Lecture: “Art and Discipline” – Steve Kurtz

October 30, 2011 12:24 pm

4th november – 6 PM – Regional Museum of Natural Science – via Giolitti 36, Torino

also follow the vision of the film Strange Culture on the life of Steve Kurtz

Steve Kurtz is a founder of the Critical Art Ensemble. Renowned internationally for its scientific critique and counter-information activities, this historic American group is a collective of artists and scientists focused on the exploration of the intersections of art, biotechnology and activism, through performances, live experiments and non-violent sabotage. For over two decades, the Critical Art Ensemble has produced and exhibited works that question our assumptions on information, communication, biotechnology and ecological systems.

Steve Kurtz, wrongly arrested for bioterrorism in the United States in 2004, has become a symbol of political art activism. The charges against him focused on the bacterial cultures that he used in his art installations. Thousands of people throughout the world mobilised to call for his release. Looking at the Critical Art Ensemble’s work on cultural resistance, the conference examines the disciplinary machine and systems for managing speech and expression which attempt to control or eliminate resistant cultural production that challenges the status quo.

In partnership with the Park of Living Art.