park employees begin painstaking process of removing Casey Nocket's grafitti from 8 national parks

[Liberal_in_LA]

Painted faces at parks need painstaking removal

http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/Painted-faces-at-parks-need-painstaking-removal-5861494.php

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A series of graffiti-like paintings on rocks in national parks across the West set off a furor on social media this month, angering people who say they desecrated some of the nation's most famously picturesque landscapes. They've also created a headache for park managers who have the delicate task of cleaning up the sites without causing further damage.

It won't be easy to get rid of the paintings, photos of which were posted on Instagram and Tumblr and then picked up by hiking blogs. Sandblasting and some chemical strippers can cause even more damage to irreplaceable natural features, especially if graffiti is near ancient rock art.

In some cases, workers use plastic kitchen spatulas to painstakingly scrape off paint. Workers test different chemicals to figure out which will loosen the material without damaging rock, then rinse it off with lots of low-pressure hot water, gently scraping each layer away with the spatula, said National Park Service spokesman Jason Olson.


Casey Nocket, the 21-year-old suspect identified by the park service this week, allegedly used acrylic paint and signed with the handle "creepytings." Attempts to reach Nocket were unsuccessful. A phone listing for her was disconnected and her social media accounts have been shut down or made private.

The National Park Service said this week they've found paintings in Yosemite, Death Valley and Joshua Tree in California; Crater Lake in Oregon; Zion National Park and Canyonlands in Utah; and Rocky Mountain in Colorado, where Colorado National Monument was also tagged.

[Warpy]

1. I hope they catch her soon

I don't want to see that shit in the few places in this country where you can get away from advertising.

[arcane1]

3. She's pretty much on the entire country's shit list at this point.

It's a shame she isn't the one doing the painstaking restoration.

[Warpy]

4. Perhaps when they catch the talentless twit

that will be some of the hard labor she's expected to do.

I suspect she won't like doing it enough to maybe discover canvas.

[csziggy]

9. I wouldn't trust the idiot to do a good job of cleaing it up

No matter how carefully she was monitored. I'd rather that people who care about our national parks do the restoration. And then part of her sentence will be paying for every cent it costs to do it - AFTER she gets out of jail for desecrating the nation's parks. In fact, I would like for part of her sentence to be banned from ever entering a national park, wildlife refuge or and similar wild place ever again in her lifetime!

If we want her cleaning things up, she can scrape gum and dog shit off of city sidewalks or clean the toilets while she's in jail, or clean graffiti off random New York City buildings.

[arcane1]

11. Good points! And that random graffiti probably took more talent.

[Historic NY]

17. Hopefully she gets a bill from the US taxpayers.

she is from a small hamlet Highland N.Y. not to far from me. She is talk and its not good of the area.

[magical thyme]

40. I don't want her ever near any national parks again.

Let her painstakingly break rocks for a few years since she has so little respect for them or for other people's rights.

[Lochloosa]

2. Torn. Saying something about it would validate what she is doing.

Telling her what she is doing is wrong is also validating her art in her mind.

Telling her what a piece of shit she is validates it for me.

[MisterP]

24. let's have her speak at Berkeley! nt

[closeupready]

5. Send her the bill. She can sell a couple works of her art

to help pay damages and expenses in cleaning it up.

[theHandpuppet]

8. It would take more than a couple.

She vastly overrates her talent and that's putting it politely.

[closeupready]

15. I was being facetious, and forgot the sarcasm tag.

But yeah, that's the joke, lol.

[uppityperson]

6. Take only photos, leave only footprints. What a stupid thing to do an several levels.

[csziggy]

14. My husband and I collect garbage as we walk through parks and wild areas

Otherwise, we do just as you say - "Take only photos, leave only footprints."

People like "creepytings" disgust me. She's old enough to not be ignorant about what she's doing so she is willfully ignoring the purpose of national parks and refuges. She should never be allowed to set foot in any park or refuge again.

[Leith]

7. What the Heck

made her think that it was a good idea?

A couple few years ago, some vandals grafitti-ed up ancient petroglyphs in Red Rock (outside Las Vegas). It was a rotten thing to do.

