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submitted 3 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Three individuals targeted National Gallery paintings an hour after Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland were jailed for similar attack in 2022

Climate activists have thrown tomato soup over two Sunflowers paintings by Vincent van Gogh, just an hour after two others were jailed for a similar protest action in 2022.

Three supporters of Just Stop Oil walked into the National Gallery in London, where an exhibition of Van Gogh’s collected works is on display, at 2.30pm on Friday afternoon, and threw Heinz soup over Sunflowers 1889 and Sunflowers 1888.

The latter was the same work targeted by Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland in 2022. That pair are now among 25 supporters of Just Stop Oil in jail for climate protests.

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[-] PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world 140 points 3 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

So if throwing paint at a entierly replaceable cover for a dusty old painting is too far gone to be acceptable, what action can we take to stop oil production? Like. It needs to stop. To continue producing fossil fuels is a death cult. It needs to stop, like, a decade ago. I ask genuinely, how is this too far, and what is an acceptable response to an existential threat?

edit: On the off chance someone reads this so long after the post, I just want to point out that nobody actually engaged with my question here.

[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 72 points 3 months ago

So if throwing paint at a entierly replaceable cover for a dusty old painting is too far gone to be acceptable, what action can we take to stop oil production?

God, I wish someone could actually trace the train of events that would lead to reduced oil production from this other than some bizarre notion that throwing soup at a priceless artifact of human heritage will Energize The Masses(tm) or suddenly convince people who think climate change is a hoax or overblown that it's actually a serious problem.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 44 points 3 months ago

Imagine if these activists spent more time going after companies benefiting from fossil fuel production rather than throwing soup in museums...

[-] WaxedWookie@lemmy.world 64 points 3 months ago

They've done that too, and have encountered media blackouts.

As nice as it would be if they could simply fix the climate problem with the disruption a handful of protests cause, they can't, and need to draw public attention to the problem.

These demonstrations open up the conversation in threads like this - you agree there's a problem, you agree these protests don't fix the problem, so let's talk about what will.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago

Seems to me that it would be pretty difficult to encounter a media blackout to do this sort of thing at, for example, global climate summits, oil company shareholder meetings, etc.

But I'm not seeing much soup being thrown there.

[-] itslilith 42 points 3 months ago

In Germany, protestors repeatedly shut oil pipelines off and locked themselves to the valves to prevent their reopening, blocking oil flow for several hours every time. I consume a lot of news, both mainstream and in my leftist bubble. That story barely registered anywhere.

The exact same protestors threw mashed potatoes at a Van Gogh. They were the main headline for over a week.

Hell, some guy set himself on fire a few years ago and it was in the news for half a day.

The media blackout is real, but it's not a huge conspiracy. It's just that the media reports on what gets them clicks, and nothing generates clicks like outrage. That's why so much reporting also conveniently forgets to mention that the paintings are protected by plexiglass and nothing ever got damaged. But all the controversy gets people talking, and some people will inevitably question what drives people to do something like that. That is the real objective. If they wanted to be popular, they'd to greenwashed recycling videos on YouTube instead, or whatever else is hip with the neoliberal peddlers of personal responsibility at the moment.

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[-] EldritchFeminity 119 points 3 months ago

While I think this was a stupid way to go about risking jail time for a noble cause, I would like to remind everybody here of what everybody in the 60s thought about MLK and his peaceful protests:

There never has nor will there ever be such a thing as "the right way to protest." The right way to protest means out of sight where it can be conveniently ignored.

[-] sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world 43 points 3 months ago

Interesting that you think this is stupid, yet you acknowledge that protests are inherently uncomfortable.

People are talking about Just Stop Oil every time they pull one of these stunts. Sounds like they're accomplishing their goals will bells on.

[-] EldritchFeminity 11 points 3 months ago

I mean stupid as in "you might as well do something worth the punishment" or that they might have been better off blocking traffic through a major thoroughfare or something rather than possibly damaging a cultural artifact.

I agree with the concept, just not this particular executation.

[-] sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world 13 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Uh.. do you know what their punishment is for this? They usually get carted to the local jail, held for between a few hours and a few days, then released once the media have gone away. The offense is so minor that the punishment is the equivalent of getting lost in a corn maze. Usually, the JSO people are older people who don't have much going on and so it's literally no skin off their back if they have to sit in the local jail for a few days. (Also, UK jails are much more humane than US jails, so they don't really suffer)

See, I don't think you do. I'm not trying to No True Scotsman you, but if you agree that protests inherently have to upset people a little bit, you can't then turn around and say "but don't upset us like this!". You don't get to pick and choose what protests are morally correct or even worth it - that's the protestor's job, not yours!

