MAeX Art Blog

Yale U. Says Student Must Acknowledge Her Artwork Is Fiction

I was talking to several students over the past couple of days because it's time for finals. Two of them are planning "performance art" works with a high dose of conceptualism. One of them is a former student that I have told he needs to confront himself and make his work have more authority and authenticy, something he seemed to lack for much of his work. He's a good student and I support him totally even if his work fails to reach its mark because, he's sincerely working at it. I also remind him to do more research because without it, one might look uninformed and be vulnerable to harsh critique.

Yale U. Says Student Must Acknowledge Her Artwork Is Fiction:

"A Yale University art student who has claimed that she videotaped her own self-induced abortions will not be allowed to display an art project about the abortions unless she acknowledges that the project is 'fiction,' university administrators announced today.

The project, by Aliza Shvarts, a senior art major at Yale, started an uproar on the campus and in the blogosphere, and a debate over whether her project should be protected by artistic freedom. It is supposed to go on display [22 April, 2008] in Yale’s Holcombe T. Green Jr. Hall. Ms. Shvarts has created confusion and angered Yale officials by telling Yale’s student newspaper that the abortions really happened, but then acknowledging to administrators that the project was merely 'performance art.'

Experts differ sharply on whether a planned art exhibit on abortion goes beyond what anyone intended in terms of guarding the right to free expression at universities."

(Via Chronicle.com - Today's News.)

Free of Charges at Last!

Steven Kurtz Cleared of Charges

04.21.08 - The Associated Press reports that a judge has dismissed charges against Steven Kurtz, a college professor accused of illegally obtaining biological materials for an art exhibit protesting US government food policies. District Judge Richard Arcara ruled that a mail and wire fraud indictment brought nearly four years ago against the University at Buffalo professor, was "insufficient on its face." Kurtz is a founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble, which has used human DNA and other biological materials in works meant to draw attention to political and social issues. His arrest drew international attention, with artists in several countries protesting the charges as an intrusion on artistic freedom. He became the target of a federal terrorism investigation in May 2004 when firefighters found the materials — two kinds of bacteria — and equipment they deemed suspicious after a 911 call to his home. Kurtz had called to report that his wife was dead from an apparent heart attack. Investigators later determined that the lab equipment used for DNA extraction and amplification equipment was part of his artwork and that Hope Kurtz died naturally. But Kurtz was indicted a month later on mail and wire fraud charges that carried a maximum of twenty years in prison.

Kurtz was accused of plotting with Robert Ferrell, the former chairman of the University of Pittsburgh's human genetics department, to improperly obtain potentially harmful organisms. Prosecutors said Ferrell used his university account to order bacteria for Kurtz from a supply lab that does not do business with individuals. In February, Ferrell was fined $500 but escaped a prison sentence after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of mailing an injurious article to Kurtz. Under sentencing guidelines, he could have received up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted.

This had been going on for years now. And, what a cost to friends and family. Steve Kurtz is a person I respect and, this decision is great news! I tried to work with him one semester during grad school however, I ended up working with Doug Ashford based on the limited number of students each of them had to work with.

Arts, Briefly: Fisk University Keeps Its O'Keeffes

Is this case finally at its end? It has been a complex case since its beginning. Remember a few days ago the post regarding deacquisitioning work from art collections? Here is a perfect case study.

Arts, Briefly: Fisk University Keeps Its O'Keeffes:

"A Tennessee judge has ruled that while Fisk University in Nashville violated the terms under which Georgia O’Keeffe donated art to the institution, it should not lose the works to a New Mexico museum, The Associated Press reported. Ellen Hobbs Lyle, a Davidson County Chancery Court judge, permanently banned the sale of the 101-piece O’Keeffe collection, but also ruled that Fisk must take the artworks out of storage and display them by October. Chancellor Lyle had vetoed previous efforts by the financially ailing university to raise money by selling the art, including O’Keeffe’s 1927 oil painting ‘Radiator Building — Night, New York,’ above. The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in New Mexico, representing her estate, had sued to get the collection, citing Fisk’s bids to sell the paintings and their removal from display as violations of the terms of the 1949 donation. Last month the judge rejected Fisk’s proposed $30 million sale of a half-interest in the artworks to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Ark., founded by the Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton."

(Via NYT > Arts.)

Originally posted on NEW MAeX Artblog view it here.

Inflated Art Appraisals Cost Gov Millions

Has any of that work made its way to S. Florida? Well, how much local art is overvalued? It's an unfair system in that collectors even get to declare market value for art while artist only get to declare the actual cost of materials.

Inflated Art Appraisals Cost Gov Millions:

"These IRS reviews caught $183 million in exaggerated claims over the last two decades. But that probably represents a small fraction of the total problem, according to a more detailed 2006 study by the agency's inspector general.

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LACMA

Federal authorities are investigating an alleged tax fraud scheme in which Thai antiquities such as this bell, were appraised at inflated values and donated to local museums.

In 2004, for instance, the IRS' appraisers checked only seven of the 108,554 tax returns with donations of art. They found that more than a third of the 184 objects claimed on those returns were overvalued -- on average more than three times their true worth.

'It totally blows me away,' said Ralph Lerner, a tax attorney in New York who represents many art donors. 'I didn't know there was that much abuse.'

It is appraisers, not museums, who determine the value of art for donors. But the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles is investigating whether museum officials furthered the scheme by knowingly accepting donations of overvalued art from suspect dealers and collectors over a decade, according to affidavits filed in January. "

(Via Los Angeles Times Arts News.)

