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.

  • rsuri@lemmy.world
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    26 minutes ago

    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.

  • BrightCandle@lemmy.world
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    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.

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    9 hours 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.

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      8 hours ago

      Is this a joke? They literally threw soup at the painting, but the painting was protected. And you’re calling this click bait and propaganda? I’ve seen some pretty ridiculous whining about click bait, but this might now take the top spot.

  • Voroxpete@sh.itjust.works
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    1 day 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.

  • PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world
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    1 day 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?

    • rsuri@lemmy.world
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      3 minutes ago

      Instead of intentionally pissing people off at climate protesters, put effort towards educating people on the myriad of ways we actually subsidize fossil fuels and the corrupt relationships that keep that going, so people instead get pissed off at the fossil fuel industry, lobbyists, and corrupt politicians.

      Of course some people do work on this already, Climate Town being a good example. We should be talking about those efforts instead of these.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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      1 day 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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        1 day ago

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

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            8 hours 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.

        • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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          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.

          • gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works
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            11 hours 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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              8 hours 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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              10 hours 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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                10 hours 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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                  2 hours 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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            13 hours ago

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

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            1 day 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.

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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              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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                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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                  10 hours 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.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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          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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              1 day 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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                10 hours 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.

          • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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            1 day ago

            Also the section “jso critics” and “does it work”

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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              “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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                24 hours 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

          • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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            1 day ago

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

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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              YouTube provides transcripts.

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

    • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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      13 hours ago

      Oh, I dunno, any action that’s actually related to the industry? Throwing crap at classic art as a means to bring attention to a cause completely unrelated to classic art is retarded.

    • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Go fuck with the billionaires and lawmakers at their homes, offices, doctor’s appointments, at the store, while they’re out for coffee, etc. Fuck with the people actually causing the problem

    • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
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      1 day ago

      What’s your plan to keep society functioning with the immediate end of fossil fuels?

      • PumpkinSkink@lemmy.world
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        That wasn’t my question. But if you must know, if the choice is between “maintaining the current standard of living” and “stop risking the habitability of the one place known that can support life”, I choose the latter. Everytime. And it’s crazy to choose the former.

        • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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          But what about The Economy®™?!? We can’t possibly have Apple only make 10s of billions of dollars in profit instead of 100s of billions of dollars because we made the price of goods destroying our planet more expensive!

          If we start to make the cost of goods proportional to the associated environmental destruction, I won’t be able to buy the 12th pair of Nikes for my shoe collection. I might have to wear my clothes more than once, and GASP, take public transit places.

          Like sure, our grandkids may get to grow up in a world looking like something out of Mad Max, but at least I wouldn’t have to suffer any inconveniences to my lifestyle.

      • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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        Kinda dumb of you to assume the only option to stop oil is an immediate cessation of all usage

            • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
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              We don’t have a means to replace energy needs today and we were even further away a decade ago.

              • Aabbcc@lemm.ee
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                23 hours ago

                You don’t think maybe we would be closer to having that means of energy production now if we started 50 years ago when we noticed the impacts of climate change?

                Youre assuming climate activists have the MORONIC idea of just transitioning to shit tech, instead of the idea of investing in making tech that can replace oil usage

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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        Why does it have to be an immediate end and not a phase out? Right now, we’re not even phasing out.

        • AlexanderTheDead@lemmy.world
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          14 hours ago

          Pretty uncharitable interpretation of something posted by someone who I would guess you have a common goal with.

          People that give a fuck about “priceless art” or whatever are so silly. Lmao.

          I’m not saying to not continue posting articles like this, but I do think that maybe your time would be better spent arguing with people who don’t believe in climate change instead of arguing with people who do believe in climate change.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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            14 hours ago

            People that give a fuck about “priceless art” or whatever are so silly. Lmao.

            Yeah, who gives a shit about the cultural history of humanity, am I right? After destroying paintings, maybe the can go after other things of cultural significance! Bulldoze the Great Serpent Mound! Blow up Angkor Wat! Carve rude words into the Elgin Marbles!

        • jimbolauski@lemm.ee
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          When someone calls for ending something last decade it required immediate action now.

