Greenpeace Activists Scale Gas Rig to Hang Anish Kapoor Protest Work
164Aug. 19, 2025
A small band of demonstrators from the environmental activist groupGreenpeaceclimbed an active Shell gas extraction platform on August 13 to unfurl a massiveAnish Kapoorwork in protest of the catastrophic effects of oil and gas on the climate. TitledButchered, the work consists of a roughly 1,000-square-foot white canvas soaked in blood-red liquid and is believed to be the first work of fine art to be displayed on a working gas rig. Kapoor in a statement described the canvas as “a visual scream that gives voice to the calamitous cost of the climate crisis, often on the most marginalized communities across the globe.”
Greenpeace had attempted to install the work last year but were foiled in their attempt. This year, after waiting for calm weather, a crew sailed aboard theArctic Sunrisefrom Norfolk, England, to the gas rig, about 45 nautical miles off the coast, where seven experienced climbers scaled the rig, hoisting a thirty-nine-by-twenty-six-foot truss onto its side. They spread the canvas across its frame and, using a high-pressure hose, sprayed the material with a dark-red solution made from seawater, beetroot powder, and a nontoxic pond dye.
The action came as England endured its fourth heat wave of the summer, resulting in a historic drought and likely a record-breaking wildfire season. Shell in 2024 recorded profits of more than $23 billion. The oil and gas giant has hundreds of new projects underway and last year spent seven times as much on traditional fossil fuel businesses as it did on renewable energy.
“Safety at sea is our priority. Greenpeace entered a restricted safety zone around the platform without permission, which is established under UK law to protect people and prevent collisions,” said Shell in a statement. “Their actions were extremely dangerous, involved illegally trespassing and put their own and others’ lives at risk. We respect the right of individuals and organizations to protest, but it must be done safely and lawfully.”
“It’s tragic that governments all over the world are forbidding protests—not just forbidding it, actually arresting people,” Kapoor told The Guardian. “What’s wrong with us? This is our right and duty as citizens to protest and keep our consciousness alive.”