Vandalism

This article is about vandalism in general. For the Wikipedia policy on vandalism, seeWikipedia:Vandalism.For other uses, seeVandalism (disambiguation).

VandalisedfacadeandbicycleinHamburg

Progression of vandalism as seen in a men's employee bathroom at a grocery store

Vandalism on a street sign, making it read "i Swim in Poo"

Vandalismis the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.

The term includesproperty damage,such asgraffitianddefacementdirected towards any property without permission of the owner. The term finds its roots in anEnlightenmentview that the GermanicVandalswere a uniquely destructive people as they sacked Rome in 455 AD.

Etymology

The Vandals sackingRomein 455 AD

TheVandals,an ancientGermanic people,are associated with senseless destruction as a result of theirsack of Romeunder KingGensericin 455. During theEnlightenment,Rome was idealized, while theGothsand Vandals were blamed for its destruction. The Vandals may not have been any more destructive than other invaders of ancient times, but they did inspire English poetJohn Drydento write,Till Goths, and Vandals, a rude Northern race, Did all the matchless Monuments deface(1694). However, the Vandals did intentionally damage statues, which may be why their name is associated with thevandalism of art.The termVandalismewas coined in 1794 byHenri Grégoire,bishop of Blois,to describe the destruction of artwork following theFrench Revolution.The term was quickly adopted across Europe. This new use of the term was important in colouring the perception of the Vandals from later Late Antiquity, popularizing the pre-existing idea that they were a barbaric group with a taste for destruction.

Historically, vandalism has been justified by painterGustave Courbetas destruction of monuments symbolizing "war and conquest". Therefore, it is often done as an expression of contempt, creativity, or both. Courbet's attempt, during the 1871Paris Commune,to dismantle theVendôme column,a symbol of the pastNapoleon IIIauthoritarian Empire, was one of the most celebrated events of vandalism.Nietzschehimself would meditate after the Commune on the "fight against culture", taking as example the intentional burning of theTuileries Palaceon 23 May 1871. "The criminal fight against culture is only the reverse side of a criminal culture" wroteKlossowskiafter quoting Nietzsche.

In a proposal to the International Conference for Unification of Criminal Law held in Madrid in 1933,Raphael Lemkinenvisaged the creation of two new international crimes (delictajuris gentium): the crime of barbarity, consisting in the extermination of racial, religious, or social collectivities, and the crime of vandalism, consisting in the destruction of cultural and artistic works of these groups.The proposal was not accepted. A figurative accusation of vandalism was applied towards the theology ofMarcion of Sinope.

As a crime

Vandalized shooting stand inGermany

Vandalizedseatinside apassenger caron atrainin theCzech Republic

Private citizens commit vandalism when they willfully damage or deface the property of others or thecommons.Some vandalism may qualify asculture jammingorsniggling:it is thought by some to be artistic in nature even though carried out illegally or without the property owner's permission. Examples include at least somegraffitiart, billboard "liberation", and possiblycrop circles.Criminal vandalism takes many forms.Graffitionpublic propertyis common in manyinner citiesas part of agangculture, where they might be used as territorial markers.

More serious forms of vandalism that may take place during public unrest such asriotingcan involve the willful destruction of public andprivate property.Vandalism per se is sometimes considered one of the less serious common crimes, but it can become quite serious and distressing when committed extensively, violently, or as an expression of hatred and intimidation. In response, local governments have adopted various legal measures to prevent vandalism, but research has shown that the conventional strategies employed by the government in response to at least unapproved graffiti are not the most effective.

Examples

Examples of vandalism include salting lawns, cutting trees without permission,egg throwing,breaking windows, arson, spraying paint on others' properties,tagging,placing glue into locks, tire slashing,keying(scratching) paint, ransacking a property, flooding a house by clogging a sink and leaving the water running, and pulling up plants from the roots without permission.

Political

Armand Călinescu's memorial with the bronze plaque stolen and the name of the assassin written over

In elections, opposing candidates' supporters may engage in "political vandalism" ⁠—the act of defacing opponents' political posters,bumper stickers,billboards, and otherstreet marketingmaterial. Although the nature of this material is temporary, its effect can be long-lasting as it may reflect both negatively and positively on the candidate whose material is being vandalized as well as on the presumed candidate whose supporters are engaging in the vandalism.