I went through my wild youth, too - but I was never destructive. I hope she gets community service in national parks where she can learn the value of our natural heritage. Make her help clean her mess up.

[theHandpuppet]

13. What made her think it was a good idea?

Perhaps because she's a totally selfish, self-absorbed little twit? I'm not sure how you really teach someone like that a lesson. It's one thing to punish her for the damage but will she really comprehend why it was so horrible?

[Princess Turandot]

19. Before she took down her social media accounts...

there was a post from someone asking what medium she used for these images. Her reply? That she used acrylic paint (as opposed to something like chalk which, while still outrageous, would be eventually washed away by weather.) Then she added, "Yes, I'm a really bad person."

A totally selfish, self-absorbed little twit fits.

[KingCharlemagne]

41. Pathological narcissism fertilized by Bansky (who only graffitis

man-made structures in urban cityscapes, AFAIK)?

[freshwest]

10. What, she's not even going to get billed for this? No charges? Can't find her?

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. feds are still looking into it

[MontyPow]

16. And this is different from Mount Rushmore how?

[NBachers]

18. Yeah, right . . .

[DeSwiss]

20. !

[MontyPow]

21. Cool. Thank you!

[pinboy3niner]

23. Someone defaced Mount Rushmore?

[msanthrope]

25. They faced it, actually. nt

[petronius]

37. ...

[MontyPow]

50. Yes!!!! Well done!

[CanonRay]

78. Good one

[MontyPow]

26. No.

I'm arguing that carving faces into a pristine Mt. Rushmore is not all that different than what this young lady did. We just like the outcome more.

[enough]

28. Who is this "we" of which you speak? (nt)

[MontyPow]

49. You know, the collective we of Americans.

Do you dislike how Mount Rushmore turned out?

[uppityperson]

60. I dislike it.They took the Paha Sapa from those who lived there to carve into faces of the occupiers

http://www.hanksville.org/daniel/lakota/BlackHills.html

For the Sioux the Black Hills, Paha Sapa, are the center of the world, the place of the gods, where the warriors would go to wait for visions and to speak to the Great Spirit. In 1868, a treaty was signed which granted Paha Sapa to the Indians forever.

[pipi_k]

73. I'm thinking that

the guys who carved Mt Rushmore had permission to do it.

Whereas this self-centered little twit didn't, and probably would not have gotten permission even if she had asked first.

[DeSwiss]

83. Ah, no they didn't have then......

...and they don't have now -- and they will never have permission.



''The men that American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest the most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.'' - H.L. Mencken

[Lee-Lee]

29. Well, for one thing Rushmore wasn't a National Park when sculpting started

And for another they spent years seeking prosper approval from land managers and authorities to do the work.

[MontyPow]

48. The fact that Rushmore was not a national park is a valid point.

The fact that a bunch of other people approved is not a valid point.

[Lee-Lee]

66. Huh

That people responsible for the property, be it owners or those appointed to manage it, gave permission is an important distinction.

[progressoid]

81. The Lakota would disagree.

Mount Rushmore is controversial among Native Americans because the United States seized the area from the Lakota tribe after the Great Sioux War of 1876. The Treaty of Fort Laramie from 1868 had previously granted the Black Hills to the Lakota in perpetuity. Members of the American Indian Movement led an occupation of the monument in 1971, naming it "Mount Crazy Horse". Among the participants were young activists, grandparents, children and Lakota holy man John Fire Lame Deer, who planted a prayer staff atop the mountain. Lame Deer said the staff formed a symbolic shroud over the presidents' faces "which shall remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore#Controversy

[treestar]

33. That was not a one person decision

Art is in the eye of the beholder to a great extent.

Maybe some people would defend her art - there are people who don't disapprove of graffiti on the property of others.

[MontyPow]

53. Quantity does not make it right. It just makes it popular.

[treestar]

74. When it comes to art, what is "right?"

Disobeying the law is also an issue. Society, or the American public, who owned the land, clearly found that their art trumped the hillside being in its pure state. There was no law against trespassing that prevented the sculpture at Mt. Rushmore. For that matter, what is the difference between Mt. Rushmore and any other statue? The stone still came from somewhere.

