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Protesters hurl soup at the Mona Lisa painting in Paris
- nabla9 3y agoAs explained in the article, the protesters don't actually harm the painting.
- ungreased0675 3y agoThere should be severe consequences for attempting to damage valuable cultural artifacts. Even if they weren’t successful.
- nabla9 3y agoThey are not attempting to damage cultural artifacts. There have been several of these attacks in Europe by environmentalists and they always select target with protective class. It's a great way to demonstrate and get attention.
- jruohonen 3y ago> and get attention Attention is what is needed in attention (political) economy, sure, but I do wonder why they've chosen (classical) art specifically? I kind of miss the big witty stunts done by the Yes Men and alike.
- user_7832 3y agoDo you think we’d be discussing this on HN if this was an unheard painting/artist? I’m not commenting on whether or not their actions were correct, but if they wanted publicity it certainly was successful. (Unless I misunderstood your comment)
- jruohonen 3y ago> Do you think we’d be discussing this on HN if this was an unheard painting/artist? Probably not, but one might think that there would be better "targets", artificial as they may still be? Remember the scene in Fight Club?
- stavros 3y agoBut also the focus now isn't their environmental demands, or their political stance, or whatever, but that they potentially damaged a work of art. I don't know how that furthers their cause.
- tourmalinetaco 3y ago> but that they potentially damaged a work of art. How do people not know the Mona Lisa is protected by a sheet of glass, and has been for years?
- cpursley 3y agoIt’s a great way to turn off regular people from whatever movement they’re pitching.
- 15457345234 3y agoI've never seen these people be able to explain why they do what they do in any way that makes sense or is logically consistent so... They may label themselves as environmentalists etc - because they have to label themselves as something if they don't want to just be considered vandals - but I think the answer that's most likely is some type of personality disorder.
- stagas 3y agoIs it in the news? Mission accomplished.
- kevincrane 3y agoKinda feels like the underpants gnomes thing then 1. Get in the news 2. ??? 3. Environment is saved!
- tourmalinetaco 3y agoSure and a few years back some Dutchie protesters got in the news because they were gluing themselves to things. It was hilarious and I have 0 genuine recollection of what they were trying to accomplish, because most of this is ineffective flash-in-the-pan stuff.
- jjtheblunt 3y agoThat’s possibly because their fundamental objective is narcissism, not a benevolent ideology.
- oulipo 3y agonot really actually, it works and it's called the "radical flank" theory
- edgyquant 3y agoI don’t care what excuses you make. I’m absolutely tired of these spoiled kids doing shit like this and continuing to getting away with it. No one can do anything nice without some group of jackass thugs showing up to ruin it by waving pro-hamas flags or screaming about the environment.
- wegfawefgawefg 3y agoshe looks old. like 40s
- rajup 3y agoNot mentally 40 I suppose
- lukan 3y ago"I’m absolutely tired of these spoiled kids doing shit like this" I do not support this style of protest, but their reason is something like: "They are absolutey tired of the spoiled rich (old) people, who continue to fuck up the planet like before and continue to get away with it, with no serious action being done about climate change."
- DiggyJohnson 3y agoRight, and I’m in neither group. That’s where I get confused, I’m on nobody’s team at the moment, and when I read a story like this I always, always, end up on the side of Louvre, or whatever.
- lukan 3y agoI know, that is why I do not support this style of protest. It is venting of frustration, activism for the sake of it - getting the feeling that at least something was done (and being too blind to realize that it is not helping the cause).
- atq2119 3y agoIf that is truly the case, then perhaps you need to reassess whether you are genuinely in neither group. I'm not kidding. This is an asymmetric conflict of the powerless against the powerful. Obviously their methods are going to have to be asymmetric. If you end up siding with the powerful, well, you are taking a side whether you like it or not.
- slothtrop 3y agoAttention is not what the climate crisis lacks. It hasn't lost salience in a decade, people are simultaneously fatigued and concerned, so stunts are redundant. Notwithstanding, negative attention is not necessarily helpful. If it were, PETA or Greenpeace would be seen in a more favorable light and data would suggest that their PR approach makes a net positive difference. There are organizations that take a more data-driven approach, and consequently are both effective and not off-putting to prospective supporters, but they don't get the same media attention. In the internet age, it should be possible to boost without stupid antics. At this point most are sticking to the same outlook they had 10-20 years ago.
