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.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    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™ or suddenly convince people who think climate change is a hoax or overblown that it’s actually a serious problem.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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      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
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        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.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          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@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            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.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              And how will this get corporations to stop drilling for and selling and taking advantage of fossil fuels? How do you get from throwing soup to that?

              • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                You stop the problem from being buried under the fact that everyone is struggling to get by, or distracted by whatever the fuck the likes of the Kardashians are up to. You bring it to the forefront and prompt conversations like these - conversations where someone might realise that to stay the course on this one is to roll down the road to the apocalypse, and maybe they’d like to do something about that.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                  3 months ago

                  When has it ever been buried? When? Point out a time when climate change was not a major issue being discussed in the last 20 years. And I don’t mean just for a day or two like after January 6th, 2020.

                  • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    When has there ever been reporting on the subject proportionate to the threat of the literal apocalypse?

                • AA5B@lemmy.world
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                  3 months ago

                  But no one is realizing anything but these idiots throwing soup belong in jail

                  • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    The idiots aren’t the ones throwing the soup - the idiots are the ones more concerned about jailing people for a mess that can be cleaned up with windex, a rag, and 5 minutes rather than jailing the people keeping us all on course for the literal apocalypse.

          • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            By ‘media blackout’ they mean ‘it was a blip on the radar like this is, but this is NOW and thus relevant and important’

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              The people who talk about ‘media blackouts’ also seem to forget that everyone has an internet-connected video camera in their pockets.

              • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                What are you even trying to say here? That any bastard with a camera and something to show will magically be seen, or that everyone with a smartphone is going to be aware of everything that affects them? Because neither of those things is remotely close to the way the world works.

                You were aware of the JSO protesters shutting down the oil pipeline? If and that’s a big “if” so, do you think the average schmuck is? No. But chances are that they’re aware of the stunts like the soup.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                  3 months ago

                  You were aware of the JSO protesters shutting down the oil pipeline?

                  Yes.

                  If and that’s a big “if” so, do you think the average schmuck is? No.

                  Agreed.

                  But chances are that they’re aware of the stunts like the soup.

                  Which helps how? Does it end the reliance on fossil fuels? The world has been aware that fossil fuel dependence is causing global warming. What can you or I do about it? Nothing. We don’t control the fossil fuel companies.

                  This whole idea that somehow “awareness” is going to do anything about this problem after decades of people doing these sort of stunts is ludicrous.

                  • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                    3 months ago

                    So we rely on isolated groups quietly engaged in direct action at a scale we know for a fact is inadequate to solve the problem while calling for the arrest of people protesting the apocalypse in a manner that can be cleaned up in five minutes?

                    What’s your solution?

        • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          I feel like we’re kind of entering an era where direct action and ecology-motivated terrorism are going to start becoming a thing. And I’m honestly not sure that would be a bad thing.

          • BrightCandle@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Peaceful protests have not worked, disruptive protests have been widely villified and the protestors jailed for very long sentences. If you are facing 2-3 years for holding up a banner or throwing some paint seems like criminal damage of a fossil fuel facility isn’t likely to net more years. As many have said in the past governments ignore peaceful protests at their peril, because once its clear that doesn’t work they become not peaceful.

          • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Assuming there’s no collateral damage to speak of, I’d argue it would be an act of self-defence for the benefit of all of us. In principle, I’d struggle to find reason to be upset by it.

            • _NoName_@lemmy.ml
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              3 months ago

              There will be collateral damage. There always is. The idea there wouldn’t be collateral damage is already setting the bar higher than is feasible.

              • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                I don’t think that’s true at all, but if it is, it becomes a question of whether that damage is outweighed by the benefit of the action.

        • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          Well, clearly not throwing crap at paintings. Now I want to see these guys arrested and thrown in jail.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          let’s talk about what will.

          Stop throwing soup.

          We’re at the point where idiots throwing soup are called sing more environmental damage than backwoods yahoos rolling coal. Shall we protest soup abuse? Because that’s more likely to help the environment

          • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            People throwing soup to protest climate change are doing more environmental damage than people burning fossil fuels in the dirtiest way possible because that’s their gender identity or whateverthefuck? You’ll need to explain that one for me, champ.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              Right? I admit I don’t have the bravery it takes to do stuff like that, but it seems like neither does anyone else anymore.

              • sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                So… that’s straight up assaut. There’s a good reason why they changed tactics, and it’s mostly because throwing soup at a Plexiglas barrier is 100x less destructive to property than covering valuable furs with blood.

                I find it absolutely mind-boggling that you all are acknowledging that protests that make people uncomfortable are what works, then coming to the conclusion “but not like this, you can’t protest like this, that’s ridiculous!”

