When Did Art Become The Enemy?

It’s dangerous in the fall of 2022 to be a masterpiece from a famous painter. If you’re a Monet or a Van Gogh, best steer clear of soup cans and liquified mashed potatoes. You may be forever ruined by them as has happened twice in the month of October alone.

Let me be clear that I do consider climate change to be an important issue of our times. However, vandalism is an argument of fools. Children throw tantrums, not cultured adults. Throwing food at something strikes me as something you do when what you crave is attention more than corrective action. Chucking food around got Kevin Porter Jr. jettisoned from Cleveland rather than having his locker re-assigned back to its old spot which is apparently what caused this crime against food. When children do this, they get grounded if they’re lucky. Why these activists believe that their behavior will be humored rather than derided is beyond me. 

It also occurs to me that their anger is misdirected. As far as I know, Van Gogh and Monet are long dead at the present time and never had anything to do with the oil industry. Van Gogh did more damage to his ear than to the environment. Monet’s only connection to politics from what I know was his paintings being hustled by the Marcos family in the Philippines. I’m sure he would have preferred if Imelda’s grubby hands never violated his paintings. The politicians of today set climate policy. It is they who set the targets that they have no intention of meeting but rather use as self-congratulatory fantasies to bamboozle voters with. It is they who deserve soup baths but please refrain from dousing them with any liquids. That would lead to assault charges. Instead, write barbed articles such as this one. Hammer them with letters, calls and art, yes art. To the frustrated climate activist, art is your friend. Art will capture more eyes and ears than giving paintings soup baths ever will. Paintings, music and poetry will force more action in the end. It just takes some time. Time is short? Ok, all the more reason to not waste it by alienating the general public who can ultimately force the politicians to act. Art is not the enemy.