Are the artistic attacks of climate activists helping or harming their cause? [Re-Air]

In recent months, headlines around the world have carried news of a startling new activism trend where protesters are physically attacking famous works of art with paint, food and glue. Activists are trying to draw attention to the global issues of climate change and museum ethics, and agree or disagree, you can’t argue that their tactics are making waves and fines or penalties jail does not stop them. This week, we’re rebroadcasting a conversation that delves into this complicated issue.

On October 14, two activists, Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland, entered the National Gallery in London and threw a can of tomato soup at Van Gogh’s Sunflowers while wearing shirts that read JUST STOP OIL. The action was part of a wider cycle of disruptive occupations and direct action by environmentalists in the UK, demanding dramatic action to reduce fossil fuels in the face of climate change, but the attack on Van Gogh’s soup got by far the most media attention. Indeed, the tactic of using attacks on artworks to get their message across has caught on with activists this year, with environmentalists from at least half a dozen countries making headlines with spectacular actions in museums – sticking to famous works, spray-painting the walls around them, or throwing food at works of art.

These actions have, in turn, triggered a lively debate among observers and activists about the attack tactics of art. Is this the kind of desperate move needed to spur the audience into action when nothing else seems to be working? Or are the actions repelling otherwise sympathetic observers, isolating a movement that must dramatically escalate??

London-based arts journalist Farah Nayeri is a frequent contributor to the New York Timesand the recent book author Takedown: Art and Power in the Digital Age, which examines how digital activism over the past decade has changed what the public expects of a museum. In a essay for Artnet News responding to these new museum actionsshe wrote about the long history of vandalizing art for a cause, from suffragette Mary Richardson to slashing Velazquez Rokeby Venus more than a century ago, to protests in British museums over the sponsorship of oil giant BP over the past decade.

This week, we revisit Artnet News’ national art critic Ben Davis’ conversation with Nayeri about that history and the real issues behind the new protests.