This morning, our friend Rebecca at Calipidder alerted us via a Facebook post to a woman named Casey Nocket who had traveled to the west coast from New York for a few weeks. Ms. Nocket had been enjoying her time in the outdoors so much that she decided to document her trip on Instagram. And apparently Nocket was so moved by all the natural beauty she saw that she just had to paint all over it. Modern Hiker brings you the story first.
Nocket’s painting on Death Valley’s Telescope Peak
Sadly, this is not a one-time thing. Nocket’s “work” has also been spotted (and Instagrammed) in Yosemite National Park and Crater Lake National Park, as well.
Near the Mist Trail in Yosemite National Park
Overlooking Crater Lake
According to her Instagram feed, Nocket has been traveling quite extensively – she has photos tagged from all over the West, including stops in Carrizo Plain National Monument, Sequoia, Bryce, Zion, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Grand Canyon, Canyonlands, Rocky Mountain and Joshua Tree National Parks – where just today rangers posted this photo of Barker Dam, which has been closed since last February due to vandalism. There’s no telling how many of these paintings she left.
In case you were wondering, no – the images aren’t chalk – they’re acrylic paint. And yes, she knows she shouldn’t be using it. 
In either case, however, what Ms. Nocket is doing will not only get her some likes on Instagram, but will most likely result in a few felony vandalism charges once the Park Service catches up with her. And since, like most modern park vandals, she left a rich social media trail, it will likely only be a matter of time before that happens. Reddit already seems to be on the case. Update: Looks like Nocket’s Instagram account is now set to “Private.” All photos with paintings and Instagram conversations here were screen-grabbed from her account on the morning of October 21st. And yes, it also appears that she defaced Canyonlands and Zion on her trip. From her Tumblr blog:
in Canyonlands National Park
Zion National Park
Second Update: A National Park Service Ranger is launching an investigation. Although she made her account private, I still had a window with it open and was able to get a few more images – including one defacement of The Ginn Mill in Denver, Colorado, another defacement somewhere tagged only as “the wilderness,” and a photo of her crawling over the existing, protected pictographs in Joshua Tree. All three are posted below.
The Ginn Mill in Denver, CO
unknown location
Climbing on the protected pictographs near Barker Dam
Third Update: Hi, Redditors! Thank you for helping us make this story the national news it should be! If you live or like to hike in the southwest, consider subscribing to our site via RSS or even just signing up for our weekly mailing list. We like to keep up on news like this but we also like to give people ideas for new trails to hike and parks to visit so we can get more people outside. If we have more people out there who can appreciate the beauty of our wilderness for what it is, there will be fewer who feel like they literally need to leave their mark on it.
Fourth Update: The story is definitely picking up steam, and some national outlets are reporting that Nocket has retaken to her formerly defunct Tumblr blog at creepytings.tumblr.com. On the site, which has undergone a complete graphical overhaul, the author now seems to be combative – comparing her work to that of noted street artist Banksy and defending herself as a feminist. The author now also says she plans to paint on gravestones because it will cause less controversy. Pulled screengrabs are below:
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- Artist’s defense
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- A plan for graveyards
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- Banksy
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- Mansplaining
It is my opinion that this Tumblr account is NOT operated by Casey Nocket. The new Tumblr blog only goes back as far as when the original version was taken down, the visual and writing style are completely different, and the new content seems more interested in stirring up controversy via combative language and buzzwords like “mansplaining.” As it goes for all trolls, I would encourage everyone to ignore this new Tumblr blog – and hope that all of the new journalists who are coming to the story don’t associate this new content with Ms. Nocket.
Fifth Update: After spending a LOT of time thinking and writing about this issue, I’ve written a follow-up post answering some questions about why this is such a big deal and how we as the outdoor community can turn it into something positive.
Sixth Update: We already knew she was in Rocky Mountain National Park but we didn’t have evidence of her graffiti there. Sadly, now we do.
Bill Stock
Seventh Update: In case you haven’t noticed, we’ve been having a few server burps lately. While we strongly encourage you to donate your money or time to the National Parks, we have also had to pay out-of-pocket overage fees to make sure the site remains up and running for everyone who wants to stay up to date on this scandal. If you’ve appreciated our reporting and have the resources, please consider helping us out by purchasing a Modern Hiker shirt, hoodie, or sticker from our store or by making a donation directly to Modern Hiker via PayPal. All donations we receive in excess of our costs for running this story will be donated to the affected National Parks. Thank you.
Eighth Update: Another outdoor web site called TrailMob has reported that they were able to contact a relative of Ms. Nocket, who said she was remorseful and cooperating with authorities. While I hope that is true, the person only spoke anonymously and the site did not publish any quotes. While the story may be true, until someone comes out on record we should treat this ONLY as a rumor. I have seen too many stories get completely mis-reported based on rumors and conjecture and I would hate to see it happen to this one. In the mean time, if you would like to enjoy the great outdoors in a way that DOESN’T damage it, we suggest you read our new post on the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace and why they’re important to the outdoor community.
Ninth Update: While there is yet to be any confirmation or on-record quotes, rumor is that Ms. Nocket has been contacted by NPS Officials and is supposedly cooperating. As of 10/28 at 10AM Pacific, no charges have been filed and Ms. Nocket has not been officially named a suspect in this case. I was on KPCC’s Take Two yesterday and got to go a little more in-depth on this issue live, on the air, and also did a live Skype audio interview with Nevada’s KNPR. We have also seen that one NPS Spokesperson has asked a site to blur images of the Creepytings graffiti. As one of the primary sources of the images in this story, we at Modern Hiker have not been contacted by Park Service officials with such a request and to be honest, we’re not convinced blurring the vandalism would have the desired effect. We will update you if we are contacted.
