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Vandalism is the conspicuous defacement or destruction of a structure or symbol which turns out to be, if one follows a Classical liberalism philosophy, against the will of the owner/governing body. Historically, it has been justified by painter Gustave Courbet as destruction of monuments symbolizing "war and conquest". Therefore, it can be done as an expression of contempt, creativity, or both. Vandalism only takes sense in a culture that recognize history and archeology. Like other similar terms (Barbarian/barbary, and Philistine and Bastard), the term Vandal was originally an ethnic slur referring to the Vandals, who sacked Rome in 455, but unlike the Berbers and Basters, the Vandals, like the Philistines, no longer exist as an identifiable ethnic group.

The term was coined in January 1794 during the French Revolution, by Henri Grégoire, constitutional bishop of Blois, in his report directed to the Republican Convention, where he used word Vandalisme to describe some aspects of the behaviour of the republican army. Gustave Courbet's attempt, during the 1871 Paris Commune, to dismantle the Vendôme column, a symbol of the past Napoleon III authoritarian Empire, was one of the most celebrated event of vandalism. Nietzsche himself would medidate after the Commune on the "fight against culture", taking as example the intentional burning of the Tuileries Palace on May 23, 1871. "The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture" wrote Klossowski after quoting Nietzsche .

Official vandalism

Throughout history, the ritual destruction of monuments of a previous government or power has been one of the largest symbols showing the attempt at transition of power. In Rome damnatio memoriae ("damnation of his memory") was normally expressed by erasing the name of the hated individual from inscriptions and removing or replacing statues or replacing just their heads after their death and subsequent disgrace. Damnatio memoriae was effected after their death by the rivals and heirs of Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Commodus and Elagabulus. After the Emperor Caracalla had his co-Emperor Geta assassinated, all depictions or references to Geta were systematically destroyed as part of a damnatio memoriae. Faces and genitals of surviving Greek and Roman sculpture often show how they have been systematically attacked. In palimpsests, text has been washed off parchment that have been overwritten with new text; the existence of effaced manuscripts that were not subsequently overwritten reveals an element of vandalism in this process.

In Egypt, the return of the priests of Amun to power after the religious innovations of Akhenaten was accompanied by desecration of the pharaoh's tomb and the ritual obliteration of his image from temple reliefs and inscriptions. This is official vandalism.

Recent cases of vandalism in this vein include the toppling and destruction of Soviet monuments after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Taliban destruction of Buddhist statuary in Afghanistan, and the well-known toppling of a Saddam Hussein statue by the multinational force in Iraq. In a country with an unpopular dictator, vandalism of the leader's portraits and other elements of his personality cult can be a common form of dissent.

Vandalism of Jewish properties and Jewish-owned businesses was part of the Nazi program, surfacing in the widespread, coordinated vandalism of Kristallnacht the night of November 9 – 10, 1938, when shopwindows were smashed all over Nazi Germany.

Vandalism as crime

Private citizens commit vandalism when they wilfully damage or deface the property of others or the commons. Some vandalism qualifies as culture jamming or sniggling — it is artistic in nature as well as being carried out illegally or without the property owner's permission. Examples include at least some graffiti art, billboard liberation and possibly crop circles. Criminal vandalism is often a reaction against an alienating society or is corporate gang activity.

With the rise and development of the World Wide Web came unauthorized and undesired modification of Web pages, which some consider to be crimes. This may or may not be true. In any case the use of the term vandalism is a conceptual metaphor implying:

• that, like web "site", the thing being changed is a physical place or thing
• that, like physical property, it is hard to undo the damage without cost

These assumptions are clearly false, so the issue is discussed in a separate article on web vandalism, and a more specific article wiki vandalism.

Vandalism as Art

For more information, see the main article about Graffiti

Though vandalism in itself is illegal, it is also an integral part of modern popular culture. French painter Gustave Courbet's attempt to disassemble the Vendôme column during the 1871 Paris Commune was probably one of the first artistic vandalist act, celebrated at least since Dada performances during World War I. The Vendôme column was considered a symbol of the past Napoleon III empire, and dismantled as such.

