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.
I bet fossil fuel companies love this
This is so poorly motivated it makes me wonder if it were in fact staged by the fossil fuel industry to make climate activists look bad.
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.
guarantee half the clothes theyre wearing are made at least partially of oilbased material
But like, why don’t you go and blow up an oil rig? Or dump paint on an Oil execs car? Or protest directly outside of their house? Sure this sort of thing grabs headlines, but does literally nothing for the cause. If anything it builds momentum AGAINST your cause because you’re making people who don’t have a horse in the race (whether they should or not) think your entire group is dead set on destroying works of art.
Bet this was done by big oil. No one is that fucking stupid.
This is invalid civil disobedience. The point of civil disobedience is to disobey unjust laws (see: Rosa Parks disobeying bus segregation). So unless they think laws against throwing soup at paintings are unjust, their point is lost.
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.
Just Stop Oil activists throw soup at
Van Gogh’s Sunflowersplastic sheet after fellow protesters jailedI dunno why these newspapers constantly print these phony headlines… Oh wait. It’s the clickbait and propaganda obviously.
Just Stop Oil has to be the most destructive and idiotic activist group I’ve ever heard of (besides Greenpeace and their anti-nuclear agenda). They make activism as a whole look bad with their pointless stunts.
What does Vincent van Gogh have to do with the current state of the petrol industry? What does any classical artist have to do with the current state of the petrol industry? Why go out of one’s way to try and ruin something that isn’t even remotely related to the subject? They’re only making themselves look like a bad joke.
Doesnt help they’re total assholes either; a few years ago they blocked a motorway in England in protest. Fair enough. But there was a family who’s baby had to be rushed to the nearest hospital, and they weren’t allowed to pass! Seriously, fuck them.
I don’t agree with this but I think I can see the point.
I think it shows how upset people get when they think something like the painting is being destroyed, but do not connect that to the planet being destroyed by the people they protest.
Wreck a van Gogh goto jail, wreck the planet profit.
Idiotic is when people still think that the actual art was harmed at all. There have been like dozens of these protests and people still spout this nonsense.
Big oil thanks you for spreading their propaganda for free.
pointless stunts.
Well, we’re talking about it. I also understand (which doesn’t mean I support) their message without even looking it up. I’m glad someone else clarified it (cf “There is no art on a dead planet.”) proving that it’s really not that hard.
Who cares about the most beautiful piece of art ever if there is nobody left to enjoy it because we are literally burning up the only livable ecosystem we know?
What does Vincent van Gogh have to do with the current state of the petrol industry? What does any classical artist have to do with the current state of the petrol industry? Why go out of one’s way to try and ruin something that isn’t even remotely related to the subject? They’re only making themselves look like a bad joke.
They literally address this: “There is no art on a dead planet.” If all humans are dead, art means nothing. Just stop using oil.
Pearl clutching aside, the art was protected by a plexiglass barrier and did no permanent harm.
An incredibly stupid sentiment.
Evidence suggests that disruptive protests actually help, rather than hinder organisations like JSO:
It’s all about raising awareness and facilitating discussions.
Meanwhile petrol companies are doing everything they can to smother protests: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/26/anti-protest-laws-fossil-fuel-lobby
Consider who gains the most from perpetuating the idea that JSO are the bad guys…
You’d have to live under a rock to not be aware of climate change. If you do live under a rock, you wouldn’t hear about some dumbasses throwing soup in an art gallery.
If you know about climate change, but don’t care about climate change, a stupid act like this is not going to change their mind. Nothing will.
You’d have to live under a rock to think hegemony is doing anything about climate change apart from profiting,
High profile protests like this keep the matter of climate change in the spotlight. They prevent it being brushed under the rug by other events and ensure it remains on the political radar. Maybe you’re right in that if you don’t care about climate change JSO are unlikely to change your mind, but if they help to convert even a handful of people, or at least conversations on the topic they weren’t having before, that’s a win.
Climate change is a subject that has never left the spotlight. It’s more in the spotlight than ever, no thanks to Just Stop Oil. These guys are contributing absolutely nothing.
only 30% thought disruptive tactics were effective for issues with high awareness but low support
Nicely cherry-picked.
69% of experts thought that disruptive tactics were effective for issues (like climate change) that have high public awareness and support. For issues with high awareness but low support (like anti-vaccination), only 30% thought disruptive tactics were effective.
Lucky JSO are about the former, not the latter.
If they have such high public support why doesn’t the public vote accordingly?
The majority of people see climate action as a priority:
The reason not everyone is voting accordingly is because political motivation is complex. There’s more things pressing for people’s attention like being able to feed, cloth and home themselves. That’s why addressing societal issues like poverty, inequality etc are part of addressing climate change. We need to free up people’s bandwidth to allow them to concentrate on issues like the climate.
No shit people are for fighting climate change in the abstract. But we’re not living in an abstract world, we are living in an actual one. One, where needs and desires compete. And consistently, other desires take priority over fighting climate change. There obviously isn’t as much support for actually combating climate change in the real world, with real consequences for real humans as you people assume.