Tenth Update: As of October 29th, Casey Nocket has officially been charged NAMED AS A SUSPECT of vandalism in 8 National Parks. From the press release the NPS put out, the graffiti in Rocky Mountain National Park was removed in late September, while an unknown person or persons removed the image in Yosemite National Park. The image in Crater Lake is currently covered in ice and snow and will most likely not be able to be removed until next year at the earliest. The NPS urges people to be patient as they build their case and to report any additional instances of graffiti to them. The NPS is urging people to NOT attempt to remove the graffiti on their own. Initially I had written that Ms. Nocket has been charged – that is incorrect. She has been named a suspect but not charged with anything. The NPS is consulting with the US Attorney’s Office at this time.
WASHINGTON – A 21-year-old New York State woman, Casey Nocket, has been identified as the primary suspect in recent vandalism cases that affect eight national parks in the western United States.
National Park Service investigators have confirmed that images were painted on rocks and boulders in Yosemite National Park, Death Valley National Park, and Joshua Tree National Park, all in California; Rocky Mountain National Park and Colorado National Monument, both in Colorado; Crater Lake National Park, in Oregon; Zion National Park and Canyonlands National Park, both in Utah.
Investigators continue to collect evidence of the crimes, conduct interviews, and are consulting with the U.S. Attorney’s Office about potential charges. We ask the public to exercise patience and allow due process to take its course as the investigation moves forward.
The image in Rocky Mountain National Park was reported to the park and removed in late September before similar images were found in the other national parks.
Ice and snow now cover the image at Crater Lake National Park, and it may not be accessible for assessment and clean up until next summer.
An image in Yosemite National Park was removed by an unknown person or persons.
If people visiting these parks come upon these images, they should contact the nearest park ranger with information about the image location. Visitors should not attempt to remove the images.
The National Park Service was contacted on October 20 about this vandalism case. The investigation began immediately.
Eleventh Update: Wondering what it’s going to take to get some of this graffiti off the landscape at these National Parks? The Associated Press and Mashable looked into it for us – and as we feared, it’s not going to be easy.
Twelfth Update: Casey Nocket has pled guilty via a plea bargain.
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Casey Schreiner
He has also been featured on Good Morning America, NPR, and the Associated Press, as well as in documentaries for Columbia Sportswear and the OTIS College of Art and Design.
Casey was one of eight people chosen by the National Parks Foundation to participate in the 2015 Find Your Park Expedition. His first book "Day Hiking Los Angeles," will be published by Mountaineers Books in 2016.
Latest posts by Casey Schreiner (see all)
- New Monument Plan Encourages Diversity and Access - August 19, 2016
- Hike the White House Ruins in Canyon de Chelly - August 11, 2016
- Big Pine Lakes and Palisade Glacier via Sam Mack Meadow - August 2, 2016
Categorised in: graffiti and vandalism, news
This post was written by Casey Schreiner on October 21, 2014
929 Comments
Good! Finally — justice. It seems to me the banning is a big deal — symbolic in a strong way and also leaves open worse to come if she’s caught out violating that part.
And the fine to be determined. Enough to pay for restoration of all defacements she’s committed? Plus a clause for treble damages should additional sites pop up that she hadn’t owned up to in court? Plus whatever the going-rate sanction is for perjury, if that should turn out to be the case?
We have posted an update on Casey Nocket
http://www.modernhiker.com/2016/06/14/casey-nocket-pleads-guilty-to-vandalism/
Woman pleads guilty to defacing rocks at 7 national parks
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A San Diego woman who painted and drew on treasured natural rock formations at national parks across the West and shared her work on social media pleaded guilty Monday to defacing government property.
Casey Nocket, 23, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Fresno, California to seven misdemeanors for the autumn 2014 painting spree at seven national parks including Yosemite in California and Zion in Utah.
She also admitted to defacing rocks at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.
Nocket used Instagram and Tumblr to document her trip and her graffiti-like work, which led to broad outrage on social media.
She was sentenced to two years’ probation and 200 hours of community service.
The vandalism in September and October of 2014 caused serious cleanup problems at the national parks. The sandblasting and chemical stripping used to remove paint can cause even more damage to irreplaceable natural features.
At two parks, Crater Lake and Death Valley in California, the cleaning has yet to be completed nearly two years later.
A later hearing will determine how much restitution Nocket must pay to help with the cleanup.
Can we just ban this b**** from all National Parks and monuments for the remainder of her natural life AND slap her with a serious fee and jail time? Honestly……this is going to spawn copycats who think this kind of desecration is ok. To me it’s the same as someone going and putting up grafitti at a church or a synagogue. The outdoors are my place of worship. It’s where I go for my spiritual fulfillment. You can clean up trash, trees will grow back, but these paints were done in acrylic that will take an extremely long time to erode away or will have to be forcibly removed which is costly for the NPS. She obviously doesn’t care about anyone but herself, much less the country that she lives in. I’m just sickened that she thought this was by any means ok. Her ‘art’ ruins the ambiance of these gorgeous places.
Put an ankle monitor on her, and keep her out of the wilderness. I’ve seen so much of this senseless destruction and vandalism, but how can it be stopped? Some is as inane as etching your name, but the same mentality applies to folks stying to steal prehistoric rock art; and unprotected “wilderness” sites are the most vulnerable.
exactly why the law should make an example of her.
Today’s Los Angeles Times ran an article of park graffiti and mentioned Nocket’s path of defacement. The article merely mentions she is a suspect and evidence the parks department has collected. She basically admits what she did on her Instagram. No prosecution? No fines??
I’m sorry to say that I (Scott) don’t have any info on what is happening with Casey Nocket. Once Casey has gotten back from Nepal and re-acclimated to the Western world, I suspect he might be happy to delve in and find out what is happening with that case.
Casey Schreiner – find us an update!
