[spectre] CAE benefit concert by Snowcrash, February 9, streamed live from De Balie Amsterdam

[Eric Kluitenberg]

A  N  N  O  U  N  C  E  M  E  N  T


De Balie - Centre for Culture and Politics, Amsterdam
http://www.debalie.nl/media

Wednesday February 9 , 2005 / 20.00 - 22.00 hrs


ART IS NOT 'BIOTERRORISM'

STOP THE WAR ON FREE KNOWELDGE

A live benefit concert and performance event with Snowcrash (.nl), The 
Yesmen and Critical Art Ensemble in support of artist Steven Kurtz and 
scientist Robert Ferrell, both threatened by an unjustifiable 
prosecution for "bioterrorism".

Presented in collaboration with:
Transmediale Festival, Berlin  (http://www.transmediale.de)
& The Arts Catalyst, London. (http://www.artscatalyst.org)


Live On-line at:
http://www.debalie.nl/live
http://www.snowcrash.nl
http://live.nu

Info:
In a sinister neo-McCarthyite turn of the cards the prosecution of the 
renowned artist Steve Kurtz, a core member of the US-based art 
collective Critical Art Ensemble and Professor of Art at the University 
of Buffalo, still continues after more than 8 months.

On May 11th 2004 Steven Kurtz awoke to find his wife of 27 years dead. 
After emergency workers arrived, they called in the FBI after finding 
what they considered to be suspicious items.  These items were 
scientific samples and equipment, including harmless bacteria. Invoking 
a 1989 bioterrorism law and the Patriot Act, federal agents detained 
Kurtz for 22 hours and searched his home and office for two days.  The 
FBI confiscated his wife's body, his house, car, equipment, computer, 
books, writings, correspondence, art projects and other items, even his 
cat.  His house, cat and car were returned after one week, once it was 
determined that the death of his wife was unrelated to the bacterial matter.

Kurtz was then arraigned and charged in a Federal District Court, not 
for bioterrorsim but of four counts of 'mail and wire fraud', carrying a 
sentence of up to 20 years in prison.  Dr. Robert Ferrell, Professor of 
Genetics at the University of Pittsburgh is also indicted on the same 
charges.

Harmless laboratory equipment and materials were at first mistakenly 
considered a public health threat. No such threat ever existed.  The 
continuation of legal proceedings against Steven Kurtz and Robert 
Ferrell, now suggest a political motivation to the case.

These charges are an attempt to stop CAE's open and public research into 
the new regimes of biotechnology.  This research shown at major museums 
across the USA and Europe includes work on:
     - Genetically modified organisms and food (GMOs)
     - the emerging complex of 'Intellectual Property Rights' related to 
the patenting of DNA sequences, the very building blocks of life
     - the science that lies behind the myth and politics of bioweapons

The prosecution of Kurtz and Ferrell, and other scientists creating the 
crucial public debate on the implications and risks in the fields of 
biotechnology and life sciences, threaten healthy public discussion of 
these important scientific and technological developments. Such forms of 
legal intimidation have unfortunately increased in recent years.  They 
constitute a fundamental threat to the freedom of artistic and academic 
research and the wider democratisation of vital areas of scientific 
knowledge.

With this event we call for an immediate cessation of all legal 
proceedings against Steve Kurtz, Robert Ferrell and the Critical Art 
Ensemble, and a resumption of a broad debate on the recent advances in 
the fields of biotechnology and life-sciences in the USA and 
internationally.

In the presence of Steve Kurtz and Critical Art Ensemble collaborator 
Claire Pentecost, De Balie will stage an extensive benefit concert and 
performance event on Wednesday February 9th in collaboration with 
SNOWCRASH - "The Biggest Live Internet Dance Act on Earth".

With live connections to:

The Yesmen
http://www.theyesmen.org

Streamminister Berlin
http://www.streamminister.de

Absurde Video Team Strasburg
http://www.absurde.com

Radio Jeleni Prague
http://www.radiojeleni.cz

Performing artists:
Illegal Sound (General D & Longman)
Jitka Charvatova (Skyline)

and our main guests of the evening: Steve Kurtz and Claire Pentecost.

Admission: 5 euro:
The revenues of the evening will be made entirely available to the 
Critical Art Ensemble Defence Fund to support the legal struggle.
http://www.caedefensefund.org


De Balie
Kleine Gartmanpantsoen 10
Amsterdam
http://www.debalie.nl

Tickets: +31.20.553 51 00

This event will be streamed live via the internet at:
http://www.debalie.nl/live
http://www.snowcrash.nl
http://www.live.nu