The latest painting to be attacked by an ovine climate protestor is Monet’s Poppies in Paris’s Musee D’Orsay. Thankfully, the initial reports that the painting was not protected by glass were inaccurate, and the alarming red rectangle – which at first glance looked as if the painting had been torn to the underlying canvas – was in fact a large red sticker.
How is it helping climate change to throw good food at works of art?
Video footage has emerged of a woman covering the surface of the painting then taking off her jacket to display her activist t-shirt. She then stood by the painting as if she was waiting for applause. It’s far from the first time that a famous work of art has been targeted. Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Mona Lisa was smeared with cake. Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Monet’s Springtime in Lyon’s Museum of Fine art had soup thrown at them. The glass over Velazquez’s The Rokeby Venus was smashed. Monet’s Haystacks was pelted with potatoes.
How is it helping climate change to throw good food at works of art? If these protesters had an iota of grey matter in their heads instead of empty slogans, they might do something more worthwhile – pick up rubbish, for example, or shame litterbugs, or help out on a farm, or grow their own organic vegetables, or…
But they don’t want to do anything helpful. On several occasions, thick protestors have glued their hands to the wall or to the painting. Miscreants usually want to leave the scene of their crime, but these idiots glue themselves to the wall. What exactly is the point? If it is that art is a privileged activity, they should ask how it is exactly that they managed to gain access to this supposedly elitist space. It’s because art galleries are open to the public, and most are free at least part of the time. The Musee D’Orsay, in common with other galleries in Paris, is free one Sunday every month. I notice that the climate activist didn’t go then. Because it’s so packed with ordinary, cultured people on those days that these vandals would be lynched.
Cowardice meets privilege in these dunderheads, not in their targets. Most people are too busy working in order to feed themselves to target paintings in galleries. These young adult brats – bratults – don’t know how lucky they are.
They sometimes argue that the reason for damaging well-known artwork is that it attracts attention that their cause otherwise wouldn’t receive. Well, it’s true only in the sense that the activists and their activities receive attention. Few people end up actually looking into the purported cause. Most do little more than rolling their eyes. Is that really activism – or simply attention seeking?
It reminds me of when climate protesters from Extinction Rebellion shut down London by congregating in the streets, stopping ambulances from reaching medical emergencies and hospital workers from being able to do their jobs. Emma Thompson flew over to London first class from LA to show her support. The irony of a stinking rich woman contributing to thousands of tons of air pollution in order to show her support for less air pollution was not lost on many observers.
Ditto zealous politicians who bring in low emissions zones, which shut down a whole lane of traffic and give bicycles more space than four wheeled vehicles. This forces buses and cars to cluster in huge pollution-causing jams for hours. It takes hours to go from the West End of London to Gunnersbury now. It also means that bus stops are helpfully placed in the middle of the road, so those descending step straight out into traffic. Luckily, it’s so slow moving that it will probably only take your toes off.
Comments