[SidDithers]

34. Wow. Seriously?...nt

Sid

[IDemo]

36. I'm going with unseriously..

[MontyPow]

54. Seriously, do you have anything relevant to say? Wow.

[SidDithers]

68. Dude, you can stop pretending...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4638721

Guess you can add FlatStanley and MontyPow to the list, eh?

Sid

[uppityperson]

69. People and their hobbies. nt

[SidDithers]

70. I don't get the appeal of trolling a messageboard so much...

that you get banned almost a dozen times.



Sid

[SidDithers]

72. Off to create another new account?...

Why don't you try Discussionist. No pesky MIRT, and a very broad TOS, over there.

Sid

[Leith]

45. Borglum Got Sponsorship and Funding from the Government

before starting. It's a heck of a lot more skillful, too.

[MontyPow]

55. Well, getting permission to deface is slightly better, but only slightly.

I agree the work is superior.

[Rex]

51. The govt commissioned Mt. Rushmore?

How about that Easter Island?

[MontyPow]

57. Getting Government approval doesn't make it better.

You will agree with me once the Government approves development of the Grand Canyon.

And Easter Island is cool, and is exactly the same thing as well.

[Rex]

59. So is Mount Rushmore cool?

There are differences in what is acceptable and getting a commission from the government makes one widely acceptable. Okay true, not everyone is going to be happy. Which level will you go to? Pictures and foot prints only or national monuments?

We supposedly get some decision in these things. That makes it cool.

[cwydro]

52. What?

[MontyPow]

58. How is what she did different from Mount Rushmore?

[joeybee12]

63. I assume that's sarcasm, if not, Mt. Rushmore, for one, isn't a national park..

It's a national monument.

[Drunken Irishman]

22. The epitome of selfishness...

She's the type of Bad American you hear about on vacation over in Europe.

[Le Taz Hot]

27. She needs to pay for every dime of this!

Fuckin self-absorbed ingrate!

[alphafemale]

30. How could she go undetected?

Are these things in more remote areas?

What an absolute self important wretch of a human being.

[Retrograde]

38. The parks are big

We were in Grand Canyon last week, and even though we never got far too far off the main road, there were times when we didn't see other people for 15 minutes or more - and we weren't even trying to do something illegal!

[onethatcares]

31. will she use

the Cliven Bundy excuse? That everything belongs to her and no one should do anything about it?

I say arrest her dumb ass and make her clean up the mess.

I've never seen the Grand Canyon, the Badlands, the western National Parks and the last thing I would want to see
while viewing them or enjoying them is some damn extra cirricular painting.

[Bigmack]

32. Nevada Barr was once a National Parks ranger...

She writes novels about the Parks now.

One of her novels - "The Rope" has a character whose job it is to remove human waste that has been left in the camping spots on Lake Powell. Not in porta-potties...just dug in for the wind to uncover, or even just left on the ground.

Perfect job for our little artist. Pay her at the rate of a beginning Park aide, then deduct the cost of removing her graffiti.

[GoCubsGo]

39. I like that idea.

Cleaning up shit is a good metaphor for cleaning up her shitty eyesores. Make the self-centered, little jackass work off the cost of the clean-up doing menial, unpleasant work at the bottom of the pay scale. Excellent idea.

[etherealtruth]

35. Narcissistic idiot

As others have stated ... I am hoping she is eventually held financialy responsible for the restoration.

IDIOT, IDIOT, IDIOT

[alcibiades_mystery]

42. I love how pissed off everybody gets about this...she's really doing hilarious work!

Go Casey Nocket!



If art's about making you feel something, she's got you folks absolutely pinned. It's fucking brilliant.

[IDemo]

43. I would also feel something if she started a forest fire or trashed a campground

It would not equate to a great moment in art.

[MH1]

44. Ah, I knew there'd be one.

well anyway thanks for outing yourself.

[alcibiades_mystery]

46. Kisses

[arcane1]

47. The art itself sucks. It's the actions of the artist that causes the fuss.

It's like talking about Ozzy Osbourne's drug use. It's says nothing at all about the quality of his music, because that's not the subject being discussed.

[Rex]

56. But was that her point? Should I give her accolades for unintended consequences?

She might as well have signed her art Stink Butt. I guess juvenile art is to be appreciated, but her landscaping photographs are on par with some great works and I bet she completely overlooked that. Just so she could right Stink Butt on a boulder.

