Checking the news, message boards, Facebook, and a couple of subreddits are part of my morning ‘coffee and news’ routine before digging into work for the day. As I went though my daily ritual, I stumbled across a thread (now removed) that showed a picture of graffiti discovered by a packer along a trail near Vernal Falls. This graffiti was signed with a name “creepytings”.
Scrolling through her other images, it quickly became clear to me that this account was linked to a New Yorker on a long trip through the parks of the western US. Within a few minutes I saw she had also visited Bryce, Zion, Joshua Tree, and other public lands. She seemed proud of the ‘art’, and appeared to take a lot of pride and happiness in the ‘work’, based on the image comments.
At this point, I posted a link to the above image on the Death Valley National Park Facebook page, where it quickly gained traction. People browsed the tumblr account (NSFW) she linked to from her instagram account and soon found evidence of defaced rock in both Zion and Canyonlands. She actually posted a picture of a person defacing rock near an archeological site in Canyonlands.
Fortunately, an investigator from Yosemite National Park quickly responded to the original reddit thread and has the information above despite the accounts being made private (nothing can be unseen on the internet!) The vandalism has been reported to the parks in which she posted pictures of the ‘work’, and undoubtedly more examples will turn up along the path of destruction through the West.
My first reaction is naturally anger – what gives anyone the right to make land that belongs to all of us their personal canvas? Then it turned to sympathy – maybe this poor person has never experienced the feelings these awesome places give us, and this was their way of expressing joy. Maybe they had never been taught the principles of Leave No Trace. Maybe this was just an example of someone not being educated enough? Is it chalk? Will it wash off? Then I saw this comment on the image of the vandalism at Crater Lake:
Oh, she knew. Back to anger.
In my mind, there are two things that lead to people defacing public lands: ignorance and narcissism. After seeing that comment, this person clearly falls into the second bucket. The question is, how do we turn this into an opportunity to educate the ignorant and (frankly) embarrass the narcissists? I doubt this is the exposure the ‘artist’ was looking for. There’s no going viral with these ‘beautiful’ images, they’re going viral as an arrogant vandal who is a mediocre artist at best.
Right now it is the hands of the authorities. While vandalism is common, I don’t recall any case of such damage by the same person across multiple National Parks. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I hope the next time I am on Telescope Peak I see the responsible party up there, scrubbing away the awful ‘art’ with their own personal toothbrush.
For some reason it makes me madder that art is so bad. Not seen in the story, links pictures of her crawling over pictographs to paint her "art".
The original thread in /r/Yosemite was noticed by someone in the NPS, and it appears that a investigaion is ongoing. There is another story(that doxes the "artist") here
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Hopefully a little light sand blasting will get rid of most of it. What a crappy person. The worst part is a lot of these parks generally have an area or specific rock you can put your name on. They know it a human thing (hence the ancient pictographs) so the make an outlet for it. Apparently it wasn't good enough for her.
I take solace in the fact that this selfish bint will make all the chicken scratches she likes in prison. Well, that and she will be caught quickly due to her utter arrogance and stupidity.
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A real artist has respect for ancient pictographs (seriously, it's professional courtesy not to fuck up other peoples' work), and most of them understand the concept of leaving natural beauty natural. Overall, she's pretty pathetic.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Perhaps she sees things differently? Perhaps she thinks that if people didn't freak the fuck out that in hundreds of years, people visiting would look at her art like they look at the pictographs now?
Personally, I think she is an idiot, but it could be what her idiot brain is thinking.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
Acrylic paint peels off rocks in a matter of years. It won't be there in "hundreds of years" except as microscopic traces.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
Broomstick wrote:Acrylic paint peels off rocks in a matter of years. It won't be there in "hundreds of years" except as microscopic traces.
that may be true in areas subject to the full weather spectrum of rain, sun and wind. But what about where it is semi-protected from that such as with the rock in the picture?
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In that case yes, it would last longer. But a freeze-thaw cycle of temperatures alone will also induce peeling and flaking.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
The National Park system gets millions of visitors a year. Even if only a small portion of those vandalize the parks in a year that's still significant numbers causing damage. Historically, the system has been somewhat lenient for those who come forward on their own, or return fossils, but people doing extensive damage and essentially bragging about it on line are going to be dealt with harshly.
It's like our draconian laws regarding eagles. Yes, it does seem unreasonable that you can face jail time for handling the carcass of a bald eagle dead of natural causes but that's what was required to prevent their extinction and allow their recovery.
A quick bit of research indicates that the common penalties for such acts in national parks in the US range from $500 fines and community service (which, yes, could include repairing the damage) to up to six months in jail. Six months in jail is a misdeamenor sentence and not a felony. It's the felony tag that really screws up your life, interferes with getting a job, and so forth. There is also a subtle semantic difference in US between "jail" and "prison". "Jail" can mean a local facility, like a county lockup, or low-security, and might even be served as work-release (allowing the person to retain their employment) or under home confinement. "Prison" is what is typically brought to mind when one hears about incarceration, the higher -security, harsher institution.
So, while a $500 fine and up to six months in jail isn't anyone's idea of fun (that's sort of the point) it won't typically destroy your life.
On the other hand, for more egregious cases of vandalism of Federal property penalties can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and up to three years in prison... which, as a felony level penalty, will definitely impact the rest of your life.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
In this case she definitely needs to be slapped with a fine and server a fair amount of jail time, as well as be forced to clean up after herself. We need to make an example of her. The only question is how much jail time and whether or not to make her a felon.