In addition, activists may use the tactic ofproperty destructionas means of protest, e.g. by smashing the windows of banks, shops and government institutions and setting fire to cars. This often takes place during riots but can also happen as a stand-alone event, e.g. byanimal rightsactivists destroying property owned by farmers, hunters, biotech companies, and research facilities and setting free animals (which is sometimes referred to aseco-terrorismby opponents). Vandalism is also a common tactic ofblack blocs.

A brokenShopping cart,thrown into a waterway,Netherlands

Motives

Actions of this kind can be ascribed to anger or envy, or to spontaneous, opportunistic behaviour, possibly for peer acceptance or bravado ingangcultures, or disgruntlement with the target (victim) person or society. Another common motive is to seekattention,and for personal gain. Opportunistic vandalism of this nature may also be filmed, the mentality of which can be akin tohappy slapping.The large-scale prevalence of ganggraffitiin 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. Greed can motivate vandalism as cansome political ideologies,wish to draw attention to problems,frustration,even playfulness. Youngsters, the most common vandals, frequently experience low status andboredom.Vandalism enables powerless people to attack those above them, take control and frighten others. Unpunished vandalism can provide relief whichreinforcesthe behaviour. Vandalism by one person can lead to imitation.Teenage boys and men in their 20s are most likely to vandalize, but older adults and females are also known to sometimes vandalize, with young children occasionally vandalizing, but in a much smaller form, such as making small crayon drawings on walls. Criminological research into vandalism has found that it serves many purposes for those who engage in it and stems from a variety of motives. SociologistStanley Cohendescribes seven different types of vandalism:

Headless statue inEly Cathedral;ideological vandalism during theEnglish Reformation

1. Acquisitive vandalism (looting and petty theft).
2. Peer pressure– Teenagers spend more time away from home with peers, and whether they act constructively or destructively can depend on the contacts they make. Disobeying authority can appearcool.
3. Tactical vandalism (to advance some end other than acquiring money or property – such as breaking a window to be arrested and get a bed for the night in a police cell).
4. Ideological vandalism (carried out to further an explicit ideological cause or deliver a message).
5. Vindictive vandalism (for revenge).
6. Play vandalism (damage resulting from children's games).
7. Malicious vandalism (damage caused by a violent outpouring of diffuse frustration and rage that often occurs in public settings).Cohen's original typology was improved upon byMike Suttonwhose research led him to add a seventh sub-type of vandalism – Peer Status Motivated Vandalism.

Reaction of authorities

Two billboards with the same original content, the billboard on the right being an example ofsubvertising—vandalizing with a political message

In view of its incivility,punishmentfor vandalism can be particularly severe in some countries. In Singapore, for example, a person who attempts to cause or commits an act of vandalism may be liable toimprisonmentfor up to three years and may also be punished withcaning.Vandalism in the UK is construed as anenvironmental crimeand may be punished with anASBO(Anti-Social Behaviour Order).

In the 1990s, former New York City mayorRudolph Giulianicracked down on "quality of life crimes", including graffiti. NY Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern described graffiti as "a metaphor forurban decayperhaps best shown in 'A Clockwork Orange' "adding that" New York City will not be like that ".

Cybervandalism

Cybervandalism is vandalism on the internet. For example,vandalism on Wikipediainvolves adding questionable content, removing content, or changing content in order to make it questionable, generally with the objective of harming Wikipedia's reputation. Forms of online vandalism have been recorded, the most common of which iswebsite defacement.Vandalism onweb mapshas been called "cartographic vandalism".Certain kinds ofmalwarewithout financial intent also count.

Cybervandalism could be said to be a form of creativity and artistry. An example of this was when the Cheltenham paint festival was cancelled due toCOVID-19,and artists still proceeded to celebrate their artistry virtually.

Defacement

People defacing the walls of theGolconda FortinHyderabad,India

Defaced coat of arms (probably ofEmmanuel de Rohan-Polduc) inSanta Venera,Malta

Defacement is a type of vandalism that involves damaging the appearance or surface of something. The object of damage may be architecture, books, paintings, sculpture, or other forms of art.

Examples of defacement include:

• Marking or removing the part of an object (especially images, be they on the page, in illustrative art or as a sculpture) designed to hold the viewers' attention
• Scoring a book cover with a blade
• Splashing paint over a painting in a gallery
• Smashing the nose of a sculpted bust
• Damaging or chiselling off sculpted coats of arms
• Altering the content of web sites and publicly editable repositories to include nonsensical or whimsical references

Iconoclasmled to the defacement of many religious artworks.