Actually people are voting for climate action, enough to potentially have swung results in America:
And we see the same in Europe:
And wider:
But as those same articles highlight voting for climate action is a complex topic. Our economic system often makes the worst option the cheapest and easiest, and green policies, done badly, can sometimes end up penalising those who can least afford it which is why climate change is also an inequalities issue:
These are all things which can only be addressed at a governmental level. People are voting in parties because of their Green credentials but it’s down to the incumbent to act on those promises once elected. Unfortunately organisations such as oil companies have a lot of lobbying power which can dull or redirect green policy. It’s up to the public to ensure that this doesn’t happen by making sure climate change remains in the spotlight, thus making it hard for the government to ignore. Which is what groups like JSO are doing, and why the petrochemical companies are so determine to undermine them.
Because we don’t vote on the policies themselves really, we vote on the people who are supposed to vote on the policies in our interests, but the side that claims to be against climate change keeps perpetuating it and we keep allowing them to and reelecting them because learning another guy’s name is hard and they have to have a D in front of their name or else they’re useless, even though those with Ds in front of their name are also useless.
🌍 > 🖼️
That sort of comment could be used to justify an unbelievable amount of vandalism and terror and is just not productive
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.
There is no reason to compare the earth and art given that destroying art does not in any way benefit earth.
Well destroying the Earth does not in anyway benefit art, either, but we’re still doing that one.
You created your own argument here though, right? I can be an advocate for any of one million serious problems that our societies have. Should everyone go destroy art galleries? Housing crisis = art destruction? Unliveable minimal wage = art destruction? Car centric societies = art destruction? Local store increased prices = art destruction? You have to agree that at a certain point this becomes indistinguishable from vandalism.
At what level then is this threshold? Or do you propose a hierarchy of ideas, which are suitable to protest in an art gallery, versus those that aren’t?
Should everyone go destroy art galleries? Housing crisis = art destruction?
Do you not agree? Over half a million homeless are without homes. People are dying, and the homeless are largely being dehumanized or ignored. There is a very real human cost far beyond a piece of art or the barrier protecting it.
If you’re looking for objective quantifiable criteria on right vs wrong, you’ll never find it. Morality often falls into a grey area involving tradeoffs, but bringing attention to a societal issue with huge human costs just for splashing soup on a plastic barrier seems pretty effective to me.
Well I agree with the problem, but I don’t believe attacking art galleries is a solut. Why not spray paint a real estate firm?
Condering that the art is unharmed, and they glue themselves to the gallery waiting for the police while explaining what their goals are so that passersby film them to spread the message, I’d say that they are, frankly, pretty distinguishable from vandals, or do you know of other vandals that do that?
The gallery still has to be closed, has to dedicate cleaners, invest into security measures etc. Vandalism can be as simple as spitting on the street. But that’s not my point, in general.
My point is why mess with a place what has nothing to do with climate change, and not mess with places that absolutely do have something to do with it?
There is literally no vandalism nor terrorism here apart from the planet being destroyed.
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.
What you’re really saying is that no effective protest will ever be welcomed as acceptable.
But the way you say it, that there will never be a right way, begs another question: just because legitimate protests will be called wrong, does that mean that all protests are right?
I don’t think so. This is a random act of destruction. I personally find it disgusting to compare this to MLK’s mass demonstrations.
My argument is not “if a protest is uncomfortable, then it is effective”.
It is “how can you in the same comment say ‘this is a stupid way to go about risking jail for a noble cause’ and 'there never has nor will there ever be such a thing as ‘the right way to protest’”.
Well. If you’re going to bring out that argument regardless of how stupid, destructive, and ineffective the protest is, then I’m afraid your argument turns into that first one.
I’m going to go shit down the throat of a golden retriever in front of the White House to protest oil. Are you going to block and tackle for me, reminding my critics that effective protests are always uncomfortable? I’m just probing to see if you will just automatically say that or if you are evaluating the situation before saying it.
I’m not even going to wait for you to come up with a new angle to come at me with.
I award you the Useful Idiot Ribbon.
Sorry, I wasn’t aware that animal abuse is on the same level of inanity as throwing soup at a painting. You’re being insanely disingenuous.
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.
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.
I understand they used to protest for climate action, but now they’re just nutcases making it harder for the rest of us.
I guess good for them that they got their moment of attention, but not all attention is good attention. Especially over here in the US, it’s hard enough getting half the population to care about the environment, and now they’re just dismiss it as “those nutcases”. This does not help anyone.
People are mostly talking about what a bunch of idiots they are though.
This lot look like they were cast by the daily mail, they couldn’t be more of a caricature. It is absolutely not effective communication.
But you have heard of captain Jack Sparrow…
Those look like 3 random people to me. I’m not seeing the caricature. For them to not be caricatures, what would you expect them to look like?
I mean JSO never actually tried to damage historical pieces. The paintings are behind glass
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.
Yeah but what are they saying when they’re talking? Most people are saying “look at these crazy climate people, something is clearly wrong with them”. Maybe the protesters should do something that makes people say “maybe we should care more about climate change” instead.