NO ONE needs fucking jail time for painting on rocks, I don't care where they are. Especially if it was with acrylics. What's wrong with you people.
And a felony graffiti artist? Are you fucking kidding me?
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
I agree with Havok. No jail time! Instead, immediate execution..... lol
Instead of going to jail, she should be fine the max amount per act of vandalism and serve community service by teaching children to paint (though not on park property. )
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Havok, the problem is that she didn't just "paint on rocks"-- she painted over petroglyphs which are of historic value in the region. If she had just painted some random rocks, that'd be one thing (minor vandalism, perhaps) but she chose to interfere with what amounts to a historic artifact. Jail time is perhaps excessive but there need to be consequences for what she did.
The prehistory of the West is a fragile enough thing as it is, given that the Native American cultures of the time have not left much in the way of remains. So it's important to preserve what we do have. Not slapping paint on petroglyphs is one place to start.
I don't see anywhere where it says she painted OVER anything, but along side them.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
I think Havok would be fine if the woman doodled on the Mona Lisa painting.
ASVS('97)/SDN('03)
"Whilst human alchemists refer to the combustion triangle, some of their orcish counterparts see it as more of a hexagon: heat, fuel, air, laughter, screaming, fun." Dawn of the Dragons
No, I think if she actually destroyed anything, she should go to jail for a bit. I'm not keen on destroying actual history*. This is more like painting on the wall next to the Mona Lisa.
Did she break laws? Yes? Does she deserve the same status as a murderer or rapist, a felon in this country is a felon, absolutely not.
*For all we know this is just ancient graffiti by some punk ass Native American kids that got chased away from the tribe for doing it on people's walls.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
No, I think if she actually destroyed anything, she should go to jail for a bit. I'm not keen on destroying actual history*. This is more like painting on the wall next to the Mona Lisa.
Did she break laws? Yes? Does she deserve the same status as a murderer or rapist, a felon in this country is a felon, absolutely not.
*For all we know this is just ancient graffiti by some punk ass Native American kids that got chased away from the tribe for doing it on people's walls.
I don't think she destroyed anything. Sending her to jail is idiotic--she's whoring for attention and taking her out of society doesn't really change anything. Whopping fines should work.
She did crawl over petroglyphs, but only to get a photograph. That's still egregious but at least she wasn't tagging it. People have forced the shutdown of historic sites by spraypainting or defacing or scratching old stuff.
Basically, her behavior needs to get shit on because otherwise none of us will be allowed to tour these areas at all.
Havok wrote:NO ONE needs fucking jail time for painting on rocks, I don't care where they are. Especially if it was with acrylics. What's wrong with you people.
Hmmm... as I mentioned in a prior post, the Park Service historically hasn't opted for the maximum penalty in most cases. More along the lines of a verbal scolding, the person has to clean up the mess and pay the cost of doing so. Which seems reasonable.
However, when someone essentially brags about what they did to a wide audience stiffer penalties are called for because you don't one the perception that one can get away with vandalizing national parks, otherwise the problem will just get worse.
And a felony graffiti artist? Are you fucking kidding me?
Depends on the damage done. If what you do winds up costing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to fix then yes, perhaps there is a rationale for stiffer penalties.
A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory.Leonard Nimoy.
Now I did a job. I got nothing but trouble since I did it, not to mention more than a few unkind words as regard to my character so let me make this abundantly clear. I do the job. And then I get paid.- Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, which sums up my feelings regarding the lawsuit discussed here.
If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich. - John F. Kennedy
So the celebrity of the crime should determine the punishment? That's fucking idiotic.
It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.
Hit it. Blank Yellow (NSFW)
From her Tumblr:
"I wonder if I can paint Uluru, I hear Australians are drunks with no guns so it should be pretty easy." Perma-Link
Yeah, she's as dumb as a box of rocks. I have no issues with her getting locked up for a very long time.
"I believe in the future. It is wonderful because it stands on what has been achieved." - Sergei Korolev
If someone commits a crime that potentially alters or damages an irreplaceable thing*, and that will cost a great deal of money to fix**, then jail time becomes a reasonable maximum sentence.
And if the criminal is committing their crime for fame or to boast, and acts in a way that shows that they were amused by the whole thing and think it's a grand joke... well, we punish them more harshly. Seriously, who deserves to suffer more for assaulting a random stranger? The guy who says "I'm sorry, I was angry about something else and I took it out on you and I really regret it?" Or the guy who tweets "haha I kicked that guy's ass last night" the next day?
______________________________
*Say, by painting over traces of paint left by the natives, which might nonetheless be of archaeological interest in the future even though no one has yet learned how to reconstruct the petroglyphs...
**Because removing paint without damaging the stuff underneath it at all is really hard...
TimothyC wrote:From her Tumblr:
"I wonder if I can paint Uluru, I hear Australians are drunks with no guns so it should be pretty easy." Perma-Link
The Australian wildlife will eat her alive. She looks like a future Darwin Award winner.
"A word of advice: next time you post, try not to inadvertently reveal why you've had no success with real women." Darth Wong to Bubble Boy
"I see you do not understand objectivity," said Tom Carder, a fundie fucknut to Darth Wong
