People, 1. -  3. October 1998
 
Steven Kurtz
Abstract: Access and Activism in Spheres of Difference

Brief Description: In spite of the internationalist and populist flair often associated with new communication and information technology (ICT), the benefits and difficulties generated by these new developments have yet to filter down to all of the many public spheres found in any complex economy. To complicate matters further, cyberspace itself is composed of a grand diversity of public spheres. Under the conditions of an increasingly fragmented system of social space, the goal becomes to discover how ICT can function to bring alien public spheres together in a productive manner that creates hybrid discourse and (sub)cultural exchange. However, what must first be discovered, in order for such an investigation to be successful, is an understanding of what open access is. This lecture is a contribution to this discovery.

Publications: Recent Publications:

Books:

1998
Flesh Machine: Cyborgs, Designer Babies and New Eugenic Consciousness. New York: Autonomedia/Semiotext(e).

1996
Electronic Civil Disobedience and Other Unpopular Ideas. New York: Autonomedia/Semiotext(e).

1994
The Electronic Disturbance. New York: Autonomedia/Semiotext(e).

Articles:

1998
"Observations on Collective Cultural Action." Art Journal. Summer. "Notes on the Political Condition of Cyberfeminism." Art Journal. Summer. (co-authored w/Faith Wilding) Reprinted in First Cyberfeminist International. Catalogue from Hybrid Workspace (Sept. 20-28) Documenta X. "Eugenics: The Second Wave." CTheory.

1997
"Biotechnologische Schnittstellen." Springer. October-November. "The Technology of Uselessness." Digital Delirium. New York: St. Martins Press. (reprint) "The Coming of Age of the Flesh Machine." Electronic Culture. New York: Aperture. "Eugenic Visions." Coil. No. 4. "Uneasy Flirtations: The Critical Reaction to Warhol's Concepts of the Celebrity and of Glamour." The Critical Reaction to Andy Warhol. Alan Pratt, ed. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. "As Above, So Below." Left Curve. No. 21 (F. Wilding, coauthor). "Posthuman Development in the Age of Pancapitalism." Muae. No. 2. "Utopian Promises-Net Realities." Interface 3 Proceedings. Hamburg:

1996
"Tactical Media." Radical Images. Catalogue essay for the Austrian Triennial of Photography. Graz, Austria. "Nine Theses Against Monumentalism." Random Access: Ambient Fears. London: Rivers Oram Press.

1995
"The Therapeutic State." Cultronix. No. 3. "Die Mythologie des Terrorismus im Netz." Springer. September. "Slacker Luddites." Mythos Information. Catalogue Essay for Ars Electronica. Linz, Austria. "Utopian Plagiarism, Hypertextuality, and Electronic Cultural Production." Critical Issues in Electronic Media. Simon Penny, ed., New York: SUNY Press. "Human Sacrifice in Rational Economy." Public, Winter. "Electronic Civil Disobedience (reprint)," Video Positive. Catalogue essay for The Liverpool Video Festival. Liverpool, UK.

Recent Lectures, Panels, and Presentations:

1998
"Tactical Media." Presentation, Critical Sites. Institute of Art, Design, and Technology. Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. "Hybrid Performance." Ritually Virtual/Virtually Ritual. Panel, The Association in Theater and Higher Education. San Antonio, TX. "Flesh Machine." Lecture, Banff Center for the Arts. Banff. "Hybrid Performance." Panel, Banff Center for the Arts. Banff. "Eugenic Bodies." Impossible Bodies. Panel, SIGGRAPH. Orlando. "Cybercircus." Panel, Lovebytes Digital Arts Festival. Sheffield, UK.

1997
"Flesh Frontiers" and "On Virtual Theater." Lectures, Constant. Brussels, Belgium. "The Art of Cloning." Panel, The Andy Warhol Museum. Pittsburgh, PA. "Art and Crime." Lecture, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI. "Nettime." Panel, ZKPK. Public Netbase, Vienna, Austria. "The Politics of Biotechnology." Backspace Gallery, London.

