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Stranger
than fiction: (l-r) Ryan and Swinton in Strange Culture.
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Art
Beat
STILL
HAVING TO FIGHT THE MAN Many of you are probably hip to this
story, and I’ve written about this before [“A Matter of Authority,”
March 9, 2006], but what happened—and is still happening—to
Steve Kurtz is that important (and chilling). Kurtz,
a founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble, is facing
up to 20 years in prison on charges related to “bioterrorism.”
The trouble began in May 2004 when Kurtz’ wife, Hope, died
at their Buffalo home of natural causes. He called 911. The
cops saw the lab equipment he was using to prepare a genetically-modified-food
exhibit for a show at MASS MoCA. They called in the FBI. The
FBI showed up in hazmat suits and proceeded to impound everything
in the house, including his wife’s body and their cat; the
Feds held Kurtz as a suspected terrorist. They still refuse
to drop some of the charges against him.
Tomorrow night (Friday, April 4) at 7 PM, the Sanctuary
for Independent Media and RPI’s BioArt Initiative
will host a screening of Strange Culture, a film about
Kurtz’ plight, at Christ Church United Methodist (35
State St., Troy). Directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson, Strange
Culture is a part-documentary, part-docudrama look at
the case; the latter aspect of the film features this year’s
Academy Award-winning Best Supporting Actress (for Michael
Clayton) Tilda Swinton, along with Thomas Jay Ryan (Henry
Fool) and Peter Coyote. Kurtz himself will introduce the
film. According to the Sanctuary’s Steve Pierce, “100
percent of proceeds from this event will directly benefit
Steve Kurtz’ ongoing legal battle.” The suggested donation
is $10. For more info, visit mediasanctuary.org.
NEWISH
VENUE, NEW WORKS Proctors’ New Plays Festival kicks
off this week in one of the newish theaters at Schenectady’s
arts megaplex, 440 Upstairs at Proctors. As Proctors
CEO Philip Morris wrote, “It fits perfectly that the new Proctors
would sponsor a festival of new plays in the region as a part
of its mission.” Egan Reich’s General Desdemona
opens Tuesday (April 9) and runs through April 26. Kevin Dobies’
Battles of the Band opens April 10 and runs
through April 26; Nahal Navidar’s 110 Flights
opens April 15 (tax day! yay!) and runs through April 27.
Watch the theater pages of Metroland for reviews of
these shows. For complete show-and-time info, please visit
proctors.org.
CALL
FOR ENTRIES (WOMEN ARTISTS) Speaking of subversive: “Women’sWork
wants you to have your say.” Women’sWork: Arts at the Women’s
Building is gearing up for a drawing exhibit on June 6,
Drawing Resistance. The rationale for the show is that
the “current repressive political environment allows routine
censorship of artwork and speech considered ‘un-American’
or ‘unpatriotic’ or in any way subversive or controversial.”
(See item number one: Just ask the gang from the Sanctuary.)
Of course there are requirements: The individual pieces can
be no larger than 5 inches by 7 inches, but may be part of
a series; all work will be “pinned or taped” for exhibition;
and submissions are due by 6 PM on May 16. Final decisions
will be made on May 18. Original works can be dropped off
at the Women’s Building (79 Central Ave., Albany) or digital
versions can be e-mailed to arts@thewomensbuilding.org. For
more info, call 462-2871.
—Shawn
Stone
sstone@metroland.net
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