Vandalizing Art for Nature
I support the protests and demonstrations of climate activists 99.99% of the time, but there are actions that individuals in the movement have taken that I think are at best ineffective and at worst stupid and counterproductive.
This week, members of the group Just Stop Oil vandalized Stonehenge by spraying orange paint powder on the 5,000 year old cultural treasures. The paint was apparently removed without damaging the structures, as it was corn flour-based and was intended to easily wash off with water, but the question of why they did it remains.
How…?
In what world does that make sense? How is throwing paint on a historical relic going to lead to achieving that goal?
It doesn’t and it won’t.
If their intention was just to get attention, then it worked. But if it was to bring attention to their cause and garner support, then they failed miserably. Their action makes absolutely no sense and could only turn people against them and their cause.
What did Stonehenge ever do to harm the world? How does it have anything to do with the fossil fuel industry? Does Just Stop Oil believe that Druids or Celtic priests or the wizard Merlin were ancient oil barons and the stones were their magical oil rigs?
Idiots.
I don’t want to be too harsh on them because they didn’t actually do any harm, and their hearts were in the right place, but I can’t figure out where their brains were.
I’m all for protests, activism, and productive vandalism, but do it with some damn sense. Vandalize an oil executive’s property, launch cyber attacks on a bank with fossil fuel investments, blow up an oil refinery. Do something that could make a difference and actually pertains to the cause of fighting the fossil fuel industry’s destruction of life on Earth. There are going to be people that are annoyed or angered by your actions no matter what, but at least some folks will be on your side if you do something that actually makes sense, and you might even accomplish something.
This isn’t the first incident of its kind, even by this specific group. They’ve gotten notoriety before for vandalizing famous paintings, or the glass covering them, often by smearing them with food. They brought negative attention to themselves and all anyone talked about was their stupid actions, not the noble cause that somehow supposedly motivated them.
Instead of causing trouble in art museums, they should be doing so in corporate offices. They should be vandalizing the tools and symbols of life’s destruction, rather than products and representations of life’s beauty.
I cannot see the logic in building a movement and starting a revolution by turning art-lovers, history, science and magic nerds, and the general public against you. If they’re going to have any success, they need support. They need to make friends, not enemies.
I’m inclined to be on the side of people like this. I agree completely with their supposed objectives, but cannot support them because their methods are petty, stupid, and counterproductive.