[Psephos]

61. ISIS beheading vids are "art" by your definition. n/t

[joeybee12]

64. It's garbage, it's vandalism...you like painting over ancient petroglyphs

and near them and damaging them?

[treestar]

75. That does raise an interesting question

Ancient people drew on rocks, too. Anthropologists study those cave paintings. She could argue she's doing the same thing.

[joeybee12]

79. She's not preserving an ancient language or telling a story

for others to read...she's indulging in her arrogance and ignorance...and clear lack of talent.

[csziggy]

67. She could do her "hilarious work" on a napkin, a piece of toilet paper or on her own property

Anyone that wants to "feel something" from her art should invite her to their home and let her decorate inside and out.

Most people in this country do NOT want their national parks decorated by narcissistic assholes with little or no artistic talent. What I feel for Casey Nocket is contempt and that goes for the family that didn't teach her to respect the rights of others.

[pipi_k]

77. More hilarious work...

If art's about making you feel something, she's got you folks absolutely pinned. It's fucking brilliant.

So if art is about making people feel something, then I suppose "snuff" films and kid porn and films showing RL rape would also be "art"?

Really?

Or maybe "art" is in the eye of the beholder, in which case I'm not so sure I'd be running around acting all amused and superior at people who don't think something like defacing public property falls under the heading of "art".

[Throd]

80. Blowing up Bamayan was performance art. The rubes just can't understand it.

[Bigmack]

85. Artists should suffer for their art....

.. it's a growth experience.

By the time she pays for all the restoration, she'll have grown. A lot.

[hifiguy]

62. I hope this self-centered, narcissistlc little piece of shit

gets a good long time to think about her place in the world and her incredible stupidity. In a nice secure federal slammer.

[csziggy]

65. Family of Now Infamous National Parks Tagger Speaks

Today we spoke with a relative of Nocket, who has requested that she not be named. It became clear at the beginning of the first conversation that this person was legitimately concerned for a family member’s safety. While we were still introducing ourselves, that person’s voice made clear a distinct fear. We spoke for awhile about Casey’s actions, here in plain language is what we found out:

* She didn’t go into hiding or run, she contacted the Park Service investigators and is fully cooperating;

* She knows she did a horrible thing and is incredibly remorseful;

* She is aware of the seriousness of her crimes and is ready to face the music; and

* There are now people pretending to be her online, Tumblr in particular. All of her social media accounts have been deleted.
http://trailmob.com/lifestyle/articles/family-of-now-infamous-national-parks-tagger-speaks

No apologies from the family? And all this ruckus is what it takes for this idiot to realize what she did was "a horrible thing?" I completely doubt that she is remorseful for what she did - she's just sorry she was identified and will have to "face the music."

Also in the series of updates on the article at the same link:

The story demonstrates the power social media has to mobilize thousands quickly. That said, with power comes a responsibility for civility, and of the many different examples floating around the twittersphere, some are good, but some are in fact awful. Right now there is a petition to the White House stating: “Please don't allow her to receive a slap. Please pursue the most serious of charges for these offenses.” Charges should and most certainly will be brought, but in accordance with the law and within the justice system:

36 CFR 2.31 - Trespassing, tampering and vandalism

(3) Vandalism. Destroying, injuring, defacing, or damaging property or real property

Federal crimes generally don’t come with slaps on the wrist. According to the recent National Park Service Press Release, they are investigating “vandalism in at least 10 national parks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah.” It’s not clear if Nocket is responsible for all ten of these incidents, but she is most certainly responsible for many and thus should be punished accordingly.

[Liberal_in_LA]

84. thx for the update

[tabasco]

76. Vain asshole n/t

[2naSalit]

82. the trashy images should be

removed by those who have the skill to do so with the least amount of damage to the defaced surfaces and SHE should be charged the top price for the work done as well as significant fines and spend some time in the crossbar hotel. She should also be monitored whenever she leaves her home (a new anklet at her expense) so that if she should ever get within even ten miles of a public property like a park, she would be in violation of probation.

Not cutting any slack for this POS.