[Reader-list] Letter of support for Steve Kurtz

[Rana Dasgupta]

D-383 Defence Colony
New Delhi 110 024
India

June 3rd 2004



To Whom It May Concern

*Re: Protest against charges against Steve Kurtz, Ph.D., Assistant 
Professor, Department of Art, University of Buffalo*

As a writer and independent scholar who has had frequent reason to draw 
on the work of Steve Kurtz and the Critical Art Ensemble (CAE), I would 
like to attest to its seriousness and importance, and to protest against 
the absurd and shameful charges brought against Mr Kurtz by the FBI.  I 
would request that these charges be dropped immediately and that the FBI 
make a formal apology for their wrongful intervention in Mr Kurtz's life.

A major element of Mr Kurtz's work has been to consider in a serious way 
the ethical questions raised by new biotechnologies - an undertaking 
acknowledged by all public figures (including President George W. Bush 
and Pope John-Paul II) to be crucial for a sane future.

This work has taken as its starting-point the notion that ethical 
standards cannot be developed in private by "experts", but that they 
must be developed through genuinely public dialogue and debate.  For 
this reason, it has always been conducted with great attention to 
openness and transparency.  If the FBI were to consult the group's 
publications, public presentations and exhibitions, and online 
documents, it would discover that their ideas and activities have been 
conducted entirely in the public domain.  Moreover, since public safety 
is precisely the question at stake in their work, this issue has always 
taken prime importance, and they have always addressed it in 
consultation with eminent scientists from leading U.S. institutions.  
There is nothing covert, suspicious, or irresponsible about their work.

I have never met Steve Kurtz.  However, I have followed closely the 
publications and art works of the Critical Art Ensemble for several 
years, and I have also had occasion to see public presentations by 
Beatriz da Costa, in which she answered extensive questions about the 
nature and guiding principles of the group's work.  I can say on the 
basis of this engagement, not only that Steve Kurtz and the CAE are 
honest in their exploration of these pressing issues, but that their 
work is among the most important contributions to public debate in this 
arena.

The attempt to denigrate this valuable work by throwing ignorant and 
melodramatic names at it is absurd and shameful, and highly embarassing 
for those doing the throwing.

The suspicions of the FBI are based on little more than the observation 
that Steve had laboratory equipment in his house.  This equipment is 
easily obtained, there is nothing illegal about possessing it, and the 
most cursory of Internet searches would have revealed exactly why it was 
there.  To subject him to this treatment on such a basis of so trivial 
an observation represents a serious breach of the principles of freedom 
of expression and the presumption of innocence.

In the /Washington Post/'s coverage of this story, Lt. Jake Ulewski, 
spokesman for the Buffalo police, is quoted as saying about Mr. Kurtz, 
"He's making cultures? That's a little off the wall." 

Is it now possible to detain someone and subject them to criminal 
charges just because some ignorant observer thinks what they do with 
their time appears "a little off the wall"? 

The society of homogeneity and conformity that is implied by such a 
scenario is one in which no one takes responsibility for asking or 
answering its more difficult questions.  Steve Kurtz and the CAE have 
always been open about their commitment to doing just that.  In an open, 
forward-thinking and just society, such an honourable enterprise would 
invite praise, not censure.

Yours Faithfully

Rana Dasgupta
Writer and independent scholar
www.ranadasgupta.com