Two Arrested for Vandalism of Brooklyn Museum Director’s House, New Banksy Mural Already Missing, Ukraine Asks UN for Help, and More: Morning Links for August 9, 2024

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THE HEADLINES

BANKSY HOWLER. British street artist Banksy’s efforts to turn London into a zoo have been hampered by a trio of crooks who stole a black wolf he graffitied onto a satellite dish. The hooded men were filmed removing the dish in Peckham, south London, in broad day light before nonchalantly walking off down the street with it. A passerby called Tom Kellow filmed the robbery during his lunchbreak. “They had a ladder,” he told the BBC. “There was one guy in the roof and the other two were watching the ladder. They saw me filming and it got a bit tetchy. One gave me a kick in the side and another tried to throw my phone on the roof. Luckily it hit a tree and came back down again.” Banksy has painted several new murals across London over the last few days, sparking a giddy selfie frenzy as people rush to see the black stenciled artworks. They include a mountain goat, a pair of elephants, some monkeys… and a lost, lone wolf. Where will Banksy’s next act of vandalism be? Oh, hold on, a news story has just popped into my feed. A pair of pelicans has been spotted above a fish and chip shop in Walthamstow, northeast London

ACTO-JOURNALISM. A journalist and an activist have been arrested and charged with hate crimes for spraying red paint on the homes of the Brooklyn Museum’s director and board members. Police reportedly arrested Taylor Pelton, who lives in Queens, last week and charged her with several counts of criminal mischief in the third degree. Samuel Seligson, a resident of Brooklyn, was apprehended on August 6 and faces a double count of criminal mischief. Both cases are being charged as hate crimes. The Brooklyn Museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, is Jewish. A banner was hung outside her house on June 11 emblazoned with the words “Anne Pasternak Brooklyn Museum White Supremacist Zionist” and “Funds Genocide.” An inverted red triangle was also daubed on her house, a symbol allegedly used by Hamas to identify buildings targeted by Israeli strikes. “Mr Seligson is being charged for alleged behavior that is protected by the First Amendment and consistent with his job as a credentialed member of the press,” Seligson’s lawyer, Leena Widdi said. “Nothing in the complaint against Mr Seligson alleges anything more than behavior consistent with his role as a journalist.” 

THE DIGEST

As scores of far-right sympathizers loiter outside hotels housing asylum seekers throughout the UK and kick policemen off motorbikes, sand artist Fred Brown has drawn some lines in the sand. However, people aren’t too sure which side of the isle Brown stands… is he a covert skinhead or a pacifist? The work featuring a Union Jack and the words “Love Laugh Live” is polarizing the public. [BBC]

Want to support journalism in Ukraine? Now you can, by buying merch from the Kyiv Independent’s new online store featuring works by Ukrainian artists. The paper says its mission is “delivering locally sourced, independent journalism from Ukraine to the world.” [Kyiv Independent]

The tiny Scottish fishing village of Pittenween has been transformed into a living art gallery this week for the annual Pittenween Arts Festival after its residents opened up their homes to exhibit the work of 140 artists from across Scotland, the highest number since the pandemic. [STV News]

Ukraine has called for the UN to intervene after Tauric Chersonese, an ancient Crimean heritage site, was transformed into a “historical and archaeological park” by Russia. The Kremlin annexed Crimea in 2015. [The Art Newspaper].

THE KICKER

PRISON BAIT. A former prison in Scotland which has been turned into a museum is filming visitors to see how people react to troubling aspects of human history. In a bid to prove it’s not just a sick joke, the data is being gathered and analyzed by researchers at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University (RGU). Punters entering Peterhead Prison Museum get the chance to experience what life was like behind bars of the notorious prison, and get insight into brutal inmate-on-inmate attacks, a punishment station where officers used a whip, and dirty protests. The project, called “Talking about Prisons,” is headed up by Rachel Ironside from the RGU. “What we’re looking at is how visitors interact with some of the museum spaces, in particular those spaces that deal with a more difficult type of heritage,” she told BBC Scotland. “This project is looking at those in-the-moment interactions, that’s what we’re really interested in. Where do they look, what do they say.” [BBC]