This kinda makes sense, but I have a couple of comments.
First, you misread the quote. You say they make it a zero-sum game, but that's not what the quote says. It says they're using the outrage that we feel at the destruction of beautiful art to remind us of the outrage we *should* feel at the destruction of the beautiful planet. That's a different mechanism, not connected with zero sum.
Second, I find it hard to endorse arguments like this, because they can be made for every form of protest. The protesters who block roads are delaying poor commuters with nothing to do with the crisis - therefore roadblocks are wrong. Strikers who shut down factories are harming consumers who didn't have anything to do with the low wages - therefore strikes are wrong. There's *always* a reason to say a protest is bad. That's the nature of protesting!
What I don't think you've done successfully here is to show that the art protests are worse than other forms of protest; or that they're unnecessary. Which is not to say that you're wrong. But I don't think these arguments add up to enough.
Thanks, yes, these are my initial thoughts. And they are in part phenomenological, bc I do care a great deal about climate, I am leading (for instance) an initiative to have at least part of our large CO2-heavy US wide conferences in philosophy go entirely virtual. I think we need as academics to do more, fly less etc. And I've written about the climate crisis and how not to fall into despair about it ( https://aeon.co/essays/how-to-face-the-climate-crisis-with-spinoza-and-self-knowledge) At the same, I feel very alienated by this action in part because I find these artworks so precious and the mere possibility of them becoming irreparably damaged is distressing. This is as you point out, exactly the point but I don't need further convincing that climate change is bad.
My sense is most people who feel something of a visceral reaction to this likewise don't need convincing that the planet, like these artworks, is precious and should be protected.
What we need is a feeling that the dial can be shifted. People feel very alone about their concern w climate change. It is a prominent concern in many people's minds, but the political representation and willpower is lacking. In that respect, I felt the climate strikes by schoolkids had great momentum but unfortunately due to the pandemic disruption, the momentum faltered. Maybe our best shot is doing something like this.
Your point about protests always being disruptive is right. I did worry, writing this, whether it is some form of tone-policing or some demand of politeness and harmlessness, like you point about protest ought to be inconvenient to some or it won't shift the dial. Maybe that's true and maybe my discomfort with a Van Gogh being fatally damaged by soup really should not register against the existential crisis we're facing. But, as a potential constituent of the people who take action I still wanted to register that I don't agree, and for the reasons I point out, art is actually among the most sustainable luxuries we have. And museum art is for once not something that's only for the super wealthy. So it feels still to me, for whatever it's worth, that targeting artworks is not in the spirit of the message.
Very salient article! I'm always shocked when this happens because most of us going to museums and appreciating art actually support climate change and social causes...
Thanks! I have lots of thoughts on this. In fact, my major was in the anthropology of art and we specialized in oceanic (Maori etc) and in African Indigenous (Yoruba etc) art. I love the Benin bronzes, but was shocked to learn about how they got into the British museum and other collections. I should probably write all of this up bc I need to distill my thoughts on this as I had throughout the years on museums as preservers of heritage, whose cultural heritage, racism and colonialism perpetuated by museums (British Museum is a big offender, and far from the only one)...
This kinda makes sense, but I have a couple of comments.
First, you misread the quote. You say they make it a zero-sum game, but that's not what the quote says. It says they're using the outrage that we feel at the destruction of beautiful art to remind us of the outrage we *should* feel at the destruction of the beautiful planet. That's a different mechanism, not connected with zero sum.
Second, I find it hard to endorse arguments like this, because they can be made for every form of protest. The protesters who block roads are delaying poor commuters with nothing to do with the crisis - therefore roadblocks are wrong. Strikers who shut down factories are harming consumers who didn't have anything to do with the low wages - therefore strikes are wrong. There's *always* a reason to say a protest is bad. That's the nature of protesting!
What I don't think you've done successfully here is to show that the art protests are worse than other forms of protest; or that they're unnecessary. Which is not to say that you're wrong. But I don't think these arguments add up to enough.
Thanks, yes, these are my initial thoughts. And they are in part phenomenological, bc I do care a great deal about climate, I am leading (for instance) an initiative to have at least part of our large CO2-heavy US wide conferences in philosophy go entirely virtual. I think we need as academics to do more, fly less etc. And I've written about the climate crisis and how not to fall into despair about it ( https://aeon.co/essays/how-to-face-the-climate-crisis-with-spinoza-and-self-knowledge) At the same, I feel very alienated by this action in part because I find these artworks so precious and the mere possibility of them becoming irreparably damaged is distressing. This is as you point out, exactly the point but I don't need further convincing that climate change is bad.
My sense is most people who feel something of a visceral reaction to this likewise don't need convincing that the planet, like these artworks, is precious and should be protected.
What we need is a feeling that the dial can be shifted. People feel very alone about their concern w climate change. It is a prominent concern in many people's minds, but the political representation and willpower is lacking. In that respect, I felt the climate strikes by schoolkids had great momentum but unfortunately due to the pandemic disruption, the momentum faltered. Maybe our best shot is doing something like this.
Your point about protests always being disruptive is right. I did worry, writing this, whether it is some form of tone-policing or some demand of politeness and harmlessness, like you point about protest ought to be inconvenient to some or it won't shift the dial. Maybe that's true and maybe my discomfort with a Van Gogh being fatally damaged by soup really should not register against the existential crisis we're facing. But, as a potential constituent of the people who take action I still wanted to register that I don't agree, and for the reasons I point out, art is actually among the most sustainable luxuries we have. And museum art is for once not something that's only for the super wealthy. So it feels still to me, for whatever it's worth, that targeting artworks is not in the spirit of the message.
Very salient article! I'm always shocked when this happens because most of us going to museums and appreciating art actually support climate change and social causes...
Museums in general have been a hot topic where I am though - I'm super curious your take on things like this, which causes a lot of outrage here: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-68066877
Thanks! I have lots of thoughts on this. In fact, my major was in the anthropology of art and we specialized in oceanic (Maori etc) and in African Indigenous (Yoruba etc) art. I love the Benin bronzes, but was shocked to learn about how they got into the British museum and other collections. I should probably write all of this up bc I need to distill my thoughts on this as I had throughout the years on museums as preservers of heritage, whose cultural heritage, racism and colonialism perpetuated by museums (British Museum is a big offender, and far from the only one)...