Activist Phoebe Plummer, 21, caused a sensation last Friday when she opened a can of tomato soup at the National Gallery in London, tossed the contents of sunflowers at Van Gogh and then stuck her hand against the wall. In addition to the tribute, there were also many negative reactions to her and her fellow Internet activist.
Just stop the oil
The activist group Just Stop Oil, of which Plummer is a part, organized another protest this week and explained why it decided to throw out the tomato soup.
Plummer first asserts that no damage was done to the painting. “Yesterday I heard in court that there is only minimal damage to the frame and that it can be repaired or replaced. There is no damage to the canvas.”
Plummer admits in the video that the procedure sounded pretty silly. But the question whether everyone should be throwing soup on plates wasn’t the reason either. We just want to ask the important questions.”
drilling in the North Sea
And those questions, according to Plummer, concern the climate and energy policy of new British Prime Minister Liz Truss. In her campaign, she promised 130 permits to explore for oil in the North Sea. The activist says Plummer wants to start a conversation about this with her actions. It often takes decades after such a license is issued before oil is actually produced. Europe wants to be climate neutral by 2050.
Plummer also chafes that subsidies for fossil fuels are “30 times higher than renewables,” while “offshore wind turbines are currently nine times cheaper.” “This is the conversation we need right now.”
On Friday, a spokesperson for the working group told the Guardian the measures were not intended to make friends. Plummer explains it in the video. “The coming years will determine the future of humanity, we want people to talk about it now. That’s why we are doing this. We need the media attention.”
Silverstone
Plummer and her fellow activist are not the first to have gathered in protest. This also happened in July of this year with The Haywain board, also in London. That same month, this also happened in a museum in Florence, Italy.
There was also action during the Formula 1 race at Silverstone in England earlier this year. Climate activists sat on the track when the race was halted due to an accident.