Art or Bioterrorism?
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When Kurtz saw that his wife wasn’t breathing he called 911 for help; the paramedics and police who responded noticed petri dishes, a mobile DNA extraction laboratory, and other scientific equipment in his home. Kurtz is a member of the Critical Art Ensemble, a performance group that tries to demystify science and illuminate the effects of technology in the hands of major corporations. Kurtz had supplies used in those performances–including material for a piece he was working on for an upcoming Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art exhibit–on hand. The emergency workers, in post-9/11 alert mode, promptly called for more police, who searched the house. The next day the FBI showed up.
In June, Pentecost, eight other artists, and Autonomedia, publisher of five works by Kurtz and other Critical Art Ensemble members, were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in an investigation that appeared to be about bioterrorism. On the advice of her lawyer, “not knowing what the charges would be,” she refused, invoking her Fifth Amendment rights. As word of Kurtz’s problems traveled in the international art world, she also researched, wrote, and posted a background paper at www.
Bill Sheldon wanted to be Frank Sinatra but settled for a career in sales and public relations, doing a little radio on the side. A self-taught music historian, he hooked up with vocalist Spider Saloff a few years ago and, along with pianist and singer Bradley Williams, they recorded 55 installments of Words and Music, a one-hour radio show featuring composers of the Great American Songbook. Produced by WFMT, it ran for more than two and a half years on as many as 80 stations in the U.S. and was picked up by the BBC. Then, in 2002, it was canceled for lack of sponsors. But though none of them ever made any significant money on the show, Sheldon would like nothing better than to revive it. On Tuesday, July 13, he and Saloff will reunite at HotHouse for a Bastille Day program of French songs that became American hits….Julia Friedman will close her Peoria Street gallery at the end of July and plans to reopen in New York. She’s looking for a space in Chelsea….The Art Institute, which raised its suggested donation from $10 to $12 this month, also changed its long day from Tuesday, when admission is free, to Thursday, reducing the number of free hours for a public that ponies up the suggested price 80 percent of the time….Leslie Hindman will auction hundreds of works from the Kemper Insurance Companies’ art collection on eBay July 10; she says it includes lots of good regional work that could go for as little as $75.
