edmund Cardoni, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center: (716) 854-1694ARTIST CLEARED OF ALL CHARGES IN PRECEDENT-SETTING CASE
Department of Justice Fails to Appeal Dismissal
Kurtz Speaks about Four-Year OrdealBuffalo, NY--Dr. Steven Kurtz, a Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY at
Buffalo and cofounder of the award-winning art and theater group Critical
Art Ensemble, has been cleared of all charges of mail and wire fraud. On
April 21, Federal Judge Richard J. Arcara dismissed the government's entire
indictment against Dr. Kurtz as "insufficient on its face." This means that
even if the actions alleged in the indictment (which the judge must accept
as "fact") were true, they would not constitute a crime. The US Department
of Justice had thirty days from the date of the ruling to appeal. No action
has been taken in this time period, thus stopping any appeal of the
dismissal. According to Margaret McFarland, a spokeswoman for US Attorney
Terrance P. Flynn, the DoJ will not appeal Arcara's ruling and will not seek
any new charges against Kurtz. [Download CAE-Cleared.rtf - full press release]
