Differentiating between Iconic Mindbombs and Incongruous Mindbombs Using Pentadic Ratios in the Defacing of Priceless Art in Environmental Activism

This essay applies environmental activist Robert Hunter’s conception of mindbombs to recent environmental activists throwing tomato soup, throwing mashed potatoes, and smearing paint on Van Gogh’s, Monet’s, and Degas’s works of art. Hunter’s mindbombs align with Hariman’s and Lucaites’s (2003; 2007; 2016; 2018) iconic photography while the defacing of priceless works of art adhere to Burke’s (1954) grotesque perspective by incongruity. In turn, iconic mindbombs relied on Burke’s (1969a) scene-purpose pentadic ratio, while incongruous mindbombs rely on Burke’s scene-act pentadic ratio.