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Sunflowers painting targeted by activists.

(127 Posts)
grannydarkhair Fri 14-Oct-22 16:00:42

“Just stop oil” activists throw tomato soup at Sunflowers painting. Then glue themselves to the wall. I despair. How on earth is this going to change anyone’s mind about the use of oil and it’s by-products? Just yet another mess for some body else to clean up. Plus possible damage to an irreplaceable work of art. Yes, there’s a few versions of Sunflowers but all are precious. And yes, it’s protected by glass, but there could still be seepage between the frame and the glass.

twitter.com/damiengayle/status/1580864210741133312?s=61&t=rjVkv63XKN1RxUY_tZHA9g

MaizieD Sun 16-Oct-22 08:36:27

I was reading last night (on twitter, (but haven't checked it) that the painting is behind glass, so won't have sustained any damage.

Ug, your Tarquin comment was contemptible.

Urmstongran Sat 15-Oct-22 08:01:51

Won’t look good on Tarquin’s CV though .... ?

nanna8 Sat 15-Oct-22 07:35:52

No doubt Mummy and Daddy will pay their fines.

Urmstongran Sat 15-Oct-22 07:31:02

The thing that always puzzles me about these self-righteous imbeciles is how much they rely on smartphones and social media servers to promote their message. If only they knew how much oil is used in the manufacture of motherboards, circuit boards, phone cases, etc. Their sense of entitlement is awe-inspiring and only eclipsed by their ignorance.

FannyCornforth Sat 15-Oct-22 06:51:30

Yeah, I know what you mean.
Everything is disappointing at the moment, to say the least

NotSpaghetti Sat 15-Oct-22 06:48:19

Maybe FannyCornforth - I'm disappointed in them though ?
(not that they care of course).

FannyCornforth Sat 15-Oct-22 06:39:59

NotSpaghetti
I think that it might be that it’s quite a safe environment for them to protest in.
And the people that they are dealing with are probably more likely to be sympathetic to them and their cause.
I don’t really think that any of these protests do them any favours; but I’m at a loss at what else they could do.
At least they aren’t holding up ambulances and stopping folk getting to funerals and job interviews

NotSpaghetti Sat 15-Oct-22 06:33:34

Yes you are right Fanny - there was a lot about brandwashing a year or two ago when the whole Sackler stuff was in the news.

NotSpaghetti Sat 15-Oct-22 06:29:46

Of course I'd forgotten that they superglued themselves to five works of art in July - one was The Last Supper which was not about food (apparently) but about betrayal.

I'm deeply sympathetic to the cause but just don't get the reasoning.
There was an article in the Guardian which said their target was, the writer felt, the fetishisation of art (not art itself). Maybe so, but they haven't glued themselves to the work - choosing instead to glue themselves to the frames...

The whole thing is confusing to me. I don't understand why they aren't targeting decision makers and oil companies. It's all a bit like poor theatre to me.

FannyCornforth Sat 15-Oct-22 06:20:51

Interesting article on the oil industry and ‘culture washing’

ethicalunicorn.com/2021/11/19/how-arts-culture-sponsorship-helps-the-fossil-fuel-industry-why-it-must-stop/

NotSpaghetti Sat 15-Oct-22 06:12:46

I heard a spokesperson grannydarkhair later yesterday saying that the soup was because people wouldn't be able to heat it up because of the fuel crisis. They made no mention of the fact it was sunflowers (which made me think of sunflower oil too).
They also said art was more important than people.
I had wondered about Warhol but of course that was Campbell's soup anyway and this was Heinz.

Yellow may be because of cowardice as you say but sadly no one has commented regarding that - or that Van Gogh lived in the "Yellow House" whilst the various sunflowers paintings were painted.

BlueBelle Fri 14-Oct-22 20:28:42

Not right of course but it was under glass according to the news on TV so not damaged thankfully but that doesn’t make it right silly buggers

MawtheMerrier Fri 14-Oct-22 20:03:45

I understand that when a bottle of ketchup was thrown at a Jackson Pollock, it merely increased the value by 2 million.

grannydarkhair Fri 14-Oct-22 18:09:13

NotSpaghetti
? Sunflowers - sunflower oil? ? Soup because it would splash and run, would look more dramatic than most other soups.
?Tomato soup because of Warhol.
? ⚠️ Yellow - again would look dramatic. Commonly used to denote cowardice (meaning the Police are cowards). Hopefully not oil based paint.
Because they’re hypocrites?
Above are my thoughts only. Other opinions may/will be different.

FannyCornforth Fri 14-Oct-22 17:57:28

It honestly doesn’t bother me.
I’m a scholar of art history.
There definitely won’t be any ‘seepage’, I’m sure.
I have an idea which side of the fence Vincent would be on.
He would be horrified that his paintings have become currency

NotSpaghetti Fri 14-Oct-22 17:52:10

I don't understand why the targets and the method and stuff thrown aren't more linked to the cause...
I feel that the semiotics are all wrong here.
Why this artwork for example and why specifically soup and why that soup??
Why yellow paint thrown at Scotland Yard, what sort of paint?
What kind of t-shirts and printing are they using?? Why are they using superglue (petroleum) and plastic banners??
Th

B9exchange Fri 14-Oct-22 17:43:41

What is it with the food wastage?

grannydarkhair Fri 14-Oct-22 17:39:23

As far as I’ve read on Twitter, the two soup throwers were going to be arrested as soon as they were freed from the wall. Suggestion on Twitter for an “installation” - build up a wall of tomato soup tins in front of them a la Warhol, leave the two of them stuck for a lengthy period. Opinions varied as to whether soup, etc. could/should be thrown at them.

MerylStreep Fri 14-Oct-22 17:07:23

What makes me more angry than the protesters is the Police not doing their job ?

Kate1949 Fri 14-Oct-22 16:48:31

There appear to be a few grin I posted on the one under Chat re tipping milk in London Stores.

grannydarkhair Fri 14-Oct-22 16:26:53

There’s a longer thread called “Vandalism” on N&P about this.

GrannyGravy13 Fri 14-Oct-22 16:21:49

grannydarkhair

Kate1949 I looked for a thread, couldn’t find one. What’s it called?

Vandals

grannydarkhair Fri 14-Oct-22 16:12:14

Kate1949 I looked for a thread, couldn’t find one. What’s it called?

Kate1949 Fri 14-Oct-22 16:06:50

I've mentioned this on the other thread. It's despicable.

MayBee70 Fri 14-Oct-22 16:05:11

I’m furious about it. I don’t see what it achieves. Do they not realise that art is an important part of life? They’ll just turn people against their cause. And they were saying that people can’t afford energy, not complaining about the amount of energy being used so I don’t understand what point they were trying to make.