      • JaggedRobotPubes@lemmy.world
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        Society functioning in the way it’s currently functioning is the cause of the problem. It’s gonna stop because we change how we do things, or it’ll get stopped in a way we have no control over, which is worse across every possible metric.

  • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    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
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      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.

    • Buffalox@lemmy.world
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      It wouldn’t be the strangest thing that has happened. It’s actually quite logical.

  • Destide@feddit.uk
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    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.

    • JovialMicrobial@lemm.ee
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      12 hours ago

      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.

  • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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    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.

    • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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      Slapping oil CEOs in the face would be much more relevant, and not be targeting irreplaceable cultural artifacts.

      • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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        irreplaceable cultural artifacts

        I mean it won’t be exactly the same, but I’m pretty sure they can buy more of that plexiglass that got soup’d. Calling plexiglass a cultural artifact feels like a bit of a stretch, but I do think it’s replaceable.

        • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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          Just so we’re on the same page here, would this act have been acceptable to you or unacceptable if the painting had actually been damaged?

          Frame of paintings like that isn’t simply replaceable, by the way, it’s also an artifact that’s generations old. It’s just less important than the painting itself.

          • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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            Depends on your definition of ‘damage’ - if a drop of soup gets under the plexiglass, I’m not clutching any pearls. If the paintings were completely destroyed, I would not be supportive.

            That said its a moot point because these headline grabbing demonstrations have been nondestructive. Stonehenge is fine. The sunflowers will continue to be sunflowery.

            • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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              Depends on your definition of ‘damage’ - if a drop of soup gets under the plexiglass, I’m not clutching any pearls.

              I would, personally, but history, human heritage, and art are all precious topics to me. You don’t damage 100+ years of history by an artist so groundbreaking that he is a household name to this day just to get your name in the papers.

              If the paintings were completely destroyed, I would not be supportive.

              So your primary reason for remaining supportive of this is that the security systems worked perfectly. You do not approve of destroying priceless artifacts to raise attention to climate change and/or think that it would be counterproductive, also correct?

              • RvTV95XBeo@sh.itjust.works
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                8 hours ago

                You don’t damage 100+ years of history by an artist so groundbreaking that he is a household name to this day just to get your name in the papers.

                They didn’t.

      • sensiblepuffin@lemmy.world
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        23 hours ago

        Slapping a CEO in the face is assault. That’s a serious offense in most countries, and it would be extremely easy to get sent to jail for years.

        Throwing soup at a painting that’s behind Plexiglas is, at most, disturbing the peace and vandalizing a museum’s floor.

        • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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          12 hours ago

          Assault on an oil exec… I don’t see anything morally wrong here. It’s also straight to the point, rather than attacking art.

  • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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    13 hours ago

    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.

    • tehWrapper@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      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.

    • MouseKeyboard@ttrpg.network
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      5 hours ago

      Heard an interview a while ago with a founder of Just Stop Oil who clearly said he doesn’t care whether they even stop climate change (around 40:00-43:00).

      What does Vincent van Gogh have to do with the current state of the petrol industry?

      It’s famous, so attacking it gets attention.

    • webadict@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      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.

        • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          9 hours ago

          What’s stupid about protesting while causing zero harm?

          The stupid part is y’all falling for this clickbait headline.

          • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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            9 hours ago

            It’s not a productive discourse though. They draw the ire of everyone doing something so senseless, and that in turn causes damage to the progress of their cause because people don’t want to support them.

            An anecdotal example is that I agree with some of their sentiments but I will never support them because they do stupid ineffectual nonsense like this. Take your protests to the places that control these issues. Not a fucking art gallery.

            • Caveman@lemmy.world
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              7 hours ago

              This the exact same sentiment as people had in segregated US had towards activists.

            • webadict@lemmy.world
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              8 hours ago

              Bringing attention and drawing ire are both sides of the same coin. Your sentence points of the hypocrisy:

              Take your protests to the places that control these issues. Not a fucking art gallery.

              They have been doing that for decades. And it didn’t do anything, did it? The fact that you tell them to do this points out how ineffective it was because you didn’t even know they were.