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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                  3 months ago

                  Heaven forbid oil executives get assaulted with soup or pies!

                  that protests that make people uncomfortable are what works

                  I didn’t say they would work. None of this sort of activism will get the world to stop using fossil fuels because that involves getting corporations to stop doing it. And no amount of throwing food at anyone or anything will solve that.

                  But at least throwing food at the executives will be amusing.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          3 months ago

          We’ve literally been talking about it for decades. An Inconvenient Truth won the Oscar in 2006. What has talking about it accomplished?

          • FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            3 months ago

            That’s not my point. Everytime they deface something, we start talking again about stopping oil production. Sure we talk about it without that push too. But this means we start talking about it more.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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              3 months ago

              When has talking about ending reliance on fossil fuels ever stopped? I don’t remember it stopping.

              Most people are aware that the Earth is warming and fossil fuels are the cause. There’s nothing you or I can do about that. It’s the corporations that have to be stopped. I can’t stop them. You can’t stop them. Talking about them won’t stop them and neither will throwing cans of soup.

              In fact, I have no idea what will stop them, but talking sure as fuck won’t.

            • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Bit we’re not talking about stopping oil production. We’re talking about how stupid and pointless defacing art is.

          • AA5B@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Speaking from across the ocean where we’re really behind …… I’ve seen articles about UK having days entirely powered by renewables. I see a massive transit system. I see double the EV acceptance. I see why desperado commitment to ending production of gasoline cars.

            It may be way too slow but I see a shit load has changed over the years. A lot has been accomplished. Let’s try to speed this up rather than give reactionaries more ammo to delay

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          We’re not talking about stopping oil production. We’re talking about these nutcases. And when we do get back to the important topic, now it’s harder to get support, harder to stay on topic, environmental concerns are more likely to be dismissed with jokes about throwing soup

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        Then they wouldn’t get their five minutes of fame, though. And even worse, they couldn’t even claim their five minutes of fame was some self-righteous moment that they should be lionized for. A fate worse than death, basically.

          • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            Sounds a lot like boring work that has no grand trumpets or asspats at the end of the rainbow, or that requires specialized skills and education. Can’t we just draw some attention to ourselves, cry out “Climate change!” and call it a day?

            • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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              3 months ago

              Nah - let’s just feel superior by whining about people doing something to defer the apocalypse - both stunts to draw attention, and shutting down oil pipelines directly.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          3 months ago

          I brought up Karen Silkwood and Erin Brockovich elsewhere. They were not put in cages. They were just willing to do some very hard work rather than just stunts.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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          3 months ago

          I’m sure you’ve never suggested people doing something might be better off spending their time doing something else, but most people have.

        • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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          3 months ago

          YouTube provides transcripts. It’s in the discription on the website

          • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            YouTube provides transcripts.

            Wow. I am behind the times. I’ll look through it then.

          • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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            3 months ago

            “No art on a dead planet” is a braindead justification and does not in any way outline how vandalism of art is supposed to translate into climate activism, while the four criteria outlined for activism are valid but in no way provide a special justification for vandalism of cultural artifacts, which has a significantly greater backlash from the exact kind of educated people most likely to get involved in climate activism, and very little disruptive potential.

            “I understand that we’re pissing people off but there’s no other way to get attention” and “Negative attention is good attention, because maybe it will cause people to become positively engaged with the cause” are not particularly compelling rebuttals in the critics section.

            “JSO was central in setting the 2024 Labour agenda” is utterly deluded, while all the cited actions by their sister organizations in Europe are much more traditional instances of civil disobedience that have long-proven track records and a clear and logical progression of action-to-influence.

            This really reinforces my view that JSO are terribly naive and have no real idea on how their actions will seriously lead to mass change of opinions on climate change.

            • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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              3 months ago

              “No art on a dead planet” is a braindead justification and does not in any way outline how vandalism of art is supposed to translate into climate activism

              If damaged art hurts your feelings get mad at the government killing all art on the planet and not the activists partially damaging some art.

              “I understand that we’re pissing people off but there’s no other way to get attention” … not particularly compelling rebuttals in the critics section

              Why not? How else should they be getting attention?

              “JSO was central in setting the 2024 Labour agenda” is utterly deluded,

              I won’t disagree

              This really reinforces my view that JSO are terribly naive and have no real idea on how their actions will seriously lead to mass change of opinions on climate change.

              Yeah I don’t get the vibe from you that you’d change your view

              Partially related but do you have any evidence that jso tactics has a “greater backlash from the exact kind of educated people most likely to get involved in climate activism” or is that kinda vibes based