[-] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 12 points 3 months ago

While that's often the punishment, this particular event was a repeat of a previous event that resulted in a two year prison sentence. At least that one particular judge is throwing the book at climate protesters for minor acts.

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[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 27 points 3 months ago

I agree except that potential damage to historical pieces makes me extremely upset.

I would prefer they ACTUALLY riot to that.

... and, in fact, that would probably be much more effective.

[-] Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 46 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

They tried protesting at oil infrastructure, they stopped multiple oil terminals in the UK being used for weeks and caused shortages in various parts of the UK. Hundreds went to prison and everyone forgot about it after a week.

They throw soup at glass, 2 people go to a police station for a few days and people are still talking about it months later.

Unfortunately, they have to exist within the constraints of modern news media, outrage cycles and social media, and that influences their decisions.

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[-] kzhe@lemmy.zip 41 points 3 months ago

I mean JSO never actually tried to damage historical pieces. The paintings are behind glass

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[-] itslilith 81 points 3 months ago

To everyone in this thread who has nothing but insults for these activists, what are you doing against climate breakdown? Besides sitting on your couch, insulting people who are actually trying to make a difference, facing jail time?

You are the kind of people who would've called the Suffragettes names and said they're hurting the cause, as well.

[-] Default_Defect@midwest.social 22 points 3 months ago

Compared to what they've accomplished by getting some plexiglass wet, it seems like sitting on my couch has accomplished the same. Maybe more by staying home, unless they rode bikes or walked to do the deed.

[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 14 points 3 months ago

No, no, you see, all attention is good attention, and attention is the most valuable thing to the climate change movement right now. That's the issue. Not enough people are AWARE that it's a THING. If they were, we would be making much more progress than we currently are.

/s

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[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago

Definitely more. You haven't pissed a bunch of people off that are on your side on this issue.

[-] itslilith 23 points 3 months ago

If some soup on plexiglass can convince you to let the planet burn, you were never on the side of progress.

[-] sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world 15 points 3 months ago

This right here. For shame on anyone who genuinely thinks they're on the right side of history, whining about soup on a Plexiglas barrier.

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[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 16 points 3 months ago

These clowns ain't doing anything useful about it either.

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[-] Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works 70 points 3 months ago
  1. It was covered by glass, unclutch your fucking pearls already.

  2. Van Gogh is my favorite painter, and I would still rather have a habitable planet for future generations than have Sunflowers. If you're more mad about this than you are about what big oil and gas companies are doing, sit down and have a good hard think about where your priorities are. I do not give a shit if you "agree with their message but not their tactics" or if you "think it makes the cause look bad" or whatever other bullshit you want to spew to cover your ass right now. Ultimately, if this caused you to feel a greater sense of righteous anger than the wholesale destruction of our environment for profit does, you are part of the problem. I'd rather side with the people who are trying to make a difference, even if I don't like how they do it, than side with the people plundering our world for personal gain.

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[-] BrightCandle@lemmy.world 58 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I see a lot of confusion and misinformation in the comments about what Just Stop Oils demands are. Their website makes it very plain and you can read through the details yourself. The press has massively misrepresented the groups demands and goals so its best to read it for yourself. https://juststopoil.org/

These are the 3 demands they have.

✅ Demand 1: No New Oil and Gas Licences – WON!

🔥 Demand 2: Just Stop Oil by 2030.

🧡 We need a Fossil Fuel Treaty.

  • Demand 1 they only just won when the UK government changed to Labour who have committed the first item, so all their previous actions were with the goal of not expanding yet further the use of fossil fuels.
  • Demand 2 is to phase the use of fossil fuels out by 2030. The UK has a net zero goal of 2035 so this would bring that goal earlier but many other countries have a 2030 target in the EU.
  • Demand 3 is all about trying to get a world wide treaty signed to stop the use of oil to try and meet the Paris agreement to keep within 1.5C.

There is no immediate demand to stop or anything so extreme, they are largely what the UK has already agreed to do but is failing to achieve.

