Defacing Art - This Is Not The Way

Note: It has been brought to my attention that both artworks were protected, haven't been harmed, and were actually targeted because they were protected and wouldn't be harmed. This is great news! I'm pleased no art has been destroyed.

That said, I stand by my larger point below. Targeting art for publicity sends the wrong message. I'm also concerned that less thoughtful activists might not do their homework quite so well, and end up wrecking something less resilient. I've kept the original copy. Thank you for reading.

***

I am writing this open letter to young climate activists defacing priceless works of art with various viscous edible fluids.?

Please, don’t. This is not the way.?

I understand and even empathize with the bone deep despair and disenfranchisement at the core of these acts of eco-terrorism. The problem we’re facing is so big and the consequences of inaction are so dire, all of us working on climate solutions feel that same undercurrent of existential anxiety.?

But throwing tomato soup and mashed potatoes on paintings by Van Gogh and Monet actively works against The Big Goal behind our desire to mitigate climate change: saving and improving civilization. Destroying art - the one unequivocally good thing humans have managed to create - is utterly counterproductive to this effort.?

When we talk about climate change as an existential crisis or threat, we’re talking about civilization. The planet will be fine. The lithosphere, asthenosphere, mesosphere and both cores will continue to exist, and life at some scale will exist here on the surface. Some species will go extinct, others will flourish, but there will be life on Earth.

Humans will also continue to exist. Recent studies show that including our direct ancestors, homo sapiens has been the apex predator for 2 million years. Recorded history started 5,500 years ago - our written knowledge represents 0.275 percent of our existence as a species. We have a lot of experience surviving, and we’re very resourceful creatures. As long as there is water and air - and there will be, unless something happens to the Sun - we’ll find a way to stave off total extinction.

What’s hanging in the balance when we talk about saving the planet from our self-made climate crisis is this iteration of human civilization. Most of us are quite fond of it, despite its many warts, because it has amazing things like nachos, science fiction, Taylor Swift, and basketball. We’ve put in a lot of effort to build complex systems to make our communal lives better, things like health care, finance, government, religion, education and the Internet.?

It would be a real drag to have to start over because we were too stubborn and selfish to change them.

That’s not to say our civilization is perfect! Far from it: we have major problems, starting with health care, finance, government, religion, education and the Internet. That’s why we’re looking to improve civilization as we solve our climate crisis, not just save it. At some level, working on climate change is a full acceptance that our civilization is global, that our actions locally can in some way affect - and be affected by - everyone on the planet.?

This is a very new idea - depending on who you ask, its roots start either in 1600 with the founding of the British East India Company, or after 1815 during the relative peace in post-Napoleonic Europe. It really picked up steam mid 20th century in the postwar period, as the United States looked to extend democratic and capitalist systems across the world. Now we’re talking about .021 percent of our time atop the food chain where we began even thinking globally, and .004 percent of our time as a species where we intentionally built globally interconnected systems.

The point is: we’re all still new at this. We're going to get better at it. It’s a small step from accepting that climate change is real and man-made to the idea that it is right, moral and essential to live in ways that minimize potential negative impacts for others around the globe. That idea is a shock to many of the above systems, so we’ll need to improve them to fall in line with this new paradigm.?

Art must endure: it is the oldest and most durable thing that connects us. In this time of existential dread, we need works of human creativity that celebrate beauty, wit and imagination more than ever. They remind us there is good in the world, and there is good in us. The cruelest irony of vandalizing paintings by Monet and Van Gogh is that few artists in our history have been better at exposing humanity’s relationship to the essential beauty of nature. Their impressionist paintings meld the natural world with our own emotions, heightening both.

So, young environmental activists, if you feel publicity stunts are the only way you can contribute to solving and mitigating our climate crisis to save and improve our civilization, please chain yourself to a courthouse, or block traffic, or streak across a football field. Even better: go door to door and hand out literature about heat pumps or solar panels. Please do not destroy these precious jewels of human achievement. Let's work together to preserve them.?