Re: Graffiti near Vernal Falls

I was browsing the Yosemite subreddit this morning and found a thread posted (was it one of you?) about graffiti near Vernal Falls.


It took about 10 seconds of googling the name in the graffiti to find out this 'artist' is one of those geniuses who decides to post everything to the internet. Including her cross-country roadtrip to apparently deface multiple national parks. She's posted pictures of her vandalism from Crater Lake, Death Valley, Canyonlands, and Zion. She has posted other pictures indicating she has visited Joshua Tree, Bryce, and other parks. I can only assume it won't be long before more of her 'art' is discovered in those places.

Anyways, a Yosemite investigator posted on the reddit thread I linked to asking for anyone with more information to contact him.

Whoever posted the thread to reddit, thanks! You've hopefully brought enough attention to the vandal that she'll get more attention than she bargained for.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/21/2014 01:42PM by calipidder.

I was up on the east side this weekend for a single day of fall color shooting, and I'm fairly sure I saw her handiwork as I was driving out of either Lee Vining or Lundy Canyons (it was a crazed trip and I don't remember which canyon--really wishing I'd stopped to grab a phone shot of it now). Profile of an Indian chief painted on the back side of a boulder (about four feet square). May she be arrested and punished to the maximum extent possible.

Could it have been this one?

http://creepytings.tumblr.com/image/97709493447

No, but the style is similar. The one I saw shows an Indian chief in full feathered headdress. No idea if it was her, but after reading this, I'd say there's at least a chance she's responsible. I've spent a fair amount of time in those canyons, and NEVER saw that before. I was pretty shocked.

Well, at least she was stupid enough to sign them. Hopefully someone will find it and report it as related. I have a feeling we'll be hearing more about her. And not in the way she wanted.

The Native American is painted on a boulder along the dirt road entering/leaving Lundy Canyon. It's been there since at least October of last year. I disagree on the style being similar. However, how is this girl not already facing charges? How is what she's done any different than this cretin http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/31/us/utah-boulder-boy-scouts/

And I highly recommend no one visit her tumblr. It will not be good for your blood pressure (or faith in humanity).

It was just discovered today thanks to the alert packer, a reddit thread, and some basic internet sleuthing. A Yosemite investigator (and no doubt ones from other parks) are on the job. I expect we'll hear more about this in the future.

I wrote about it today.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention! My suggestion for punishment for that young lady is community service, specifically a month of cleaning out the pit toilets of trash at each of the parks she defaced. After which she can paint the insides of the toilets. Government green only.

She should face as much punishment, or more, than those Boy Scout leaders, who toppled the boulder in Utah.

Great job getting this story around! It's getting lots of media attention and will hopefully lead to a long, contemplative period for the "artist" to explore the techniques and nuances of removing paint with a toothbrush.

See this associated Press story:

Paintings in national parks spark probe, furor

http://news.yahoo.com/paintings-national-parks-spark-probe-213424376.html

At Crater Lake:





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2014 04:14PM by wherever.

Why are they giving this individual all this free publicity? Shouldn't they just wait until the law takes her in or whatever
since from what I have read, they know who it is.

I was invited to write an opinion piece for The Guardian about why this is terrible and why people should care. Lets use this unfortunate event to encourage people to protect these lands.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/27/graffiti-national-parks-art-narcissism-crime

Nicely written.

Well said. Thanks for all of your efforts on this unfortunate subject.

Another commentary on the subject by a perennial favorite, Moosetracks (I don't think she will mind if I re-print this; it came from her blog)



Why We Can’t Have Nice Tings.
by moosetracksca


There has been a tremendous amount of buzz surrounding the recent case of the alleged National Park vandal, Casey Nocket, aka Creepytings. While most have vilified her actions, at least one outlet (cosmopolitan.com) has raised her up to hero status, stating “she's inspiring a lot of girls to break some rules.” Comments both in support of her actions, and vehemently against, abound, with physical harm being mentioned and supported as part of the punishment following a full investigation.

Not that there seems to be much to investigate: she painted, she photographed, she posted, she preened in the adulation from fans. When asked about her medium of choice, she responded acrylic, was given the oh-so-meaningful frowny-face emoticon, and responded with “I know: I’m a horrible person.”

Nope: she’s just a criminal.

Now that it’s been a week since the story broke, and I’ve taken more than a few deep breaths, I felt better about writing down my own feelings on the matter. I placed emotion aside, realized that those who would probably read this already know just how passionate I am about these places. I didn’t feel the need to define my own devotion to the heights, my anger over what had happened.

With the air around me cleared, and while on a long drive to see a patient today, looking up at the mountains that I proudly call home, I realized that it all boils down to something extremely simple:

She broke the law.

The Wilderness Act of 1964 states: “A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”

A basic tenet of the Act reads that: “within wilderness areas, the Wilderness Act strives to restrain human influences so that ecosystems can change over time in their own way, free, as much as possible, from human manipulation.”

By painting and scribbling on the rocks, she remains.

Petroglyphs! Screams one. Pictographs! Screams another. Relevance in 300 years!

Moot.

Under the established law, her actions were illegal. I’m glad to hear she’s “cooperating with authorities”, and I equally hope that she will be held accountable to the highest extent. Fines. Jail time. Restoration. Wag bag duty in the Mt. Whitney Zone.

Whatever it takes to drive home the message that this sort of behavior won’t be tolerated.

To me, what it boils down to is a matter of respect for others, a trait seemingly grossly absent in today’s culture.

We are all searching for ways to remain relevant in the eyes of our peers and society, so much so that stunts and pranks are more heavily rewarded and advertised (okay, VIRAL) than everyday acts of heroism or success. We are a GoPro, Red Bull, higher/faster/stronger, crazier group of people, praying that the internet gods will bless us with much more than our 15 minutes of fame.

I have no idea what motivated creepytings to perform her vandalism/art in those public places. But her responses on her Instagram would indicate to me, at least, that she bears no responsibility or understanding of what she’s done. Whether her work is relevant now, in 30 years, or in 300 years, is yet to be determined.

But, for me, bottom line:

She broke the law. She should understand her actions have consequences. And she should be punished to the full extent.

That’s what relevant.

Links to a few other articles:

Rebecca Sowards-Emmerd's article in The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/27/graffiti-national-parks-art-narcissism-crime

The Cosmopolitan.com article: http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a32482/female-graffiti-artist-is-new-most-hated-person-on-instagram/

Modern-hiker's Original Story: http://www.modernhiker.com/2014/10/21/instagram-artist-defaces-national-parks/

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The body betrays and the weather conspires, hopefully, not on the same day.

Tanks Calipooder.

Much appreciated.

There was some graffiti at a rock near Casa Nevada
earlier this year. Depressed the heck out of me. Didn't even
take a picture of it on account ... well... it was just so #!!##$
stupid. So selfish. So ... argh.

Thanks for your words and actions
Hopefully it resonates and gets more to REALLY
LNT

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It's still there....

And found more...

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Kudos!

Thanks for taking the time to write such a beautiful opinion piece that expresses so eloquently what was so wrong about the vandal's actions.

Eloquently written.

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www.pbase.com/caesar77

Agreed. Especially like the part pointing out the selfishness it takes to do something like this.

Thank you for your efforts in bringing this vandalism into the public and legal venues. I really hope her eventual punishment will be doled out by a creative judge. The list of possibilities are tantalizing.
Jim