EVERYONE should contact the media and ask for an update. We must show a continuing concern about this. She must clean up her mess at her own expense (or her rich parent’s expense) and be banned from all Nat’l. Parks forever. A nice big fine and/or jail time would be good too. This cannot become a national fad amongst the “street artists” what ever that label means.
I surfed back by this today because I was curious to see whether anyone knew what had happened to her. I agree with you — everyone should ask investigative reporters to figure out what’s going on, and make damn sure she doesn’t stay peacefully in hiding!
So has anyone been to these places and seen this art, this year? Me thinks it’s like the other news these days, a time spoof. The pictures might be 5 to 10 years old, the art long gone, and people planted to get you going on about stuff, working you up to think about the time you did something like that.
Time spoof? That’s an ‘interesting’ theory, but no.
Others have seen the graffiti at Zion, Death Valley, and Yosemite and some has already been removed. There’s another instagram photo of hikers flipping off the graffiti in Zion. Some are buried in snow right now but rangers know where they are. All the photos are time stamped and geo-tagged.
Why is she not being prosecuted?
http://www.modernhiker.com/2014/12/18/whats-going-on-with-casey-nocket-creepytings-case/
WAZROM!
I think it will adversely affect the site in the future, leaving his mark is very interesting for the individual, but it will take away the beauty of nature.
Thank you!
I’d like to come over to your house and desacrate it.. then tell you too get over it. Ppl have been doing this for ages
Its sad commentary of today’s times – I’m now in my 60’s (part of the Baby Boomers) and when I was growing up, I don’t remember ever seeing this in National Parks with my parents – I suppose in those days, people had sense to just enjoy the beautiful sights of nature. I remember my father teaching us “trash in- trash out” as to have others campers enjoy “mother nature’s gifts” it as we did. Now its “graffiti in – idiot out”
It always makes me laugh when people pull the whole “things were better back in my day!” There were morons back in your day too and there will be morons well into the future as well. To write off entire generations because some dummies is as silly and thoughtless as what this girl did.
Things were better back in the day. Your generation sucks.
I’m not part of her generation. I have kids of my own that I’ve raised to appreciate and respect nature.
Also, you previously said “People say things on the Net that they would not say to others’ faces. This is inhumane and quite out of keeping with the ideal of preserving pristine places. How about regulating our minds before we speak?”
Why don’t you take your own advice before being such a dick to an entire generation? What did you ever do with your life as an example of the greatness of whatever generation you belong to?
Oh, and believing thing were always better in the past is a common but faulty thing to fall into: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/turning-straw-gold/201308/romanticizing-the-past-makes-us-feel-bad-about-the-present
I’m here, living in the present, appreciating the past, and trying to make a better future. But, go ahead and pine away for something that’s never coming back.
You started the generation war here you dumb ass young whippersnapper so just get over your inadvertent graffiti worship and try to develop an attention span. This stupid little girl should be persecuted for the rest of her sociopathic life and if you keep up your attitude, young man…so should you. And I don’t care if in “real” life you are over fifty and a grandfather, you sound like a smart ass stupid little child. You all should just grow up however old you are.
Your generation parented this generation. Maybe your generation should have thought your kids better
Again people have to take responsibility of their own behavior. This woman is an adult. It was her choice. And it was a very bad choice. That she has to deal with.
Asiangem, I am also 60. I traveled from the East coast to the west coast 3 times in my life and stopped in every National Park. Our National Park Service do a great job keeping mother natures beautiful art work beautiful and for creepytings to deface the natural beauty is disgraceful. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. creepything this art was for your eyes only.
When I clicked over, I thought “people have been painting and inscribing since Lascaux, probably before.” Maybe it’s ok. And I am an artist and avid outdoors person, especially in the West.
Then I saw the work. Wow! It is absolutely terrible! If she doesn’t feel absolutely humiliated she is a very, very dumb, self-absorbed person. It is medicore even by 2nd-4th grade school levels. It would be an absolute humiliation to be even be associated with, let alone trumpet through social media. She can only do one thing and, even that, she can’t do remotely well.
Not even chalk but acrylic. Oh, come on.
And painting over ancient pictographs?! How dare she. That is the worst of all of her offenses. Words fail me in describing how someone could think that could possibly be ok, let alone a good idea.
Add my voice to the chorus of punishment: she cleans it all up at her expense with an expert at her should, she pays for an expert to clean up the pictograph desecration, and fines and jail time too.
I have made land art in national parks and wilderness areas but I only used natural materials that were site specific and I never made fixed structures with permanent materials. If you must make art in public places, do it with respect, in a way that works harmoniously with the site, and will disintegrate back to nature leaving no trace in a season or two.
Enough already, what is done is done. Put your money where your mouth is —- go out and clean the so called art up.
And stop with threats and petty name calling, children. Your all making the outdoor enthusiast look like an horses ass.
She should tattoo a mule on her face.
Casey Nocket NEEDS to be prosecuted and pay restitution for the cleanup of our parks NOW and for the rest of her life if it takes that long. She has disrespected and desecrated our National treasures.
Just another non-educational butt-head–didn’t her parents teach her anything?
She’s NOT an artist. She’s a self-absorbed asshole, nothing more.
Oh my god. On behalf of New Yorkers, I am so, so sorry to all residents of this amazing land. I can assure you we are not all like this. Goodness gracious, this literally makes me want to weep. Thank you Modern Hiker for bringing to light. Maybe the next sub-moron will get the message, in advance.
Take only pictures. Leave only footprints.
This is the real spirit of an outdoor lover! YESSssss! When we take pictures we recognize the value of a place, when we left only our footprint we recognize the value of our soul!
I say carve a swa into her forehead. She’ll probably stop doing it after that.
my thoughts exactly. you beat me to it.
this shit is just downright ugly…. WTF was she thinking?!?!
