Johannes-Harm Hovinga spends six hours a day tearing the UN's sixth climate report into small pieces at a museum in Arnhem, the Netherlands. guardian. The Dutch artist began “destroying” the 7,705-page document two weeks ago.
The aim of Hovinga’s campaign is to draw the attention of humanity and decision-makers to the seriousness of climate change. “We have reached a tipping point, where the consequences of climate change are becoming more and more apparent. Our planet is facing problems such as rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and loss of biodiversity,” explained the artist, who does not eat anything and only takes a break when he needs to go to the bathroom.
Hovinga gave the nickname “the elephant in the room” to his 20-day performance. “It became more and more difficult to sit still and do the same monotonous movement. I didn’t expect it to be this intense,” he added. “After a couple of days, my back, neck, elbows and wrists started to hurt, so I take painkillers every day.”
Museum visitors have had mixed reactions to the Dutch artist’s actions. Several people have written him thank-you notes, and on one occasion two students waited at the museum entrance to exchange a few words with him after closing time. Others are less happy with the protest, seeing Hovinga as a puppet of the World Economic Forum. “Someone online threatened to come and disrupt my performance,” he said.
This isn’t the first time Hovinga has pulled a punch. Two years ago, he performed a shortened version of “The Elephant in the Room.” He then punched holes for 11 days and involved his audience in the creative process. Hovinga plans to take action again during the COP29 climate summit in November.
The climate activists at Just Stop Oil are a few degrees more extreme than the Dutch artist, who recently sprayed Stonehenge with orange powder paint and in 2022 poured tomato soup over a Van Gogh painting of Sunflowers, valued at £72.5m. We’ve written more about the ways in which members of the British movement are trying to draw attention to the fact that humanity is facing mass starvation and destruction.