1996
"Flesh Machine." Lecture, Carlow College, Pittsburgh, PA. "Nomadic Tactics." Public seminar, CUNY Graduate Center, NYC. "Painting and Pessimism." Lecture, Cooper Union School of Art, NYC. "Posthuman Development in the Age of Pancapitalism." Lecture, VIPER Festival. Lucerne, Switzerland. "Tactical Media." Lecture, Austrian Triennial of Photography, Graz, Austria. "The Bureaucratization of Street Action." Alternative: Not a Destination. Panel discussion, The Drawing Center, NYC. "The Desire to be Wired" and "Net Criticism." Panel discussions, The Next Five Minutes, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

1995
"Art and Politics: From the Streets to the Internet." Lecture, School of Art and Design, Linz, Austria. "Art and Politics: From the Streets to the Internet." Lecture, Public Netbase at the Depot, Museums Quartier, Vienna, Austria. "Utopian Promises-Net Realities." Interface 3. Lecture, Hamburg, Germany. "Electronic Transparency." MuuMediaFestival Lecture. (Museum of Contemporary Art), Helsinki, Finland. "The Subject Under Surveillance." Lecture, Electronic Media Symposium. Floating Gallery: Center for the Photographic Arts, Winnipeg, Canada. "The Mythology of Terrorism on the Net." Lecture, Ars Electronica, Linz, Austria. "Technology, Anarchy, and Rational Society." Lecture, Cooper Union School of Art, NYC.

Recent Screenings, Performances, and Exhibitions (selected):

1998
"Society for Reproductive Anachronism." Techne. Rutgers University. The Next Word. Neuberger Museum. SUNY, Purchase. "Diseases of Consciousness." La Biennale de MontrČal, MusČe Juste pour Rire, Montreal. "Flesh Machine." Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art. Helsinki, Finland. "ICFATU." Lovebytes Digital Arts Festival. Sheffield, UK. "Flesh Machine." Art and Science Collision. Beursschouwburg. Brussels, Belgium.

1997
Technolust. Museum of Photography. Antwerp, Belgium. "Flesh Machine." Public Netbase. Vienna. "FleshMachine." Labor. Graz, Austria "Flesh Machine." Kapelica Gallery. Ljubljana, Slovenia. "True Crime." Museum Do It. The Cranbrook Museum. Bloomfield Hills, MI. (This exhibition was also realized at Notre Dame and Palo Alto Cultural Center). "Workspace On-line." Hybryd Workspce, Documenta X, Kassel. (performance, CD-ROM demonstration, and web site tour) Mirrored Rituals. Documenta Video Library. Documenta X. "Nettime Radio." Radio Frei Kassel (88.9). Do It. Tallinna Kunstihoones, Edenev Muuseum. Tallinna, Estonia. "Flesh Frontiers." Transmedia Festival. Berlin, Germany. "Flesh Frontiers." Ljubljana Digital Media Lab. Ljubljana, Slovenia.

1996
"Flesh Frontiers." VIPER Festival. Lucerne, Switzerland. "Machineworld." Telepolis. Munich, Germany. "Shareholders' Briefing," Radical Images. Museum for Contemporary Art, Szombathely, Hungary. "Machine News." Der Standard. Museum in Progress, Vienna. "Image Transfer," E~Scape. Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna. "Shareholders' Briefing," Austrian Triennial of Photography, Graz, Austria. "Diseases of Consciousness," NetWork. Banff Center for the Arts, Banff, Canada. "The Cyborg Project," The Next Five Minutes. Rotterdam/Amsterdam, the Netherlands.


kurtz@andrew.cmu.edu
Institution: Assistant Professor of Art and Cultural Theory, Carnegie Mellon University
Critical Art Ensemble
panel 2 debate 3