Climate Activism: When Defacing Art is Art
Written by Story Pennock
In prominent museums - National Gallery, Barberini Museum, Hangaram Art Museum - some climate activists have converted standing displays into ‘artwork’ for their own cause. The protestors, thankfully unwilling to damage the art, only targeted pieces in protective glass. Regardless, these protests have elicited disgruntled sighs from art lovers reading the morning paper, abhorrence from commentators online, stoic fortification from museums, and a global string of ‘copycat’ protests. Although, their protests are noble and in many ways poetic; perhaps, rather than imprison these political activists, we should revere their harmless and effective use of art to garner attention.
Antonio Olmos/The Guardian, Two protesters threw soup at Vincent Van Gogh’s famous 1888 work Sunflowers at the National Gallery in London.
Destructing art to propel political movements is an old tactic; we see it mainly as iconoclasm in the 20th century with the Nazis burning books and banning modernist art, centuries ago when medieval Muslims and Catholics disfigured non-catholic art, or ancient Romans melting Greek bronze works for weapons. Destructing art is destroying the unavoidable facets of humanity that art seeks to convey; brutality and knowledge, serenity and ignorance, divinity and secularity. Everyone can understand an image, thus art eliminates barriers between language, culture and even centuries, therefore preserving dialogues otherwise irretrievable from our history. So, we collectively agree that destroying art is harmful.
Aside from its philosophical value, over the past 70 years, art has emerged as a victim of commodity fetishism: rather than ascribing value to art's impact or intention, we have ascribed intrinsic and automatic value to art. This fetishism has mainly applied to the upper echelon of society; billionaires purchase, hold, and sell art like stocks and as a result we have philosophically null ‘artworks’ like the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs or a banana taped to a wall. This has caused an intellectual trickle down effect where people of all classes value an artwork because it's expensive, not because of what it represents. People invest unimaginable amounts of money into NFTs to resell it, not because they find anything compelling about the fifteen thousand dollar pixelated monkey. Similarly, many clamor to see Van Gogh’s Sunflowers because it's valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, not because it offers a glimpse into insanity.
By targeting these highly acclaimed paintings, activists assaulted climate change and commodity fetishism by exposing humanity’s conviction to prize objects over people. With a slight vocal waiver and brows tense like a quivered bow, an activist from the Stop Oil Group passionately cried “what is worth more, art or life? […] are you more concerned with the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people?” Vogue, perhaps the publishing pinnacle of fetishism, called these activists “embarrassing”. However, the paintings are not damaged and the activists never wanted to harm them; why are we distraught and angry? Their cause is noble, without direct consequences, and yet the temporary obscurance of art under a can of soup has struck our collective moral artery. Is our distress at non-conformity to battle injustice masquerading as worrying over art? Has our fetishisitic seizure of artworks as commodities obscured art’s mission to foster change and justice?
In a press release, Just Stop Oil affirmed that they intentionally…, Via Getty Images
These activists are arguably creating art, not eliminating it. The Stop Oil Group ‘Jackson Polluck-y’ flung tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. In another protest, they drew a parallel between murder and climate change, art and our dying world while laying a banner inscribed with “Climate Chaos = War + Famine” adjacent to Picasso’s Massacre in Korea. In June they covered Constable’s idyllic, effervescent, fresh Hay Wain with the same setting inundated in ecological catastrophe. In a press release, Just Stop Oil affirmed that they intentionally “covered the Hay Wain with a reimagined version that illustrates the impact of our addiction to fossil fuels on our countryside”. Commanding our attention, it is apparent that Just Stop Oil uses culturally integral pieces, and museum platforms, to produce temporary art regarding climate catastrophe. They have taken Banksy’s illicitness but slashed off anonymity to appropriate renowned works all the while attracting hate and spectacle. They are arrogant, and they are striking.
Here, however, is the problem that these activists need to contemplate. Although these artistic annexations have been intentionally harmless, one would naively assume that it will continue this way. Of course, the next radical step for someone is certainly targeting and damaging unprotected works of art in the name of activism. People are rightfully angry, they will riot, but art should not be the scapegoat for our world leaders’ inability to protect our planet. Museums need to prioritize the safety of their clientele and collection, so they of course cannot, and should not, endorse these protests. We can hold these previous protests in admiration, but also heed their cautionary premonition of more to come.
Story Pennock is a college student and co-founder of the Rosebud News. As her name would suggest, she loves telling stories and giving her unsolicited opinion about literature, history, and current events. Her pastimes include going to museums, reading, researching historical fashion, playing guitar, listening to Brit-pop and maintaining her Duo Lingo Italian/Turkish/Portuguese streak (just dont ask her to say anything other than nouns).
Sources Used:
KuzmBuus, K. (n.d.). Just stop oil climate activists subvert the hay wain painting by john... Getty Images. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/just-stop-oil-climate-activists-subvert-the-hay-wain-news-photo/1241701965.
Damien G. [@damiengayle]. (2022, Oct 14). New oil and gas will lead to crop failure, food shortages and the collapse of law and order. Human civilisation as we know it is on the verge of collapse [tweet]. Twitter. twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1580865060347383808.
Extinction Rebellion Victoria. [@XRVicAus]. (2022, Oct 08). On Sunday 9 October, climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion glued themselves to the glass covering Picasso’s “Massacre in Korea” at the NGV [tweet]. Twitter. twitter.com/XRVicAus/status/1578941816057262082?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1578941816057262082%7Ctwgr%5Eb9e80d2f42ade910a70786909b98344d78ea440f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.buzzfeednews.com%2Farticle%2Fclarissajanlim%2Fclimate-activists-paintings-glue-protest.
Guardian News and Media. (2022, November 11). Climate activists attacking art 'severely underestimate' fragility of Works, Gallery Directors Warn. The Guardian. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/nov/11/climate-activists-attacking-art-severely-underestimate-fragility-of-works-gallery-directors-warn
Rodriguez, C. (2022, November 8). Gluing hands to Art Masterpieces: The latest climate-protest stunt spreading in Europe. Forbes. Retrieved December 4, 2022, from www.forbes.com/sites/ceciliarodriguez/2022/08/26/gluing-hands-to-art-masterpieces-the-latest-climate-protest-stunt-spreading-in-europe/?sh=1a2e36ba6338.