- oulipo 3y agoYou mean attempting to damage valuable cultural artifacts like the environment? I totally agree, we should put Exxon and Total CEOs in jail!
- DiggyJohnson 3y agoWhat? These attempts to shoehorn the opposite point into the conversation is rhetorically embarrassing. Both can be bad.
- groestl 3y agoIt's actually the first association for me, when I hear "damage valuable cultural artefacts", so I personally find it quite fitting. And I agree with you, both actions can be (and IMHO are) bad.
- DiggyJohnson 3y agoIn what way this the environment a "cultural artifact"? Especially when compared to a famous painting. I'm sorry but I don't think I can possibly believe that your first association with "valuable cultural artifact" is the environment, assuming English is your first language. The environment influences culture, sure, but environment is not culture.
- groestl 3y ago> assuming English is your first language You're wrongly assuming. It's German, and we have the word "Kulturlandschaft" (cultural landscape). Today, 60% of Europe's landscape is "Kulturlandschaft".
- DanHulton 3y agoThis is the point of the protesters, though. It's not the "opposite point", it's THE point to this story. The Mona Lisa is fine and was always doing to be fine. This is literally just a publicity stunt, nothing more. The environment, however, and the way we farm and how it affects it (and how it affects us), well, the protesters have a point. It's sick and getting sicker every day.
- thih9 3y agoI doubt they were actually attempting that, everyone knows about the glass; their goal was to perform a viral stunt.
- tourmalinetaco 3y agoObjectively there was no attempt to damage. They threw soup at glass. When was the last time you heard soup shattering glass? I’m not even sure why you’re so upset when the Mona Lisa is mid anyway
- bitshiftfaced 3y agoEven if they didn't think doing this would harm the painting, they should still face stiff consequences. Lest we incentivize more groups to do this kind of thing.
- jez 3y agohttps://lite.cnn.com/2024/01/28/europe/soup-thrown-mona-lisa-louvre-paris-intl/index.html https://lite.cnn.com/2024/01/28/europe/soup-thrown-mona-lisa...
- throwup238 3y agoI’ll ask the obvious question that must be on everyone’s mind: Why was it pumpkin soup? Why not a lobster bisque or a nice corn chowder or something? Or at least some acrylic paint that'll be a little harder to clean off?
- dahart 3y agoNot to take away from your humor by answering seriously, and this is pure speculation, but the choice might be a deliberate attempt to minimize the risk of any damage, since pumpkin soup is low acidity and very easy to clean.
- dahart 3y agoThis link has loads more information than the CNN article, including videos of the soup-throwing, and an explanation of what the protestors are protesting. https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/news-who-the-riposte-alimentaire-details-explored-video-climate-activists-hurling-soup-mona-lisa-paris-louvre-museum-goes-viral https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/news-who-the-riposte... *edit also kind of interesting the first visible response by the museum is to block the painting (and protestors) from view.
- metadat 3y agoDirect link to the goods: https://youtu.be/8hANE6qCldo?t=55 https://youtu.be/8hANE6qCldo?t=55 Impressive how quickly security responded with the barricades within 30 seconds. I wonder what other props are in their secret nearby closet. @dahart, re: also kind of interesting the first visible response by the museum is to block the painting (and protestors) from view. Security seemed to be trying to block the protesters from view, rather than hiding the defaced painting. It makes sense to set the goal at minimizing impact to the museum by taking away the forum spectacle the protestors wanted to create. This yields better optics compared to immediately resorting to physical force against the vandals, since that could lead to a more sympathetic interpretation by third parties (e.g. the public). This way, the protestors appear to me as more of unreasonable jerks who may have mental problems. p.s. Thank you for the way, way better link!
- drewcoo 3y agoIt may be a disincentive for future potential protesters see that they won't be able to get lots of attention and the MSM will refuse to even explain their protest. It's probably intended to avoid copycats.