              This same rhetoric you’re saying existed during many protests, from the suffragettes to the civil rights, and it’s always the same response. “It’s ineffective.” “It’s bothering people.” “Do it elsewhere.” “You’re making the cause worse.” It gets pretty repetitive.

              • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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                6 hours ago

                Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m absolutely all for bothering people because it’s needed for change. But there are more and less effective ways to do that. Trashing art thatcis unrelated really seems less effective. Effective to a point, but less effective overall. You mentioned there have been protests at the appropriate places, and I admit I only know a handful. Do you have examples where people have damaged say, a corrupt politicians car? Or perhaps blocked the street where a lobbyist lives? Or maybe thrown red paint or buckets of organ meat and offal on the steps of the supreme court and picketed about the damages they’ve caused to womens rights?

                If they have been doing outlandish things to the politicians and places of government, then I’m sorry. I haven’t noticed and I will agree it’s come time to demonstrate elsewhere. I will add that if that’s truly the case, I wish they’d say so when doing these stunts.

          • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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            10 hours ago

            Yeah, so Just Stop Oil grabbed attention with a stupid act. What’s everyone talking about? The stupid act.

    • YungOnions@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours ago

      Evidence suggests that disruptive protests actually help, rather than hinder organisations like JSO:

      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/07/disruptive-protest-helps-not-hinders-activists-cause-experts-say

      https://theconversation.com/climate-change-radical-activists-benefit-social-movements-history-shows-why-181977

      https://theconversation.com/radical-environmentalists-are-fighting-climate-change-so-why-are-they-persecuted-107211

      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…

      • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        Big oil gets away with shit because the activists that suck up all the attention are retards.

    • utopiah@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      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?

      • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        10 hours ago

        And destroying that art so that if we do end up fixing it and living we still can’t have it isn’t a good look, imo.

      • Tattorack@lemmy.world
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        10 hours ago

        We’re talking about their pointless stunt, not about climate change. They’re adding absolutely nothing.

    • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      9 hours ago

      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.

  • Nuke_the_whales@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    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

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      1 day ago

      Point of order, they didn’t block the road. They were up on the sign poles. The police stopped traffic.

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    1 day 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.

    • tal@lemmy.today
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      1 day ago

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Stop_Oil

      In April 2022, it was reported that Just Stop Oil’s primary source of funding was donations from the US-based Climate Emergency Fund.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aileen_Getty

      Aileen Getty is an American heiress and activist. She is a member of the Getty family, the granddaughter of J. Paul Getty. She co-founded the Climate Emergency Fund in 2019.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Paul_Getty

      Jean Paul Getty Sr. (/ˈɡɛti/; December 15, 1892 – June 6, 1976) was an American-born British petroleum industrialist who founded the Getty Oil Company in 1942 and was the patriarch of the Getty family.[1] A native of Minneapolis, he was the son of pioneer oilman George Getty. In 1957, Fortune magazine named him the wealthiest living American,[2] while the 1966 Guinness Book of Records declared him the world’s wealthiest private citizen, worth an estimated $1.2 billion (approximately $8.6 billion in 2023).[3] At the time of his death, he was worth more than $6 billion (approximately $25 billion in 2023).[4] A book published in 1996 ranked him as the 67th wealthiest American who ever lived (based on his wealth as a percentage of the concurrent gross national product).[5]

      So she assuages her guilt for having a huge oil inheritance by donating some of it to encourage other people overseas to go to jail protesting other people doing what her grandfather made his money doing. Great.

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        1 day ago

        I dunno. if I was born into a family rich on something like oil, I hope I’d spend a bunch to end our dependence on it. chiefly because it’s better than not, and I’d also have the fortune to do so, and the irony of using oil money to get us post-oil like we’re Norway would be a bit of added cheek.

        What should she do in her position: lay about like Bruce Wayne or try to do good like batman?

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Honestly, got no problem with that. We aren’t responsible for the actions of our ancestors. The issue is whether what she’s funding is effective.

      • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Damage was only done to the frame on this occasion, yes. Their claim of disrupting an unjust etc etc etc system though hinges on them disrupting the system of… viewing priceless art in a public gallery.