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[-] ToastedPlanet 54 points 3 months ago
[-] geogle@lemmy.world 25 points 3 months ago

That sort of comment could be used to justify an unbelievable amount of vandalism and terror and is just not productive

[-] ToastedPlanet 24 points 3 months ago

We should value the Earth more than art. If vandalism of paintings bothers people more than the destruction of the Earth then they should reexamine their priorities. No to mention, the vandalism of the art is imagined, the painting is undamaged, but the damage to the planet is real. On top of that, if we do nothing to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions then the damage to the planet will continue to worsen.

[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 18 points 3 months ago

There is literally no vandalism nor terrorism here apart from the planet being destroyed.

[-] technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com 52 points 3 months ago

Just Stop Oil activists throw soup at ~~Van Gogh’s Sunflowers~~ plastic sheet after fellow protesters jailed

I dunno why these newspapers constantly print these phony headlines... Oh wait. It's the clickbait and propaganda obviously.

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[-] empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com 46 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Hot take: I swear a lot of these kinds of "protests" are funded by the oil companies themsleves to make climate activists look like crazy crackpots easy for the media and average Joe to dismiss. Like with the Stonehenge paint bullshit. Really?

[-] wewbull@feddit.uk 29 points 3 months ago

I agree. I think these people are serving as "useful idiots". They don't know they're being manipulated by oil interests. Ther think they are fighting the good fight. They are undoubtedly benefiting those they claim to be against.

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[-] jordanlund@lemmy.world 44 points 3 months ago

These pro-acrylic protests are getting out of hand!

[-] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 11 points 3 months ago

Have my upvote, you monster.

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[-] HomerianSymphony@lemmy.world 29 points 3 months ago

Good for them.

They’re getting media attention for their message. That isn’t easy to do.

[-] RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works 25 points 3 months ago

I know Lemmy has mixed feelings here, but I personally applaud these activists for risking prison time to draw attention to a major existential threat.

I find it quite entertaining to see all the art aficionados coming out so shook by them getting a little bit of soup onto some plexiglass and a picture frame that they probably couldn't even describe before these incidents. Close your eyes, Is it walnut or cherry? Painted or oil finished? Ornate or simple? 5 or 7 inches wide? Symmetrical or asymmetrical along a horizontal axis?

These protests, which thus far have involved basically zero actual damage of cultural significance have driven significantly more attention (good and bad) to their cause than anything else that has been done. Their protests are non-violent and generally nondestructive.

That said, the real crime here is the judge sentencing 2 years in prison for getting some soup on the frame of a painting - I don't support violent protests, but I'm pretty sure you could just go around and slap oil CEOs in the face for a fraction of the sentence.

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[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 22 points 3 months ago

“I chose to peacefully disrupt a business-as-usual system that is unjust, dishonest and murderous.”

Ah, yes, the murderous system of [checks notes] art made generations before you were born.

[-] sirico@feddit.uk 22 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

My tin hat tingles with these guys they're either too upper middle-class to actually understand the real world or they're making sure climate activists are a running joke.

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[-] FinishingDutch@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago

These people are utter cunts.

All this does is annoy people and potentially damage the actual art. If they threw soup at oil execs or something, at least it’d be somewhat related to their message. But attacking paintings does nothing.

If I saw that in a museum, I’d punch them in the mouth.

We know perfectly well that the art is behind glass and will not be damaged because they did it before. So it's complete nonsense to say that it will potentially destroy the art.

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[-] janonymous@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago

I'm sorry, but these protests are going to far! That was a perfectly fine soup!

[-] JaymesRS@literature.cafe 12 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Have we considered that these protests are astroturfing by big professional art-restoration backers?

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[-] PugJesus@lemmy.world 11 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Like, holy fucking shit, I'm not against radical protests or direct action. Take a fucking sledgehammer to someone's sports' car for all I give a fuck. Do it to multiple people. I mean, as long as it's someone relevant, not just some rando. But this? Playing fucking games with human heritage? This kind of infantile shit is why museums and public galleries have to invest heavily in security measures anymore. The Mona Lisa has been damaged multiple times by people doing this kind of bullshit. And, like this, no one fucking remembers it in a few years' time.

It's insane that the Solarpunk Climate community is more nuanced on this event that many of the defenders in here. Not because the Solarpunk instance is bad, but because climate change et co is kind of Their Thing.

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this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
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