I imagine she thought she was a New Yorker in the fly-over land of low-sloping foreheads (as NY Times writers put it), and assumed she was entitled to do whatever she wanted.
The sentence should be having to remove the “art” by herself, with a toothbrush, in August.
use drone patrol to catch those guys
She’s a moron and her “art” sucks. She also forgot to delete her Twitter account: https://twitter.com/caseynocket
Have fun! You’re welcome.
She didn’t forget because that’s not her at all.
Is she in prison yet? Why not?
She should AT LEAST be fined the $5,000 for EACH piece of “art” she produced in all 8 national parks she visited and defaced (tip: Cleaning up your mess Casey would make for a perfect opportunity to fulfill the community service requirements). On a real note, she got preeetty good at drawing the same crappy face over and over again. Which will hopefully make it verily easy to identify her “works of art” allowing for an accurate dollar amount for all the fines she will hopefully be receiving.
And in response to this moron Mason Cruz \/ \/ \/ \/ may the ticks and fleas of a thousand camels infest your armpits. And dear god do not let this idiot reproduce in anyway, shape or form. For you are a direct product of incest and we could use your genes to be removed from the pool.
I’m pretty sure you are all idiots. She drew on a rock. I don’t think any rocks were harmed in the making of these drawings. Nor do I believe that the majority of you people writing on this page are ever going to see any of these “crude” drawings depicted on these rocks in person. Also, shouldn’t we all be proud that feminism is working in such ways that this lady, who clearly works very hard, due to the fact that she takes all these trips, so she must have time and money, is going against the grain like she is. Whats wrong with all you stinky sissy’s. This is a movement. The NON NATURE MOVEMENT I say. Instagram #nonnaturemovement (although i don’t have instagram, or maybe its twitter). For starters lets glue glass to all the trees, dump cement on all the bushes, rip up all of our yards and replace it with turf, and especially draw on rocks. Get your heads out of your butts and worry about your self. Free yourself of your self. BEcome free. Stop with all this stupid negative hate. Its useless. And again she painted on some rocks. Is this really the biggest issue in your life? And my apologies for saying idiots.
Just a rock??? Why don’t you paint some ugly images all over your mamma’s house, including a huge ugly poster right across the front door????
Fail troll is fail.
Nice attempt at sarcasm but when I go into nature the last thing I want to see is some lame ass art painted on a rock. Keep it urban where it belongs.
Wow. A movement dedicated to being jerks. Do you also have a truck rigged to spew black smoke when you see a Prius? Are you funded by the Tea Party? Get thee behind us, troll.
Tea Party? This artist is New York liberal nut. Own it.
And you saw this in the article where? I was just asking a question. You made a statement of fact without proof.
She defaced rocks in National Parks. Those parks belong to all of us. She was enormously disrespectful to all of us.
This woman will soon be facing the authorities, as she should be. This was a disgraceful defilement of our national parks – our national treasures. Her actions are in no way related to feminism, and to suggest that this has something to do with feminism is an insult to feminists everywhere. The person knew that this was wrong when she was doing it. She deserves some time in jail along with the maximum fine of $5,000.
It would help if she weren’t such a lousy artist. Those are really ugly drawings.
I the interest of decent communication, please delete the prior remark.
Yeah, it’s not like Earth is the only home we have. Why not trash the place and move on to greener pastures? Oh, wait, there are no other greener pastures. Of course, if the federal government would spend more time going after corporate vandals (read polluters) instead of going after such small potatoes as Ms. Can’t-Draw-Any-Better-Then-My-Four-Year-Old-Grand-Nephew, perhaps we wouldn’t have people like her thinking that it’s okay to deface ancient rock formations in the first place, mmmkay? I mean, if large corporations can deface and defile entire ecosystems and not have to worry about government sanctions or never have to worry about seeing the inside of a prison cell, why should she give a fuck? By the way, any kind of expression of a human being by means of any medium is art, regardless if it is appreciated by the viewer or not. Ms. Fancy Britches just chose the very worst canvass to express herself on. Later.
Just like how cavemen paintings gave us insight into the lives of prehistoric civilization, so too will this. A thousand years from now when some cultural anthropologist finds these “paintings”, they will at least be able to discern what douchebags people of the 21st century were…
It really would be different if the art was trying to convey a profound message or statement about related to the scenery. This chick is just full of herself.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pubd-spHN-0
No it would not be different. People who deface places like national parks are selfish egotists, who think their message is so grand everyone should see it and that their idea or art is so important they can deface anything.
George? Really? Any artist who’d deface the land in the national parks is a really bad artist and a repugnant human being.
LOOK AT ME !!! LOOK AT ME!!!! Your Typical “millennium” go home to NY they need you back…………….
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
Regrettable? Yes.
Still, this is simply someone who made a foolish decision, like so many of the people posting nonsense in response.
Did she do something stupid? Yes she did… is it worth all the vitriol? Only if the person spewing it has lived a life without doing something stupid as well. How likely is that?
Look up “ad hominem” in any logic book. The gist of what they say is that the lack of virtue on the part of the critic doesn’t mean the argument they make is worthless.
It also means your argument is worthless for the reason stated above.
For the record, I have never splashed my “art” on any pristine landscapes.
Danl, what she did is not just stupid, but against the law. People are angry, because it lessens the experience of visiting these beautiful areas. And her acts are purely selfish. Your committing the fallacy of false equivalency by likening the comments here to her destructive, egotistical act.
As a side note, her “art” is just plain awful–a coffee shop would lose my patronage if that shit was plastered to the walls, and were talking about venues known for showcasing mediocre self-indulgence..
These National Parks or mother earth in general are sacred not just to the natives, but to all who visit these seeking NATURAL beauty of nature = minimal human defamation. It’s kind of like spraying graffiti in a church, temple, or any place of worship.