The World's Greatest Art Heists

The World's Greatest Art Heists:

"The theft of masterpieces from a Swiss museum is just the latest in a long line of spectacular robberies."

(Via Forbes.com: Collecting News.)

Originally posted on NEW MAeX Artblog view it here.

Miami-Dade public arts program in shambles, auditor says

Our worse fears have again been realized...

Miami-Dade public arts program in shambles, auditor says:

"Miami-Dade County's $28.2 million Art in Public Program is a mess, with 13 pieces of art worth $12.6 million not recorded in an inventory, 24% of the collection in need of maintenance or repair and items on public display susceptible to theft.

In one case, an item that cost $400,000 was destroyed instead of moved elsewhere because the artist felt the piece was site-specific. The artist was paid $24,418 to come up with a plan to remove the piece that was later rejected, and then hired to do another project for $900,000 — in violation of the county's competitive process. [editor's note: how do these things get through the approval process, are not these issues looked at by an oversight committee? Well, Miami's corrupt politics are well known so, it just filters through all aspects of government, both city and county. Can this system be overhauled?]

Many artworks were found gathering dust and racking up storage fees of more than $24,000, and scores of others valued in the tens of thousands of dollars were missing. [editor's note: the latter is not news as the missing art was brought up in recent memory.]"

(Via Miami Today News.)

Attn, Hit & Run Readers: Those Bargain-Priced-To-Sell Monets May Be Stolen!

Attn, Hit & Run Readers: Those Bargain-Priced-To-Sell Monets May Be Stolen!:

If anyone is suddenly pushing a cut-rate Monet or Van Gogh on you, be wary:

"Armed robbers have stolen art worth $100 million, including works by Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, from a Zurich museum, police said Monday.

Zurich police said the robbery took place Sunday. Also among the works stolen were oil paintings by Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas.

Police called the heist a 'spectacular art robbery,' but did not identify the museum, saying only that it is in the city's eighth district.

The prosperous and peaceful outer district on the eastern shore of Lake Zurich is home to several notable art collections.

The FBI estimates the market for stolen art at $6 billion annually, and Interpol has about 30,000 pieces of stolen art in its database. While only a fraction of pieces are ever found, the theft of iconic objects is rare because of the intense police work that follows and because the works are so difficult to sell."

More here.

Other questions of art's value raised here and here.

(Via Reason Magazine - Topics > Arts.)

Don’t copy this (and don’t copy my cease and desist letter, either)!

Don’t copy this (and don’t copy my cease and desist letter, either)!:

"Dear Rich: I have a question. I got a cease and desist letter from a law firm and I’d like to post it on my website so the world can see what a jerk this guy is. Is that legal? I’m so glad you asked. Publishing cease and desist letters on the Internet is not uncommon and there are even searchable C&D databases (in case you need help writing one). Lawyers rarely object to the practice either because they don’t want more attention, or because they’re aware that they’re on tenuous first amendment or fair use grounds. However, some lawyers throw caution to the wind and plunge ahead with attempts to stop republication of their C&D letters. (You can read this lawyer’s original cease and desist letter (.pdf) and a well-reasoned response to it by Public Citizen (.pdf).) If faced with an overly assertive law firm, keep the following in mind:

1. Getting a certificate of copyright registration for a cease and desist letter is not very hard. The hurdles for federal registration are fairly low and a cease and desist letter may meet those standards.

2. Enforcing copyright in C&D letters is difficult because of the merger doctrine. Copyright law will not protect a work if there are a limited number of ways of expressing the underlying idea. (And how many ways are there to say cease and desist?)

3. Reproduction of letters may be permitted under fair use principles. Infringing activity is often permitted for the sake of commentary and/or criticism.

Anyway, I certainly hope nobody puts a chill on republication of C&D letters. They are a great source of amusement and sometimes a matter of national security. And, for lawyers like me, it’s often the only way to get published."

(Via Nolo’s Patent, Copyright, and Trademark Blog.)

Protecting your business' brand

TheNextFewHours.com had its pages taken and republished in Miami Art Guide a couple of years ago. I think the fallout from the incident has stayed with the art community to this day. It's one thing with a local business or individual asks to use copyrighted material but, when they don't and get caught? That is a huge problem. Flickr.com is the one web site that has had the most abuse with periodicals taking images for use in a print publication. So far, I've had a few print publication request images for use, providing a written contract as well.

Protecting your business' brand:

"Fortune Small Business offers tips on how to keep others from taking your firm's name, logo and other intellectual property."

(Via Video - CNNMoney.com.)

Artist Entrepreneurs Group Meetup, 17 Nov.

Today, Saturday, was a great Meetup. Thanks again to Marlon Hill, Esq. for his fantastic presentation on starting a business, copyrights, contracts and licensing your art. These Meetups are changing the dynamic of what Miami Art Exchange is about, in a good way. I need to make business cards, like yesterday.

I was at the Carol Jazzar Contemporary Art gallery last night to sign two books titled, Miami Contemporary Artists, that are to be auctioned off. (More about the books later.) While there I got quizzed about the Artist Entrepreneurs Group Meetup that was set for today. One artist there was questioning whether or not to sign the gallery contract. Duh! Sign it girl! If you don't like it, have your attorney draw up something else. You don't have an attorney? You need one. And, if you weren't there at the Meetup, you missed out.

In January will be a presentation by a Tax Accountant, just in time to give us the low down before the April deadline for personal taxes. Sign up now!