Headlines, outrage and art: Climate activists use Van Gogh vandalism to make us question our priorities

Is the desecration of a painting worse than the wilful destruction of the planet?

This is the question that climate activists said they hoped to spark Friday by throwing soup on one of the most famous paintings in the world — Vincent Van Gogh’s "Sunflowers."

Although the painting was protected by a layer of glass, social media was flooded with anger over the symbolic action.

But behind the soup and the photos is a deadly story of increasing climate instability and government negligence, according to activists; one that they're hoping people will get just as enraged over.

“That was part of what we said today,” a spokesperson with Just Stop Oil, the group behind the protest, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview. “This painting is protected, and we are not. And what is worth more — this painting, or the future of humanity?”

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The stunt is the latest in a wave of protests in the U.K. following the announcement that the government is green lighting new licenses for oil exploration, despite dire warnings from experts that to enter into new oil projects is tantamount to an attack on humanity.

In April, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report stating that governments have utterly failed to live up to their promises to cut emissions, and that we are “firmly on track to an unliveable world."

“We seem trapped in a world where fossil fuel producers and financiers have humanity by the throat,” Antonio Gutteres, UN secretary-general, said to the Major Economies Forum in June.

“For decades, the fossil fuel industry has invested heavily in pseudoscience and public relations—with a false narrative to minimize their responsibility for climate change and undermine ambitious climate policies.”

Just Stop Oil and other activists have faced criticism for targeting well-known artwork in their protests, but these stunts are becoming increasingly common as the threat of climate change increases, those behind the actions say.

Earlier this week, climate activists with the group Extinction Rebellion superglued themselves to a Pablo Picasso painting in Australia, displaying a sing that read “Climate chaos = war and famine.”

In June, Just Stop Oil activists glued themselves to the frames of several paintings, including ones by Van Gogh and JMW Turner. Days later, more activists with the group glued themselves to John Constable’s famous painting “The Hay Wain.”

But what is the reasoning behind targeting art? It’s a combination of shock value, exposing our priorities and making connections, activists say.

SUNFLOWERS SPATTERED WITH SOUP

On Friday, two activists with the group Just Stop Oil entered London’s National Gallery and threw two cans of tomato soup over Van Gogh’s iconic oil painting of a vase of sunflowers.

The painting is one of several version of “Sunflowers” that Van Gogh painted in the late 1880s, and was kept behind glass.

The gallery has confirmed that while there is minor damage to the frame, “the painting is unharmed.”

The two activists also glued themselves to the wall underneath the painting, but have since been removed and taken into custody by London’s Metropolitan Police.

THE WHY

PRIORITIES

Critics have questioned why Van Gogh deserved this treatment, but activists say it’s not a matter of disrespect, but of highlighting what our society values — both in an earnest and a cynical way.

In a written statement, Just Stop Oil said that it believes that the artwork in the National Gallery represents “humanity’s creativity and brilliance,” something it says “should be cherished and protected.”

That won’t be possible if we allow our planet to be destroyed by climate change, they say. We’ve already seen increased extreme weather, spurred on by climate change, lead to the destruction of natural landmarks and threaten cultural centres such as art galleries in the last decade.

The spokesperson confirmed that they knew that there was glass over the painting when planning the stunt.

Just Stop Oil’s ultimate goal is not one of mere awareness, but of action — members have been protesting to stop all new licences for oil and gas projects in the U.K.

All leading experts in climate change have made it clear that we desperately need to cease our reliance on fossil fuels.

But just this month, the U.K. opened up a new licensing round to award more than 100 licences to companies hoping to extract oil and gas in the North Sea.

It’s not just the U.K. Canada approved a US$12 billion offshore oil project proposed by Norway Equinor ASA in April, just days after the IPCC report revealed there would be climate disaster without severe emissions cuts.

Our present day governments are signing the death warrant for future generations, climate experts say.

“Nothing could be more clear or present than the danger of fossil fuel expansion,” Guterres said in June. "Even in the short-term, fossil fuels don’t make political or economic sense.”

ATTENTION

On the cynical side, Just Stop Oil says its stunt with the soup is meant to make people question why an attack on a painting is more upsetting than a failure to act against climate change.

Just Stop Oil has held numerous protests before, ranging from blocking roads to picketing by government offices.

Although numerous activists have been arrested in the process of these protests, Friday’s stunt garnered more attention than the majority of their other methods.

“Something like this is seen as a deeply transgressive act, and people sit up and take attention,” Just Stop Oil’s spokesperson told CTVNews.ca.

“The more iconic the target, the more notice people pay and ask the question, ‘Well, why would you do that?’”

She added that all forms of protest receive criticism, with protests by government buildings receiving the criticism of being anti-government.

“It is a very bleak message that we're bringing to people, and in many ways, people will try and deflect it as much as they can. So it doesn't matter what we do in many ways. When we are disruptive, we are doing the wrong thing in some people's eyes, because we're forcing them to take notice.”

PARALLELS

Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” wasn’t picked just for its fame or for the ease of access, activists say.

The specificity of the painting had further symbolic meaning, according to Just Stop Oil, who said Van Gogh and soup, a cheap food, were chosen to underline how climate change disproportionately impacts those who are poor.

The Van Gogh painting is estimated to be worth roughly US$84.2 million.

“Vincent Van Gogh was an impoverished artist who struggled to make ends meet,” the written statement outlined. “Just as many families are doing now due to the cost of living crisis, which is driven by fossil fuels.”

ART AND PROTEST

In July, activists with an Italian climate activist organization called Ultima Generazione, glued themselves to a Botticelli painting in Florence, Italy.

“Many criticize our actions because 'we should leave museums in peace,'” the organization tweeted. “Maybe they don't understand that the inconvenience we created is nothing compared to 1 billion climate migrants and to the many deaths that the climate crisis is causing already.”

Last May, a man threw cake at the glass covering the Mona Lisa in the Louvre Museum in France, shouting for people to think of planet Earth. It is not clear if he was affiliated with any groups that do climate activism.