"Night of the Marching Plague"
New York City, May 24, 2006
Marching Plague
By the Critical Art Ensemble
Book Release, Talks and Screenings
Wednesday May 24, 2006 — 6:00–8:30pm
Eyebeam
540 W. 21st Street
Please join us for a book launch and an
evening of conversation concerning contemporary
warfare: an anti-war event.
Critical Art Ensemble present their latest book,
Marching Plague: Germ Warfare and Global Public Health
published by Autonomedia and coinciding with the
inclusion of their film “Marching Plague” in
the 2006 Whitney Biennial. This event is open to the
public free of charge and will take place at Eyebeam,
540 W. 21st Street between 10th & 11th Aves.
The evening will include brief presentations by
artists Gregg Bordowitz and Paul Chan and CAE Defense
Fund representative Lucia Sommer.
Films from Peggy Ahwesh, Lynn Hershman and the Yes
Men, along with the Critcal Art Ensemble's film
"Marching Plague", produced/commissioned by Arts
Catalyst, will be screened on monitors throughout the
evening.
Marching Plague examines the scientific evidence and
the rhetoric surrounding biological warfare,
particularly the development of anthrax and other
bio-weapons, and makes a strong case against the
likelihood of such weapons ever being used in a
terrorist situation. Studying the history and science
of such weapons, they conclude
that for reasons of accuracy and potency, biological
weapons lack the efficiency required to produce the
widespread devastation typically associated with
bioterrorism.Why, then, the public urgency around biowarfare and
why the channeling of enormous resources into research
and development of tools to counter an imaginary
threat? This is the real focus of Marching Plague: the
deconstruction of an exceedingly complex political
economy of fear, primarily supporting biowartech
development and the militarization of the public
sphere. The book addresses the
following questions:
• Why is bioterrorism a failed military strategy?
• Why is it all but useless to terrorists?
• How have preparedness efforts been detrimental to
public health policy?
• What institutions benefit from the cultivation of
biofear?
• Why does the diplomatic community fail to confront
this problem?
The book concludes with a brief examination of the
actual crisis in global public health, arguing for the
redirection of health research away from the military,
and promoting a number of strategies for
civilian-based preparedness and education.
Autonomedia books are distributed to the trade by SCB
Distributors
(scbdistributors.com), AK Press Distribution
(www.akpress.com), Small Press Distribution
(www.spdbooks.org), Pluto Press in Europe
(www.plutobooks.com) and from Autonomedia
(www.autonomedia.org) directly.
Marching Plague and other Autonomedia titles will be
available in the Eyebeam bookshop during the event.
EYEBEAM supports the creation, presentation and
analysis of new forms of innovative cultural
production. Founded in 1997, Eyebeam is dedicated to
exposing broad and diverse audiences to new
technologies and media arts, while simultaneously
establishing and demonstrating new media as a
significant genre.
Eyebeam's programs are made possible through the
generous support of Atlantic Foundation, Time Warner
Youth Media and Arts Fund, the John D. and Catherine
T. MacArthur Foundation, the Andy Warhol Foundation
for the Visual Arts, the National Endowment for the
Arts, Alienware, the Jerome Foundation, the Helena
Rubinstein Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, the
New York State Council on the Arts, a
state agency, the New York City Department of Cultural
Affairs, the David S. Howe Foundation, the Lerer
Family Charitable Foundation and the Sony Corporation.
Location: 540 w 21st Street between 10th & 11th
Avenues
Hours: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm
Bookstore: Tuesday - Saturday, 12:00 - 6:00pm
Admission: All events are free to the public with a
suggested donation unless noted
EYEBEAM
Art & Technology Center
540 W. 21st Street
New York, NY 10011
T +1 212.937.6580 x222
F +1 212.937.6582
www.eyebeam.org
