Steve Kurtz- preserving artificial life
Steve Kurtz is a college professor and is mainly known for his work in BioArt— a form of creation in which living matter is used to produce various works of art. When searching for artwork by Kurtz through Google, I could not seem to locate any pictures of his work with living matter. Instead, one of the most commonly generated pictures is the image displayed above. While the exact meaning of the picture is unclear, at first glance, it is obvious that Kurtz is contesting something that could potentially be detrimental to the well-being of others.
In the center of the picture, a young person— either a man or woman, or maybe even Kurtz himself— is seen sitting at a desk with his/her face buried in his/her hands. The artist— which one can assume is his/her profession based on the pictures lying in front of the individual— is clearly distraught and at a loss for words. To the left of the artist is a police officer standing triumphantly in front of the doorway— the artist’s only form of exit. To the right is a man waving a clipboard shamefully at the artist. Either the man has some sort of evidence against the artist or the man is confronting the artist about his/her own beliefs. Perhaps the artist is being convicted of crimes against humanity?
While the cause of the artist’s presence is unclear, it is obvious that the individuals in the room are in the process of an interrogation. One of the main causes for this assumption is the fact that several diagonal lines run across the center of the image, thus suggesting a window. On the outside of the window, two men are seen examining the proceedings.
While the faces of every individual in the photo remains hidden— the artist has his face covered, the officer wears sunglasses, the clipboard man is cut off and the other two men are facing away from the viewer— the tension in the room is notably apparent. Lastly, in the far back of the room is a large bulletin board covered with various news reports. While the reports remain blank in the image, the presence of the bulletins suggests the kinds of notifications one sees posted on various episodes of Law & Order. It is important to consider the fact that the news reports were left blank to prevent the viewer’s eye from getting distracted from the real central focus of the picture— the artist’s dismay.
Earlier, I alluded to the possibility that the artist in the photo could in fact be Steve Kurtz himself. As I did some more research* on this image, I came to learn that Steve Kurtz was arrested for charges of bioterrorism after the passing of his wife. Apparently, in order to excel and fortify the rate of their artistic creations, Kurtz and his wife would work with biological equipment in a small lab in their home. It was originally suspected that his wife had died due to certain chemicals in the lab; however, later court proceedings proved this accusation to be false. Regardless, I believe that as the viewer of this image, it is safe to not only consider but assume that Kurtz is the artist seated at the table.
*http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8278-2004Jun1.html
