After 38 Attacks on Art, Climate Protesters Have Fallen into Big Oil’s Trap. It’s Time to Change Tack
Repetition has Diminished the Impact
Repetition has blunted the art museum protests so much that the pumpkin soup assault on the Mona Lisa felt pathetic. More effective tactics are needed.
Getting the Message Across
How many of the 38 environmental protests staged in museums in 2022 can you remember? How many of the more recent ones only generated widespread outrage? Did any of them lead to tangible change? The protesters’ cause is serious, the threat is very real, the message is important and urgent. But is it not getting through to the public?
The Risk of Repetition
Repetition is a complex phenomenon: it can deepen or hollow out experiences depending on how it is deployed. Repeated ad libitum anything shocking quickly becomes commonplace. Aware of the risk, good artists try not to repeat themselves; instead they strive to constantly reinvent. Modern thinkers have dwelled extensively on the all-pervasive pacifying powers of unwitting repetitiveness.
The Need for Effective Tactics
Tomato soup splashed on Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and mashed potatoes hurled at Monet’s Haystacks – the activists of Last Generation and Just Stop Oil want us to listen. Their objective is to save us from succumbing to the mundane, capitalist-induced apathy that has distorted our value scale. But the infamous protests involving glue, paint, and food-throwing are just the tip of the iceberg.
The Media Bias and Attention-Seeking Trap
These activist groups routinely engage in genuinely significant endeavors, much of which is disregarded by the media for lack of sensationalism. Protest after protest, the awareness of this media bias has led anticapitalist demonstrators into an attention-seeking trap: they are now caught in the same repetitive cycles of capitalist-induced torpor that they sought to release us all from.
Shortcomings of Disruptive Tactics
A study by Apollo Academic Surveys in 2023 showed that while disruptive tactics can certainly aid some causes, they often fall short of generating change when there are issues with high awareness but low support. The protests have negatively affected public opinion in the fight against the climate crisis, further alienating people and hindering collective efforts.
A Misalignment and Misplaced Trust
This disconnect with the public is caused by a misalignment between the protest site, message, and intended target that is deeply rooted in historical misconceptions and a misplaced trust in the romantic myth of the heroic savior. Similar historical examples of art vandalism, like suffragette Mary Richardson’s slashing of Velázquez’s Rokeby Venus, did not yield the desired outcomes. The suffragettes’ success was a result of more concerted and focused efforts, with specific and tangible goals.
Changing the Game
After years of seeing the same trick performed over and over, the latest pumpkin soup assault on the Mona Lisa felt redundant. It’s time to employ truly effective tactics; activist groups now must find new ways to manipulate media attention instead of letting the media paint them into a corner. Alternative successful models are right under the activists’ noses, such as organizing imaginative and creative performances, events, and sit-ins specifically targeting institutions contributing to the climate crisis.
Educating Without Accusing
Protests that specifically address the ethical problems faced by institutions, rather than resorting to vandalism, have proven to be successful. The pressure is applied exactly where it hurts, educating without accusing or confronting museum visitors. By focusing on specific objectives matched to the targeted institutions, a more constructive and influential dialogue can be established.
Listening to the Public
Environmental activists should heed the comments of museum visitors and reconsider the unfruitful tactic of targeting artworks. Instead, they should focus on engaging in meaningful discussions and demonstrations that target the headquarters of oil companies, where the heart of the climate crisis resides.
Contributor Credentials
Giovanni Aloi teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is the editor of Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture.
