Founded in 1987 by Steven Kurtz and Steve Barnes, Critical Art Ensemle (CAE) is a collective of artists of various specializations—including computer graphics and web design, wetware, film/video, photography, text art, book art, installation, and performance—dedicated to exploring the intersections between art, technology, political activism, and critical theory. For more than three decades CAE has produced and exhibited work that examines questions surrounding information, communications, bio-technologies, and ecological systems and environmental justice. The collective has performed and produced a wide variety of projects for an international audience at diverse venues ranging from the street, to the museum, to the Internet, and has been invited to exhibit and perform in many of the world’s leading cultural institutions—including The Whitney Museum and The New Museum in NYC; Documenta in Kassel, The Corcoran Museum in Washington D.C.; The ICA, London; Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt; Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris; The London Museum of Natural History; and many more. The collective has written 8 books and over 90 artciles, and its writings have been translated into 20 languages.

In 1986, Steve Barnes and Steve Kurtz and began a collaboration to make low-tech videos with students. They credited each person who contributed to the productions under the signature of Critical Art Ensemble. The collective has written seven books, and its writings have been translated into 18 languages. Its work has been covered by art journals, including Artforum, Kunstforum, and The Drama Review. Critical Art Ensemble is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Grant, the 2004 John Lansdown Award for Multimedia and the 2004 Leonardo New Horizons Award for Innovation.

Steve Kurtz is a professor of art at the SUNY Buffalo, former professor of art history at Carnegie Mellon University and a founding member of the performance art group Critical Art Ensemble. The collective has written seven books, and its writings have been translated into 18 languages. Its work has been covered by art journals, including Artforum, Kunstforum, and The Drama Review. Critical Art Ensemble is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2007 Andy Warhol Foundation Wynn Kramarsky Freedom of Artistic Expression Grant, the 2004 John Lansdown Award for Multimedia and the 2004 Leonardo New Horizons Award for Innovation.