- tomjen3 3y agoI am still not entirely sure what they are protesting. So I am going to assume the usual: climate. And lots of yelling about the rich, of course. Because that is easy. Providing actual working solutions are much harder, so you can't get yourself a profile based on those. Meanwhile there are actual companies (like Helion) working on building actual solutions (fusion energy), and places like Ukraine that is going to start building new nuclear power plants[1]. These protestors likely hate Elon Musk, but they have done a lot less than him to come up with actual solutions. [0]: https://www.helionenergy.com/ https://www.helionenergy.com/ [1]: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ukraine-start-building-4-new-nuclear-reactors-this-year-minister-2024-01-25/ https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/ukraine-start-buildi...
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- sampli 3y agoThese people are idiots who do nothing but hurt their own cause
- analog31 3y agoWhile this may be true, it's also something that eventually gets said about all protesters.
- piva00 3y agoThere's no damage done to the painting, there's a glass protecting it, how exactly sending a non-destructive message hurts their own cause?
- jinushaun 3y agoBecause it’s an implicit admission by the protestors that people don’t care about their message/cause. So the destruction is now the message because will people will focus on that instead of the original cause. This is not a value judgment on reason why they are protesting. I can understand their frustration at yelling at the top of their lungs and no one cares. It would feel like you’re taking crazy pills.
- happytoexplain 3y agoMost people either don't know there's glass or would assume the protesters don't know. And yet, even assuming universal knowledge of the glass, it's still easy to understand why people would consider this act disgusting/hateable. The message of the protesters requires digging, and even if you do the digging, the connection seems tenuous. Meanwhile, the act itself stands on its own as easily observed, and appears juvenile and pointless on its face. Regardless of opinion, it seems unrealistic to argue that people in general should feel differently about it.
- ghusto 3y agoThe same way any out of context attention seeking hurts your cause; by showing arrogance, and a disregard for others. People generally stop listening to whatever you have to say when you treat them with disregard. When a law doesn't work, you don't go around breaking it, you work with the system we have to change it. Similarly, when people aren't listening to your message, you work within the system to get it heard.
- Aeolun 3y agoWhat they are really throwing soup at is the bulletproof glass in front of the painting. There’s a world of difference between knowing you’ll destroy the painting and making a statement by smearing something icky on glass.
- thih9 3y agoApparently in both cases you go viral, I guess that was their goal. Also, they chose to protest in a way that isn’t as destructive to the environment - quite consistent with their message.
- kotaKat 3y agoI almost feel like it'd be better to protest food insecurity by helping providing the food to people who need it in public demonstrations and gatherings, not trying to feed an inanimate painting to "make a statement". The bulletproof glass is there for a reason, it's almost as if trying to throw things at it is old and boring and half-expected at this point.
- janice1999 3y agoThey got their cause/group media attention. I learned about them today. They achieved what they wanted. Sounds like a good protest to me. > helping providing the food to people who need it in public demonstrations and gatherings That does not get attention and attention is needed to help fuel a cause and affect political change. What food people eat and how affordable food becomes is entirely a political choice driven by lobbying and subsidies.
- slothtrop 3y ago> I learned about them today. They achieved what they wanted You might as well say every single stunt of this nature is a "victory". You learned about yet-another-environmental-group (the article only mentions their name), but you knew about the climate crisis already. > attention is needed The climate crisis does not lack attention. So much so people are fatigued and jaded. Awareness campaigns are redundant. People are sick of it. You have a small demo that might be interested in reading about pragmatic solutions, some that drink the kool-aid for x/y/z ideology, and the majority that have tuned out of the conversation.
- geor9e 3y agoThe Mona Lisa has been behind bulletproof glass for a long time. Any rational person can see that the protestors did not intend any harm. They only intended to make a mild mess that will annoy the janitor for half an hour. The true intention was to trick people into posting this headline and bring attention to whatever they want to highlight. By posting this, we have just fallen hook, line, and sinker into their trick.
- MDWolinski 3y agoAgree with this. In the Louvre, there are many pieces of art not protected from potential damage that people who didn’t care could have protested at. Given that it was the Mona Lisa, I’m sure the thought that the protest would make a statement but not cause damage was considered.
- deepfriedchokes 3y agoWasting food doesn’t seem like a rational choice for an environment protest.