Steve Kurtz Lecture *Critical Art Ensemble* PERTH

In this brief lecture, Steve Kurtz will discuss some of the
elements in the work of Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) that
seem to antagonize agencies of power and domination.
Over the years, CAE has been attacked, threatened, and/
or denounced by police, the FBI, politicians, corporate
lawyers, federal prosecutors, and even religious institutions.
Kurtz will offer some possibilities as to why CAE has been
in constant struggle to maintain a public voice, and how
the mechanisms of expression management have been increasingly militarized and intensified over the past 20 years. There will be a screening of the short film
CAE: Producing Immolation by Sensimilla Productions immediately following the lecture.

About Steve Kurtz
Steven Kurtz is a Professor of Visual Studies at SUNY, Buffalo
and a founding member of Critical Art Ensemble (CAE). CAE is a
collective of tactical media practitioners of various specializations,
including computer graphics and web design, wetware, film/video,
photography, text art, book art, and interventionist performance.
Formed in 1987, CAE’s focus has been on the exploration of
the intersections between art, critical theory, technology, and
political activism. The collective has performed and produced a
wide variety of projects for an international audience at diverse
venues ranging from the street, to the museum, to the Internet.
Critical Art Ensemble has also written six books on various
aspects of cultural resistance. Its writings have been translated
into 18 languages. (www.critical-art.net).Critical Art Ensemble artists Steve Kurtz and Lucia Sommer are currently artists in residence at SymbioticA, School of Anatomy
and Human Biology, The University of Western Australia.
(www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au). SymbioticA, The Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts is a jointly funded initiative between The University of Western Australia and
the Western Australian Department of Culture and the Arts. SymbioticA and the Institute of Advanced Studies present Steve Kurtz - ‘Crossing the Line’
‘Evidence’ video stills, Critical Art Ensemble.

Lecture Details
Date: Thursday 30 October 2008
Time: 6pm
Venue: Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, UWA
(The nearest carpark is P3 off Hackett Drive Entrance 1)
This lecture is free and open to the public, no RSVP required
Institute of Advanced Studies
The University of Western Australia
M021, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009

Email iasuwa@admin.uwa.edu.au
Web www.ias.uwa.edu.au