As art

See also:Graffiti

A sticker reading "The HELL withSHELL"photographed inMichiganin 1973

Traffic signal lightvandalism portrayingcannabisinBogotá,Colombia

Though vandalism in itself is illegal, it is often also an integral part of modern popular culture. French painterGustave Courbet's attempt to disassemble theVendôme columnduring the 1871Paris Communewas probably one of the first artistic acts of vandalism, celebrated at least sinceDadaperformances duringWorld War I.The Vendôme column was considered a symbol of the recently deposedSecond EmpireofNapoleon III,and dismantled as such.

After the burning of theTuileries Palaceon 23 May 1871, PhilosopherFriedrich Nietzschehimself meditated about the "fight against culture", wondering what could justify culture if it were 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 cannot be legitimised by art achievements, and Nietzsche writes: "I {also} know what it means: fighting against culture". After quoting him,Klossowskiwrites: "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 ofmonumental history.As destruction of monumental history, vandalism was assured a long life (asHerostratusproved):Performance artcould make such a claim, as well asHakim Bey'spoetic terrorismorDestroy 2000 Years of CulturefromAtari 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, [le citoyen Courbet] émet le vœu que le gouvernement de la Défense nationale veuille bien l'autoriser à déboulonner cette colonne.

('As the Vendôme column is a monument devoid of any artistic value, whose expression tends to perpetuate the ideas of war and conquest from the imperial dynasty, but that reject the sentiment of a republican nation, citizen Courbet declares that the government of National Defense should allow him to dismantle 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. His project was not followed; however, on 12 April 1871, the Commune voted to dismantle the imperial symbol, and the column was taken down on 8 May. After the assault on theParis CommunebyAdolphe Thiers,Gustave Courbet was condemned to pay part of the expenses.

In 1974,Norman Mailerglorified the art of vandalism in his essay "The Faith of Graffiti", which likened tagging in New York City to the work ofGiottoandRauschenberg.New York Authorities responded by coating subway walls withTeflonpaint, jailing taggers and requiring hardware stores to keep spray paint under lock and key.

Tags,designs, andstyles of writingare commonplace on clothing, and are an influence on many of the corporatelogos.Manyskateparksand 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 fine line between vandalism as an artform, as apolitical statement,and as a crime.Bristol-born guerrilla artistBanksy's claim is that official vandalism is far worse than that perpetrated by individuals, and that he is decorating buildings of no architectural merit.

Graphic design

Defacing could also be one of the techniques that many graphic designers use, by applying their own hand writing on a graphic itself. Sometimes the use of this technique might be mistaken as vandalism to the original work, as exemplified by the work ofStefan Sagmeister,including hisLou ReedCD cover. A unique use of the defacement technique is the CD cover forA.P.C.byJean Touitou,where the designer wrote the title, volume number, and date with her own hand writing on the pre-print blank CD. Creative vandalism of this sort is not limited to writing and sketching. For example, the spraying on the KPIST album Golden coat forMNW Recordsby Sweden graphic usesgoldspray, which may be considered an act of vandalism, but the customer may also appreciate the unicity of each cover that had been sprayed gold in different ways.

See also

• Abuse
• Broken windows theory
• Criminal mischief
• Iconoclasm
• Latrinalia
• Library book vandalism
• Malicious mischief
• Vandalism of art

Other references

• Ballatore, A. (2014), "Defacing the map: Cartographic vandalism in the digital commons",The Cartographic Journal,51(3): 214–224,arXiv:1404.3341,Bibcode:2014CartJ..51..214B,doi:10.1179/1743277414y.0000000085,S2CID1828882
• Cohen, S. (1973), Ward, C. (ed.),Property destruction: Motives and meanings,London: Architectural Press, pp. 23–53
• Goldstein, A. (1996),The Psychology of Vandalism,New York: Plenum Press
• Ley, D. & Cybriwsky, R. (1974), "Urban Graffiti as Territorial Markers",Annals of the Association of American Geographers,64(4): 491–505,doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1974.tb00998.x
• Merrills, A.; Miles, R. (2010),The Vandals,John Wiley & Sons,ISBN978-1-4051-6068-1
• Williams, M. (2006),Virtually Criminal: Crime, Deviance, and Regulation Online.,Abington, UK: Taylor & Francis

Bibliography

• Chris Hammond.Bank.Retrieved 9 March 2016

External links

• Media related toVandalismat Wikimedia Commons
• The Free Dictionary: Vandalism
• Merriam Webster: Vandalism
• The dictionary definition ofvandalismat Wiktionary