Why Just Stop Oil got it wrong this time

Last week, two campaigners from the pressure group Just Stop Oil entered room 43 at the National Gallery in London and emptied two cans of Heinz tomato soup over Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers. According to the Guardian, there were gasps and cries from the public. It didn’t take long for the images to make their way to social media. The activists then delivered the following statement:

“What is worth more, art or life? Is it worth more than food? More than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting or the protection of our planet and people? The cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis, fuel is unaffordable to millions of cold, hungry families. They can’t even afford to heat a tin of soup.”

A perspex screen protects the painting, and the Gallery confirmed the protesters hadn’t damaged it. Nevertheless, this didn’t prevent widespread condemnation.

Just Stop Oil launched in 2022, with the aim of ensuring that the British government stops new fossil fuel licensing and production (a worthy aim, in my opinion). They are best known for blocking roads and disrupting oil terminals, so we can see this latest action as somewhat of an escalation, or at least a change in tactics and targets.

The attack on the painting is a case best described as good cause, poor judgement. Talking to the Guardian, Alex De Koning, a Just Stop Oil spokesperson, said:

“Alienating people from their cause was a concern. But this is not The X Factor. We are not trying to make friends here, we are trying to make change, and unfortunately, this is the way that change happens.”

If they were worried about alienating people (especially their supporters) they should have given more thought to their target.

But why should an attack on the painting drive people away?

For every action, there needs to be a clear, unambiguous link to what it is you want to say: If you want to protest against deforestation, you chain yourself to the equipment that will be used to destroy the forests. If your aim is to stop the widespread use of fossil fuels, you direct your action towards oil producers. With Just Stop Oil, there is a link between their aims and the protests that block major roads, because any vehicle with an engine running on petrol or diesel is contributing to the extraction of fossil fuels and, therefore, to the climate crisis. People understand the link, even if they don’t support the action.

Let’s now look at the National Gallery protest

First, Vincent Van Gogh is one of the world’s most loved artists. He led a particularly tortured existence, taking his own life at 37. So significant is van Gogh to popular culture, that he even appeared in Doctor Who! But why is all this relevant? People often find it difficult to separate the artist from the art, it’s just the way our brains are wired. This means that an attack on a painting can be viewed as an attack on the artist — and what kind of monster would attack poor Vincent?

There is also an assumption here that you can’t both love and appreciate works of art and be concerned with other things like the environment or poverty. This is just wrong.

Second, linking van Gogh’s Sunflowers to a campaign called Just Stop Oil takes more cognitive effort than a brain designed for cognitive efficiency is willing to expend. We make such judgements quickly and in the most cognitively efficient manner. The message becomes lost because there are simply too many stages to contend with.

Ah, I hear you say, but they made a statement, they explained the link between the painting, the soup and oil. Too late, the judgement has been formed and everything that comes after is just noise. The immediate visceral emotional response drowns out any message that you might be trying to get across. Indeed, in the aftermath of the protest, there was little talk about the intentions of the group, just about the specific incident.

Then comes the other thoughts, such as wasting food (and premium brand food at that) to make a point that people can’t afford to buy food. Suddenly, none of it makes much sense.

According to De Koning:

“The typical unthinking individual who doesn’t think about the big issues of the planet is not the kind of person who walks around the National Gallery.”

I’ve actually been thinking about this all weekend, and the more I think about it, the less sense it makes. On the one hand, we are being told that people at the National Gallery care more about paintings than people, then, those same people are more likely to think about the wider issues such as climate change. I would say this was arrogance if it wasn’t simply confusing.

My support for Just Stop Oil is waning. Actions have to make sense within the context of the campaign. The organisation seems to adhere to the adage that all publicity is good publicity, when it clearly isn’t.