Submitted
to Roll Call www.YourBrushWithTheLaw.com
on 25 Jan 2006 by the Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund.
http://www.critical-art.net/biotech/index.html
The agents seized documents, computers, and equipment used in three of CAE's
projects, including scientific equipment for monitoring genetically altered
food. The seized materials were to have been part of an exhibition and
performance at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). All the
materials are legal and commonly used for scientific education and research
activities in universities and high schools. The New York State Commissioner of
Public Health determined that the materials seized by the FBI pose no safety
risk. Nevertheless, today Steve Kurtz faces a possible 20 years in prison.
Art Case background.
On May 11, 2004, Steve Kurtz wife of 20 years, Hope, died of heart failure
in their home in Buffalo. Kurtz called 911. Buffalo Police who responded along
with emergency workers became alarmed by the presence of art materials in
their home that had been displayed in museums and galleries throughout Europe
and North America. The materials consisted of several petri dishes containing
three benign forms of bacteria, and a mobile DNA-extraction laboratory to test
store-bought food for possible contamination by genetically modified grains
and organisms. Convinced that these materials were the work of a terrorist,
the police called the FBI. The next day as Kurtz was on his way home from the
funeral home he was stopped and detained for 22 hours by agents from the FBI
and Joint Terrorism Task Force, who informed him he was being investigated for
"bioterrorism." Even though laboratory tests showed that the
bacteria were not used for any illegal purpose, the U.S. District Attorney
conti nues to waste vast sums of money prosecuting this case.
The artist and a scientist face possible 20 year sentences.
On June 29, 2004, a federal grand jury charged Kurtz, not with "bioterrorism,"
as listed on the Joint Terrorism Task Force's original search warrant and
subpoenas, but with two counts each of federal criminal "mail fraud"
and "wire fraud." These are serious charges which carry the same
potential sentence as the original bioterrorism charge would have: up to 20
years. Also indicted was Robert Ferrell, a former head of the Department of
Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Public Health, and a
collaborator on several of CAE's projects. The charges concern technicalities
of how Ferrell allegedly helped obtain $256 worth of harmless bacteria for one
of CAE's art projects. The laws under which the indictments were obtained
(Title 18, United States Code, sections 1341 and 1343) are normally used
against those defrauding others of money and property, as in telemarketing
schemes. The judge who issued the search warrants for Kurtz's home and office
was unaware of the artist's lengthy, credible and complete explanation of what
the harmless bacterial substances were being used for; nor was he aware of the
fact that Kurtz tasted the Serratia in one of the petri dishes in front of an
officer to prove it was harmless; nor that Kurtz was a professor and artist
who had exhibited the materials at museums and galleries internationally. The
judge was told of a photograph with Arabic writing beside it, but not of the
photograph's context: an invitation to an art exhibition at MASS MoCA! The
photograph, by artists The Atlas Group, was one of several exhibited pieces
pictured on the invitation.
A warning to artists.
This case is precedent-setting, and will determine whether artists can be
criminalized - in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution -
for their ideas.
What you can do to help.
Kurtz is receiving international support from artists, scientists, and
other citizens from 5 continents. Two forms of support needed: -Publicizing
this precedent-setting case and its implications for artists. Any journalist
who is interested is encouraged to contact the Defense Fund at: media@caedefensefund.org
. -Should a trial occur, we will need scientists in the fields of biology,
microbiology, and molecular biology to be expert witnesses, particularly in
the areas of laboratory procedures, laboratory behaviors, and microbiology
issues. We will also need curators and contemporary art historians and
theorists to offer expert testimony on the cultural legitimacy of CAE's
activities. If you are able to offer such testimony, or know anyone who may
be, please contact: media@caedefensefund.org . For more information on how to
help: www.caedefensefund.org
Deliberate
Orgasm Duet