After the burning of the Tuileries Palace on May 23, 1871, Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche himself meditated about the "fight against culture", wondering what could justify culture if it was to be destroyed in such a "senseless" manner (the arguments are: culture is justified by works of art and scientific achievements; exploitation is necessary to those achievements, leading to the creation of exploited people who then fight against culture. In this case, culture can't be legitimised by art achievements, and Nietzsche write: "I {also} know what it means: fighting against culture". After quoting him, Klossowski writes: "The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture"

As destruction of monument, vandalism can only have sense in a culture respecting history, archeology - Nietzsche spoke of monumental history. As destruction of monumental history, vandalism was assured a long life: Performance art could make such a claim, as well as Hakim Bey's poetic terrorism or Destroy 2000 Years of Culture from Atari Teenage Riot. Gustave Courbet's declaration stated:

"Attendu que la colonne Vendôme est un monument dénué de toute valeur artistique, tendant à perpétuer par son expression les idées de guerre et de conquête qui étaient dans la dynastie impériale, mais que réprouve le sentiment d’une nation républicaine, émet le vœu que le gouvernement de la Défense nationale veuille bien l’autoriser à déboulonner cette colonne."

("As the Vendôme column is formally considered a monument devoided of any artistic value, tending to perpetuate with its expression ideas of war and conquest of the past imperial dynasty, that are reprovated by a republican nation's sentiment, citizen Courbet is to emit his wish that the National Defense government will allow him to disassemblate this column.")

Hence, painter Courbet justified the dismantlement of the Vendôme column on political grounds, downgrading its artistic value. Vandalism poses the problem of the value of art compared to life's hardships: Courbet thought that the political values transmitted by this work of art neutralized its artistic value. Anyway, his project wasn't followed, however, on April 12, 1871, the dismantlement of the imperial symbol was voted by the Commune, and the column taken down on May 8. After the assault on the Paris Commune by Adolphe Thiers, Gustave Courbet was condemned to pay part of the expenses. As any good vandal, he prefered flying away to Switzerland.

Graffiti tags, designs, and styles of writing are commonplace on clothing and are an influence on many of the corporate logos with which we are familiar. Many skateparks and similar youth-oriented venues are decorated with commissioned graffiti-style artwork, and in many others patrons are welcome to leave their own. There is still, however, a very fine line between vandalism as an artform, as a political statement, and as a crime. An Excellent example of one who walks this threefold line is Bristol-Born guerrilla-artist Banksy, who is revered as a cult artistic figure by many, but seen by just as many as a criminal and a thug. Vandalism has its place in today's society, this much is certain, but where that place is remains to be seen.

Notes

• See Pierre Klossowski, Nietzsche and the Vicious Circle, first Chapter: What is the value of culture if those who are exploited by it destroy it? "En sorte qu'il nous faut être bien loin de vouloir, du haut de notre sentiment de nous-mêmes, imputer le crime d'un combat contre la culture exclusivement à ces malheureux. Je sais ce que cela veut dire: le combat contre la culture. (...) je me campronnai avec une conviction sérieuse à la valeur métaphysique de l'art, lequel ne saurait exister à cause des pauvres gens, mais doit accomplir des missions plus hautes. Mais, en dépit de mon extrême douleur, je n'étais pas en état de jeter la moindre pierre à ces profanateurs qui, pour moi, n'étaient que les suppôts de la culpabilité universelle, sur laquelle il ya beaucoup à méditer!" (Nietzsche quoted by Klossowski pp.29-30 French edition, who adds: "Le combat criminel contre la culture n'est lui-même que l'envers d'une culture criminelle" ("The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture")

See also

• Iconoclasm

External links

• Graffiti.org

• Crimes