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- For the Australian electro house music group known as Vandalism, see Vandalism (band).
Vandalism is the conspicuous defacement or destruction of a structure or symbol 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 makes sense in a culture that recognizes history and archaeology. Like other similar terms (Barbarian/barbary, and Philistine), the term Vandal was originally an ethnic slur referring to the Vandals, who sacked Rome in 455, but unlike the Berbers, 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 events of vandalism. Nietzsche himself would meditate 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. Mutilated 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. This is a recurring theme in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Further examples of official vandalism include the return of the priests of Amun to power in Egypt 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. 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 November 1938, when shop windows all across Nazi Germany were smashed.
Recent cases of vandalism in this vein include the toppling and destruction of Soviet monuments after the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Taliban destruction of Buddhist statuary in Afghanistan. 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 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 has many forms, graffiti on public property is common in many inner cities as part of a gang culture, however other more devastating forms such as those involved with public unrest, such as rioting, involve the wilful destruction of public and private property.
In the case of vandalism to private property, the owner — the victim, may feel that they were specifically targeted by the perpetrator(s) — this is not necessarily the case. An example of such a crime would be the wilful destruction of a car window for no obvious purpose save to give the perpetrator(s) possibly a few seconds of entertainment, with no consideration, or empathy for the detriment to the state of mind or inconvenience of the victim.
Reasoning for such actions can be attributed to envy, or spontaneous and opportunistic behaviour — possibly for peer acceptance or bravado in gang cultures, or disgruntlement with the target (victim) person or society. Opportunistic vandalism of this nature may also be filmed, the mentality of which can be akin to happy slapping. The large scale prevalence of gang graffiti in some inner cities has almost made it acceptable to the societies based there — so much so that it may go unnoticed, or not be removed, possibly because it may be a fruitless endeavour, to be graffitied on once again.
In view of its incivility, punishment for vandalism can be particularly severe in some country, for example in Singapore, any person who commits any act of vandalism or attempts to do any such act or causes any such act to be done, may be liable to imprisonment of up to 3 years, and in conjunction, be punished with caning. The act of vandalism in UK is construed as an environmental crime and may be dealt with an ASBO (Anti-Social Behavior Order).
Vandalism as art
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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 y a 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")