Paint splattered Rollrights
Pictured above: Jackson Pollock creates an ‘action painting’ in 1950. This is (whether you like it or not!) art. Pollock was trying to find a way to create order out of chaos. Whereas the vandals at the Rollrights, merely created chaos out of 5,000-year-old order.
Horrified to hear the news of the paint splattering vandalism, Moth (pictured left) and I went straight up there this morning, meeting nigelswift (pictured right), who also wished to see for himself the extent of the damage which occurred overnight on 1 April.
3 April 2004:Every stone has been defaced with Jackson Pollock-type splatters of primrose yellow gloss paint, applied with a small 1” house painters brush, I would guess, as the splatters are small and streaky. A larger brush would carry far more paint. Every stone, large and small has been attacked both front and back. The grass is splattered, the earth is splattered and I feel personally violated by this mindless vandalism.
I wept with horror at the stupidity of it: the maliciousness defacing of this most beautiful of ancient places, which also happens to be at the geographical The Epicentre of My World. Someone, somewhere, probably a local, deliberately planned it, deliberately set out to strike at every stone from every angle.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
The Rollrights 3/4/04, 48 hours after they were cruelly splattered.
Why?
Political protest? April Fool ‘prank’? Religious vandalism?
The ars*holes who did it could have used a bigger brush, making wide deep brushmarked daubs. They could have attacked the King stone and the Knights. They didn’t. Yes, it could be worse. But it is still an APPALLING and grossly disrespectful thing to have done.
Although this ‘Shock, Horror’ vandalism, coming so suddenly and so graphically to our attention baffles us, how is it -ultimately- any different to the sneaky ploughing, the metal detectoring, the chip-chip-chipping away at our ancient heritage that happens unnoticed every day of every year...?