The defacing of monuments of natural beauty with childish scrawls. She needs to be prosecuted and she should be ordered to clean up her vandalism, one by one.
She should have to clean it all up and face time in jail for this. We are losing so much of our natural resources and we need to preserve and protect them. Terrible actions on her part for sure!
While I understand how this might be upsetting because these “sacred” national parks are violated, it’s interesting to think about WHY people get upset over this. Didn’t cavemen used to paint all over nature? I’m sure a lot just do it to express themselves for fun. There are tourist attractions for cave paintings, which is pretty much the exact concept of this girl, yet people are fascinated because it’s labeled as “a tourist attraction”. But when this girl does the same thing, people get all pissy. Interesting how our perception comes into play over pretentious values we cling onto. Also if you think about it, paint is made from materials out of nature on earth.
Yeah, it’s really pretentious to want to hold on to evidence of extinct peoples from many hundreds of years ago.
Comparing a self-serving look at me doodle to historical artwork on cave walls is a stretch. After all, she’s not depicting hopes for a successful hunt on the walls of the cave near where she lives. That’s like saying we should let developers build a mall in the middle of the Tetons because the first Americans built lodges there.
You might have a point if our society hadn’t already left our mark on so much of the landscape with such monstrosities as NYC, LA and a million cow farms.
The binder for acrylic paint is plastic. The pigments, depending on the colors are usually synthetic dyes.
I don’t believe you and neither do you. You stupid little kids keep mistaking sarcastic narcissism for intelligence.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention – I hike all of these places and have for decades. It literally made me sick to my stomach to see what this woman has done…it seems she is overdue for a job, and a sense of responsibility and people other than her self centered self.
I can only hope the NPS follows through with penalties. This sort of behavior is condoned with inaction. I hope the petition gets enough votes.
Sad Oregonian.
I have a sour place in my heart for these egoists who deface the scenery in our parks and on our trails. Not interesting. Not nice. Not art. It’s an invasive abomination. It’s a rude and selfish imposition. You diminish the beauty of the natural surroundings, and force people to look at your stupid noodlings. Thanks!! How thoughtless of you!! You are the exemplary difference between an un-stroked ego and an actual real artist.
One of the main reasons most hikers are out there is to enjoy the natural beauty this country has to offer, through conservation, while practicing conservation. We don’t want to round a bend in anticipation of beholding a glorious vista, only to find the glaring hard evidence of your unrequited ego love. We were expecting to see the beautiful panorama, but now we get to look at your ugly turd pile swarming with flies!
Hey, take a picture of the vista. There’s your art. Bring a sketch book! Don’t take a picture of yourself in your crime scene after you’ve defaced a rock, dummy! You are a selfish attention seeker.
What I would like to do is go to your place and start marking up your kitchen cabinets, or scrawl retarded drawings all over your patio or deck. Would you mind, hmm? People visit these places to get away from this kind of thing!!! Go get a boyfriend or something! Stop acting out on the rest of us!!
You are no Andy Goldsworthy. Not by any stretch of the wildest imagination. Get off the trails and out of the parks, and stop perverting what the rest of us are trying to conserve and enjoy together. Be conservative, not pervertative.
Good points. I doubt she even knows who Andy Goldsworthy is.
Yes, she’s an idiot if she thinks this is actually “art.” Her not-at-all-art sucks and she should be prosecuted for doing it in violation of the law.
I think we just became best friends. This is the first thing I thought of when I heard about her “art”
I didn’t know where to comment so I just jumped in here, :) not really replying to you MikeTyson (wow). My comment: I love Nature. I hate Vandalism. She should be caught and prosecuted. I don’t like mean people. I love “love”. But has anybody watched the news lately . . . just saying . . . that’s all.
Well. As terrible and misdirected this girls art is… And it is… The NPS doesn’t exactly have the best track record either so think long and hard before donating to them and just do good works of your own like picking up local trash etc.
—
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/23/358353690/park-service-construction-damaged-native-american-burial-sites?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2047
You can hear the 3:54 minute piece here:
http://www.npr.org/2014/10/23/358353690/park-service-construction-damaged-native-american-burial-sites
She is no Artist.. Makes me want to go to the Mt Rushmore and Paint Tears on all 4 faces…
Good Point, one persons art is anothers vandalism. Imagine carving the faces of the leaders of a nation which fought to exterminate Native Americans in much of the United States in the middle of an area that is a holy area (Black Hills) to the local Native American! It all depends on your point of view.
Hello everyone…please email the director of the National Park Service, Jon Jarvis, Jon_Jarvis@nps.gov
Let him know this is a big deal to all of us and ask that Nocket be pursued fully.
50 million Americans lack health insurance, and tens of millions are in poverty or earning slave wages. The average age of minimum wage earners is 35.
But instead this is what gets you Americans hot and bothered. LOL America.
smh
Bernstein is obviously a city boy who considers the ‘great outdoors’ the area between his apartment door and the cab door.
Bernstein – Newsflash, you can actually take up more than one cause at once. For example, I can take up the cause of your ignorance, then 3 minutes later take up another. Wow.
Amen. I, too, fight for the things Bernstein doesn’t think I care about.
Agreed.
Right. Because one societal problem existing, chosen by you, means that all other societal problems should be overlooked.
@ISRAEL, these are our NATIONAL PARKS. These are treasures that belong to all Americans. Yes, we face other major issues in our country, but we are also concerned with the preservation of our natural and cultural resources for this and future generations. Imagine if someone painted one of these terrible faces on the Kotel, or the just below the beautiful falls of Ein Gedi, or on the snake trail up to Masada. Please respect our resources as the rest of the world respects (and loves, as I do) yours.
We can’t get hot and bothered about more than one thing?