This is a common problem I see with modern protests. Protesters of a certain other cause I won’t name spray-painted my neighborhood. I try to be a logical person, and logically I’d like to think my perspective on the issue they were spraypainting about is unaffected. But I can’t help but notice that on an emotional level, I really do not want to be on the same side as the people who disrespected me and my neighbors by spraypainting our neighborhood. To the point where if someone says they find that cause important, I actually feel a slight uncontrollable pang of disdain for them.
I don’t think most people try to be as aware of how their emotions affects their thinking as I do.
they said that about suffrage and women’s suffrage too.
I feel like I’m starting to see way more sympathetic comments than I did a year ago.
They are being noticed, but I’m not sure they do more good than harm:
Fossil fuel lobbies have long stopped trying to paint oil as good but rather environmentalism as bad, and activists as idiots.
If you look at old pro-oil propaganda, say 80s-90s it was all about how great life is thank to oil and how bright the future of the oil-based economy was going to be, downplaying climate change and pollution related issues.
Now they’re just engaging in mud throwing because their position is untenable.
Going for the shock factor may just fuel their game.
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.
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!
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.
And why is that? At least partially because a) like it or not, oil barons have a lot of influence and b) people are whinging about it, which makes judges think that they’re doing the will of the people.
This is why I said “you might as well do something worth the punishment.” In the US, protesting can get you more harsh sentences than crimes like assault or robbery. And not to “That’s, like, just your opinion, man” but…it’s just my opinion that their time would’ve been better spent blocking the street and holding up rush hour traffic or something for the punishment that they got. Like you said, it clearly worked because people are talking about it - and talking about it enough that the arguing in another post on this article got the post locked.
I’m not here to rag on them. Again, there’s no “right way to protest,” and this is a noble cause to protest for.
Plummer was further sentenced to three months in jail for interfering with national infrastructure by taking part in a slow march along Earls Court Road in west London in November 2023. Her co-defendants in that case, Chiara Sarti and Daniel Hall, received community orders.
She did exactly what you suggested, except you havent heard about it because it doesnt generate media coverage, this does.
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It was covered by glass, unclutch your fucking pearls already.
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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.
I would still rather have a habitable planet for future generations than have Sunflowers
What a laughable false dilemma.
I’d rather side with the people who are trying to make a difference
Your instinct is laudable. Where your judgment is failing you is that these are not people who are making a difference. Stop straining to make something meaningful out of a random act of vandalism. The tiniest act of actual divestment from oil would be more meaningful than slopping soup at a painting. Take the bus one day a month instead of driving. That’s a difference.
Van Gogh died penniless, right? He’d probably be cheering. “Oh no, rich people will be slightly less able to profit off of my work?”
Rich people profiting… is that your description of what happens at an art museum? Maybe you should get off the internet and go visit one.
It’s privately owned but okay
https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2023/1/19/japanese-firm-defends-van-gogh-ownership-after-us-lawsuit
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I keep thinking that these guys have to be right wing plants. Can these people really be this stupid? Doing this shit and blocking roads only makes people your enemy. Go throw paint on billionaire’s houses or at your nearest court house you idiots
Point of order, they didn’t block the road. They were up on the sign poles. The police stopped traffic.
My tin hat tingles with these guys they’re either to upper middle-class to actually understand the real world of they’re making sure climate activists are a running joke.
I see your point, I do. But I also see theirs. There will be no one around in the future to enjoy or make art if we continue fucking up the world with fossil fuels the way we are.
Maybe it’d be better to walk around posting little signs on the paintings descriptions with a catch phrase like “like art? Stop fossil fuels” then a little blurb about how there’ll be no art in the future if there is no future.
That’s probably how I’d handle it, maybe even try to work with the museum so the signs wouldnt get taken down. But, that doesn’t get media attention. It’d never end up in the news. Maybe after contacting 50 museums it’d get a small mention, but ultimately no one would care.
Our current news cycles don’t encourage people to act civilly when trying to be heard. So that’s why this sort of extreme behavior keeps happening. It’s a vicious feedback loop and just like climate change we don’t seem to be making any moves to stop it.
No bad publicity.
Here are a few reasons why thats not true
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People talking about these guys being dumbasses does not equate to people taking climate change seriously.
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There is limited bandwidth for publicity, these morons are taking publicity away from people actively doing the research, enacting changes, building things the help mitigate climate change.
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They give the opportunity for climate change deniers to lump all climate change activists together with these idiots, allowing them to replace the message of “Act against climate change” to look at all these dumbass climate change activists.
I’m taking it seriously. Are you not taking it seriously?
are taking publicity away
And this is being published where?
Here’s my challenge to you: every time you see Just Stop Oil pop up, post these articles. Get people excited about actually doing something.They give the opportunity for climate change deniers to lump all climate change activists together with these idiots
Deniers are too far gone. You spray paint stone henge, they complain about the lichen. You splash color on a ferrari dealership, they complain about the small business owners. You bomb an oil rig, they say that violence never solves anything. They’re already not on our side.
No, but actions like this will bring more people onto their side.
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