Two climate activists on Tuesday targeted Botticelli’s masterpiece “The Birth of Venus” hanging at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, attaching images of recent flood damage in the Tuscany region on the protective glass.
Meanwhile the rich people that are responsible for the majority of climate damage stand in their own private collections completely undisturbed.
Sure this grabs headlines, but momentarily and often preaching to the converted or the disenfranchised.
I’m not saying I have any good answers, and I’m sure we’ll all burn and starve thinking of ways to change the minds of people that have power… But there has to be some way to take the protest to them in ways that actually inconveniences them, as opposed to the people that already broadly support this cause.
And yeah, it grabs headlines, briefly, but look at how the media is complicit with the companies and individuals and governments causing the destruction. If they were really bothered about this sort of protest, the chances are you wouldn’t see it. The fact we are seeing it probably means that they’ve evaluated it to cause more contention among the voters, which works in their favour.
I realise I’m starting to sound like a conspiracy nut. Too many references to shady power and control… But sanctioned protest isn’t protest at all. It’s a sideshow that makes people think they are helpless or that work is being done when it isn’t.
And before the “acshurly this wasn’t sanctioned” reply… No, you’re right, not explicitly, but we still allow people to walk into public buildings without the sort of security you find at airports. I do wonder if that will start changing. I already know a few that won’t let you walk around with bags of any kind, and next up comes a frisk and an interview.
Also, it’s good to mention that no damage is being done here. The way some media reports it, you’d swear they were destroying valuable public art. They really aren’t, but it gets spun that way.
Nothing you said sounds like a conspiracy, unless folks are ignorant.
But you’re right, the most effective protests create inconvenience to those in power. In the US, that his historically meant costing a lot of money at the minimum.
But yeah, these guys didn’t cause any damage. They created a scene, sure, but all they did was try to raise awareness of a very real problem. And when you look at the response to this, which doesn’t even do any harm, it makes it feel pretty obvious that the public is not ready for change and does not support it.
rich people have the entirety of the state defense apparatus to protect their property.
this is at least a start.
I mean, you can grab headlines by firing into a crowd too, but no one should do that either
Targeting museums and people trying to get to work or home is absolutely the stupidest strategy possible. These groups myst be funded by big oil, they’re just too on-the-nose wrong to be organic.
And “there’s no such thing as bad press” hasn’t been true since Tiger Wood’s sexting scandal.
Everyone. Everyone. The article is five SENTENCES long.
Two climate activists on Tuesday targeted Botticelli’s masterpiece “The Birth of Venus” hanging at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, attaching images of recent flood damage in the Tuscany region on the protective glass.
(Emphasis mine. I also wanted to pause to mention that this is likely a sentence you wouldn’t have to click through to read, because it’s in the preview on Lemmy.)
Authorities immediately cleared the room and the two protesters were brought by carabinieri for questioning. Under a new law, the protesters risk up to six months of jail time.
The protest materials were easily removed from the glass without leaving a trace, and the room where the painting hangs was reopened within 15 minutes.
The activists from the Last Generation climate movement said they were protesting the Italian government’s failure to address climate issues that result in more frequent floods and landslides, including severe flooding in Tuscany last year that left at least six people dead and caused widespread damage.
I’m sorry, but complaints about any damage done by this protest aren’t exactly serious arguments.
Thank you. I was about to start bitching about the unforgivableness of destroying art, like always, but this seems more like a surprise presentation.
If you’re mad about this, wait until you hear what will happen to all the art during the climate wars lol
I think these protesters are pretty dope. They’re highlighting the foolishness and hypocrisy of our values by provoking outrage over the threat to a picture of nature.
It reminds me of a scene in “Children of Men” 2006, where a rich dude has acquired many of the great works including M’s David and Guernica for “preservation”. And it just illustrated the arrogance and wishful thinking that the past can be preserved even at the end of the world. As though keeping rot and death away from an object gives hope we can keep it from ourselves.
There is something similar in the movie “The Midnight Sky” 2020 where another rich asshole tries to escape the apocalypse with a private jet packed with art and important objects in the seats where people could have been sitting.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Two climate activists on Tuesday targeted Botticelli’s masterpiece “The Birth of Venus” hanging at Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, attaching images of recent flood damage in the Tuscany region on the protective glass.
Authorities immediately cleared the room and the two protesters were brought by carabinieri for questioning.
Under a new law, the protesters risk up to six months of jail time.
The protest materials were easily removed from the glass without leaving a trace, and the room where the painting hangs was reopened within 15 minutes.
The activists from the Last Generation climate movement said they were protesting the Italian government’s failure to address climate issues that result in more frequent floods and landslides, including severe flooding in Tuscany last year that left at least six people dead and caused widespread damage.
The original article contains 131 words, the summary contains 131 words. Saved 0%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
OK. The Mona Lisa is a minor DaVinci work. But Botticelli? What a bunch of (place your favorite expletive here)
And, activists? What have you now accomplished? Why not start going to install PV panels somewhere (or something like that).I could have expressed myself more eloquently I suppose. Down this thread I might have put it slightly better:
The activists did not even inconvenience anybody […]. At most did they portray themselves as (proverbial) clowns which is far from convincing the “top” something needs to change in order to fix climate change. So I just meant to say there are better ways to be climate activist than this.
Don’t worry, probably they are going to jail for protesting. Soon we won’t have any more rabble disturbing the blissful zen of self extinction.
Under a new law, the protesters risk up to six months of jail time.
I can’t believe all these people who still don’t get it. We are so fucked. It’s not even a joke at this point, we are completely fucked as far as curbing climate change.
These protestors didn’t even cause any damage, they just made a slight convenience and now they’re going to go to jail for up to 6 months.
Meanwhile, we continue to have record carbon emissions year after year. It’s as if people using paper straws isn’t enough or something…
Which is taking things too far indeed (the jail sentences), I agree with you on that.
Why can’t these activists be activists in a way that I don’t have to hear about and inconveniences no one???
That is not even remotely what I was writing. You are pulling a straw-man argument here without even considering what I actually meant. The activists did not even inconvenience anybody, so you did not even make sense either. At most did they portray themselves as (proverbial) clowns which is far from convincing the “top” something needs to change in order to fix climate change. So I just meant to say there are better ways to be climate activist than this.