Maybe, just maybe we also riled by crappy healthcare, poverty and other things too. Maybe we’re not as one dimensional as your projection. First recommendation, get over yourself. Second recommendation, think before opening your mouth.
If your name is any indication of where you are from, let’s see how well some “art” painted on the Wailing Wall would go over…especially considering all the other problems in that part of the world.
Well I think that is very Un-American. You know free speech. No wait that is what she was doing except that in expressing herself she broke the law therefore she pays!
Casey, could you please remove the racial comments about this woman? All races of people deface and defile the earth. Racial comments are wrong no matter who it is and I’m not comfortable reading or contributing to a blog where they are left up.
I am trying my best to moderate, but going through every single comment is a full time job! :)
The beauty of these locations can never be added to with anything man made. Her crapping it up with her trash art is an insult to the glory and wonder of nature. Woe to this ignoramus.
Anyone else wonder if this crap is an effort to turn her into a bankable artist? Comparing herself to Banksey reeks of a pump and dump contemporary art scam…planned and backed by a cabal of insider art dealers and galleries? You’ll see her at the next Art Basel Miami or Armory show. And her shit will sell for tens of thousands. Even the boulders yanked out of the National Parks.
The only answer is jail time.
She messed up. I can see that. But who of us doesn’t once in a while? I’m sure many, if not most of you, have committed non-violent “crimes” whether of taste or of the heart or environmental at some point in your lives. The vitriol and cruelty on this thread are alarming to me. Where does so much hatred come from?
My oh my, so naïve. At a minimum this crap opens a Pandora’s Box…imagine dozens of copycats trashing/defacing/DISSing Mother Nature. But worse, imagine that it’s “wilderness graffitti art” with commercial overtones, supported and sustained by dealers and collectors.
Why, when someone takes a more balanced approach and wonders where all the hate is coming from, are they labeled as naive? If there is “naive thinking” going on here it is by those who think this is a threat to wild places. It is minimal compared to legal threats which do way more destructive and permanent damage. Examples, mining near the BWCA in Minnesota, the oil boom surrounding the Badlands of North Dakota, over grazing, and sheep dung everywhere in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. Resource extraction overrules wilderness designation in the nations wilderness areas. Protect the National Parks and wild areas by fighting these issues and lets see some more outrage here to protect mother earth from our consumptive needs. This vandal is small potatoes.
I think the concern is about swarming. There’s a powerful case to be made that by allowing this kind of thing to go unanswered leads to a more general disrespect for our parks. If the parks are so cheap that the public cares nothing about graffiti, their opponents might answer, why protect them at all?
She messed up and you can see that? What the ****? People like here are the reason why our public lands keep getting closed off for flat out abuse. She was 100% off her rocker and you’re as about stupid as she is.
If she’d done this once and then realized her mistake and stopped that would be one thing. She did this for self aggrandizement, certainly not as an artistic statement. She’s also 21, not exactly a young adult, and should know to respect national parks as they are. There’s a reason these lands are clear of graffiti, most people don’t have to tag a rock with their bad art and then post it online. She should be penalized for this, sorry. This is not just some innocent mistake.
I agree she should be penalized. She behaved thoughtlessly and destructively (and her art is amateurish, to put it nicely). I disapprove of her actions myself. But taking that disapproval to a level of judgment that casts her as a despicable human being unworthy of common decency is wrong. The crime doesn’t fit the punishment.
Maybe it IS naive of me to expect people to react in a more circumspect manner; maybe it’s also naive to wonder why so much hatred is being channeled toward someone who committed a thoughtless, nonviolent crime. If so, my naivety is merely calm reason in the face of reactionary hatefulness.
In my opinion, such passionate disgust would be far more productively channeled toward certain criminal corporations, corrupt politicians and violent individuals who are actually damaging large groups of people by their actions, daily. Since this is a hiking blog, the concerns expressed here are bound to be wildlife focused, rather than political, of course. Nevertheless, the name calling, rage and wild assumptions about her quality of person are inexcusable and cross the line into group cyber-bullying.
Does everyone who behaves thoughtlessly and/or stupidly deserve to be publicly castigated? Many here seem to think so, but I disagree. That’s just my naive opinion, of course.
Wow CJ…it’s people like you that create people like her…..yes we should be pissed off and disgusted and have true anger at someone that thinks she is so important that she can do whatever she wants and ruin national parks for the rest of us….her feeling of her BS importance is driven by morons like yourself. Punishment should be quick and should be harsh…this kind of activity can not be excused on any level. !!!!
I agree. Conversation has gone over the top. I am wondering if trolls have assumed positions on both sides. But then some people have difficulty thinking their anger through and moderating their responses accordingly. I worried some when I suggested that she be made to scrub her work off using steel wool, but I have seen far worse since then.
People say things on the Net that they would not say to others’ faces. This is inhumane and quite out of keeping with the ideal of preserving pristine places. How about regulating our minds before we speak?
The anger likely comes from people, like me, who are absolutely full to overflowing with this whole “selfie” culture we live in. Speaking for myself, the anger is more about the self absorbed, self important, “selfie” part of it all, not her “mistake”.
The problem for this woman is that our disdain for such action is magnified by my utter disdain for this kind of “culture of the self” in society at large these days. This stupid woman just stepped up and put her face and name on this disdain and allowed pent up anger and frustration with this aspect of today’s world to direct right at her. Someone had to be the target, and she thoughtlessly stepped up to the plate. Wrong place, wrong time. Life just works that way sometimes.
rest assured, next time i go to yosemite or crater lake and i see her “art” i will cover it with something organic and natural, perhaps hippie excrement, in order to return the landscape to its natural hues.
