MARCHING PLAGUE (USA 2006. Cert 15)
by Critical Art Ensemble
Event, film screening, talk
Saturday 29 July 2006
ICA, The Mall, London
The first London showing of the film Marching Plague by Critical Art Ensemble was presented on 29 July at the ICA, introduced by Steve Kurtz of Critical Art Ensemble.
Bioweapons expert Kai Ilchman from the Harvard Sussex Program on Chemical & Biological Weapons, and artists Heath Bunting and Kayle Brandon, joined Steve Kurtz, Steve Barnes and Lucia Sommer of Critical Art Ensemble to discuss bioterrorism, the culture of fear and artistic censorship. An installation in the ICA outlined the tragedy-to-farce timeline of germ warfare.
The ICA "under attack" by Critical Art Ensemble
The film Marching Plague documents a performance in Stornoway, Scotland, which recreated secret sea trials conducted by the UK government in the 1950s, investigating the airborne distribution of bacterial agents. It presents a critique of UK-US bioweapons research and addresses the paranoia surrounding bioterrorism.
In May 2004, FBI agents and the Joint Terrorism Task Force raided Critical Art Ensemble founder Steve Kurtz’s home, seizing art works and research materials for the Marching Plague project, dedicated to demystifying the issues surrounding germ warfare. The US government has yet to produce evidence that Kurtz is a bioterrorist, but they refuse to return the seized materials. Despite this, Kurtz has been able to reconstruct the research and produce the performance and film Marching Plague, commissioned by The Arts Catalyst.
More about the film and the case against Steve Kurtz ...