Art? I wish everyone would stop using the word to characterize her no-talent scribblings. Hideous… and as bad as she is ignorant. This no talent hack is free to paint what she wants in the privacy of her home…And please keep it there. Not on our National Parks! I hope there some real justice done upon her! Make her pay to have these stains on the beauty of these placed sandblasted off.
self entitled white american girl!
So lame.
What does “white” have to do with it? Racist.
White cannot by definition be “racist” since caucasian is the dominant culture. I think the sense of entitlement may be related to being a part of the privileged class and dominate culture. It is true though, that all races of humans seem to do ignorant, arrogant, stupid, destructive things.
Bullshit! Racism is descriminating based on race – regardless of whether that race is a minority or “the dominant culture”. Your definition of racism is deeply flawed
What a horrible person. Good thing she “documented” her “art work” on social media. It will make her that much easier to prosecute.
There is also another issue: when people see a piece of graffiti, there is the temptation to add their two cents worth. The photo of Barker Dam says it all. Imagine the walls of Yosemite covered with tags.
Public does not mean that you can alter it as if it were your private property. Nocket and her defenders seem to believe in a sort of privilege that allows them to splash their taste everywhere as if the opposite were true.
Yes, it is a moral question, one that we can’t blame entirely on social media. Christopher Lasch warned of a culture of narcissism more than 40 years ago. We are paying for it in many ways today, not just through social media but in our politics as well. (Just look who we elected in 2010.) It is not generational either: as I write this there are plans to build a luxury resort on the east rim of the Grand Canyon. Others want to drill for geothermal energy outside of Yellowstone.
There are forces out to cheapen and despoil our national parks. Be mindful of them and fight them on all fronts.
I signed the petition asking the authorities to “throw the book at her”.. Although I agree that she should be made to remove her “artwork”, I also agree more strongly that its removal should be carefully done by experts. Here’s hoping that the federal government will provide the funds to the National Park Service to try to restore the rock surfaces as best as they can.
very interesting indeed!
Send this VANDAL to the Middle East.
If I ruled the world her punishment would be facial tattooing – a lot of it – using her own “art”.
Sad, trite and childish woman. Completely, disconnected and lacking any moral compass. Unbelievable, pathetic and the sign of sick individual like the rest of the rotters in the parks that write their names, pictures and crap all over the place— just a step above the oil SOB”S
I was following until you started complaining about “overage fees” for this site and asked people to donate. Give me a break. We both know it costs VERY little to keep a site up.
Lauren, I am not complaining. I am merely stating a fact – the traffic from this story is costing me money.
The site and all of its hundreds of hike write-ups are free and always have been because my primary purpose is to inspire people to get outside. As it is, the site can generally pay for itself but when you’re using so many resources on your shared server that you completely knock out service for dozens of other sites multiple times in a week, you have to pay for that.
I am trying to work on this site full-time (which allows me the time to cover and break stories like this) but it does not yet provide a living by any means, so yes – unexpected fees and costs hit hard. As I mentioned, everything I get beyond those extra fees is going straight to the National Parks affected by this vandalism. If you don’t want to donate, then don’t. But I’ll politely ask you not to scoff at a site that has spent 8 years providing a completely free service to a region that’s continuously ignored as an outdoor recreation area.
Thanks for the website. It serves a real purpose and I appreciate it.
Thanks, Bodie. We hope people stick around after the dust has settled for some good hiking info and news for the southwest, too – that’s been our primary focus for the past 8 years! :)
THANK YOU Casey. You should not have to pay for helping to bring this story to light. You are doing us all a service.
Says someone who obviously hasn’t had a high traffic site in her life!
[to Lauren]
Nothing comes for free (if any plan says unlimited that’s like unlimited data on your phone: actually not true), if your site gets a lot of traffic they either throttle/pull it, or charge you. I’ve had to move sites before now because they were ‘getting too much traffic’ – and that is just a moderate sized WordPress blog (not my walking one below, a bigger music podcast one I have), without a massive news story like this!
Now I probably could handle it as I self-host on VPS, but before I was on shared hosting, a large burst in traffic would have resulted in the site being taken down :-(
So yeah, I totally understand the plea for funds.
Actually, Casey’s totally in the right. It’s true that web hosts/servers will charge exorbitant rates when your average traffic spikes unexpectedly, and the responsibility is on the site’s owner. We expect the internet to be free, but in fact, running a website costs a pretty penny. Thank you for your hard work, Casey!
Thanks for the support, Kimberly and Tim. The good news is that a few generous people have donated and although I don’t know for sure yet (my final bill comes in mid-November), we will now probably have enough to cover the fees AND have extra money to donate back to the Parks.
That’s simply not true, Lauren. Like your electric utility bill, server usage fees tend to go up when server usage goes up. If a site’s traffic uses more bandwidth than the contract allows, sites can be shut down by the hosting company. The solution to this for the site’s owner is to pay money for a larger allotment of bandwidth. Then there is the owner’s time to consider, and time is a finite resource.
That’s what you choose to focus on in this article? Wow.
Nothing more to say, Lauren? Obviously you know nothing about web hosting. Nice work, Casey.
If she she is allowed to do that, we are all allowed to do that. And so the shit begins. Agree?
I would like to have a motorbiketrail sponsored by BMW and an open-air-party-ground + a dronodrom. Anybody not comfortable with thad?
If Thad is comfortable with it, than I am, too.
*Then*, that is. my bad,.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muphry's_law in action.
lawl! :D
I had the privilege of photographing Megalithic burial chambers called Dolmens near Sintra, Portugal, last week. I could not believe that vandals had defaced these precious stones from our history with random, senseless graffiti. I will never understand why people think that property other than their own is open for their personal use and gratification. Shame on everyone who places marks or deposits garbage where they are not granted permission to do so.
The random senseless graffiti of today is the priceless artifacts from our history in the year 4014. Besides, she’s a half decent artist.
Way to spin it, Dude. What about landfill and plastic trash. That too?
Ok, you lost me on the half decent artist thing. Any artist of any skill level who would elect to deface property in the national parks is a horrible artist.
A half decent artist? Uh, no, she isn’t.
she is a hack of an artist don’t fool yourself lol
She must have a trust fund because I can’t imagine anyone buying her shitty looking “art”. Her momma is so proud of that demon seed.
Everybody, she did something that was illegal and that conflicts with good taste and humility. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t deserve the same respect that everyone does. Let the law punish her. Your profanity and insults only add to the negative effects of this event and promote ignorance and hate, which do not solve problems.
lol. u dumb?
The law would just give her community service and a small fine. What we want, is not for her to go to jail, but for her to clean her shit up, and wash it all off, including all other graffiti out there as punishment, and to pick up any and all trash along the way. I think that is a fair punishment, after all, what was once destroyed, even if restored, can never be the same again.
Respect is earned, not inherently deserved. Her chosen actions show a great disrespect for nature and of other people in general. As a result, she has earned the disrespect and even the hatred of others. Government punishment is only one consequence of actions, and those are controlled by due process. Society and the people also have the right to sanction the wrongful acts of others, and are exercising that right here.
Nicely stated Zoom…
You can’t use sandpaper, It will mar the surface. There are non-abrasive substances that will take the paint off using cotton swabs. It’s the same that restores use to restore the paintings on walls in the churches in Europe. Btw, I just read a post on an artist FB site. An artist friend of mine is married to a DOI attorney. They are all livid about this. It’s not going to go well for her.
they should make Caey go back with sand paper to hand sand all the tags off of the rocks she left in Our Wilderness
A REAL artist does not use the wrong medium that could damage these beautiful places. she couldve used water to make cool designs, or dirt. or leaves. or even as the article mentioned: Chalk. all easy to come by. VERY EASILY. There’s also charcoal too. add a litle water to the charcoal or chalk dust, and boom! you have a temoprary paint. not very hard, ive done it many times. I learned about it in my Art II class in High school. If she’d had taken any real classes and paid any attention at all, she’d have KNOWN that native americans used the earth to paint the earth. mud. flowers. water. leaves. clays, whatever. This person makes me upset as I am myself an artist. I thrive on creating art BUT not destroying landmarks and perfectly beautiful places. This person should have had to remove ALL her paint, by hand, with a toothbrush, and out of her own pocket for traveling and supplies. That’s the end of my say. P.S. Her art is very… um… childish to put it nicely.
She’s no artist. After 35 years of creating artwork, I have earned the right to say that. She should be caught and prosecuted. She’s pissed off a lot of people. First, she should be made to clean up all the places she defiled and then thrown in prison where she can be someone’s canvas for their self expression.
Excellent job starting a witch hunt. You all should be ashamed of yourselves. You spend all this energy belittling an amateur artist, use it to do something productive!
you dumb?
Witch Hunt … are you the criminal’s mama?? ‘Idiot’ must run in the family!
Excellent job missing the entire POINT: What she is doing is defacing protected national park areas, meant to be enjoyed by all in its natural state. And not only are her actions illegal and punishable by law, but it’s not even art. It’s pathetic child scrawl from a attention-seeking, immature person. She needs jail time.
The only person who should be ashamed is the woman who has self admitted to this vandalism. She should be criminally prosecuted and held financially responsible for the costs of the clean up plus a punitive penalty.
This isn’t some young kid who made a mistake, this was unfortunately a planned campaign of defacing national treasures. I would not characterize this woman as an artist. If she is seriously wants to be considered as such, perhaps she could volunteer to assist in painting murals on city buildings where neighborhoods are looking for such.
With all do respect Elzake she is no artist. She’s a hack… It’s criminal what she has done and there’s no witch hunt here only concerned people that love our National Parks and want this woman held accountable for something she clearly knew was wrong.. but did it any way.
How is it a witch hunt? People are condemning real, actual acts the vandal has admitted to performing. The only being that should feel shame is the vandal for her vile acts.
“Entitlement” is actually a psychiatric condition diagnosed as narcisissm. Whoa, sweetie! You have a bad case of knowing no healthy boundaries.
Dear ego-maniac Nocket,
I know you think your little turds of art are so awesome they should be imposed on us for eternity, but just no. Nature is, and always has been quite able to paint pictures without your scrawls. Check your inflated self-worth into the nearest rehab for the criminally narcissistic, and leave MY parks alone.
Signed,
Everyone in the US but you.
Amen! I don’t go into the back country to see anything but nature. Ego takes to ego, I guess.
Everyone in Canada too. A serious criminal record would help keep Nocket heads like this psycho out of Banff and Jasper as well.
Anyone else also bothered by the fact that this is a white woman and she drew depictions of Native American people. I’m sure that’s one of her excuses too. “But, but I drew natives so it’s ok!”
#Appropriation #whiteprivege
No. Not one person.
I didn’t see any drawings of Natives, but yeah, I would be offended.
If she should be allowed to do that, everyone of us should be allowed to spoil that landscape on our owns.
I personaly would paint adult pictures, install an open-air-disco, a drono-drom and make a motorbiketrail and BMW would be the sponsor.
bring back the circus maximus
she is in need of a good hard spanking
And some art lessons.
Proving that being a hipster is not a victimless crime.
Nothing hipsterish about her.
Something ugly on someplace beautiful….
Go to Michael’s, buy some canvas’ … it’s legal.
If this doesn’t prove the inherent entitled feeling of the young blonde american woman, I don’t know what else does. THen again, I have to admit, most young blonde women aren’t this stupid, but there are many who are this bad an artist. Look at me, I’m so special. It’s not about my looks, I’m different!
Honestly, nature could care less. It’s other humans she’s offending. Most importantly, she’s a HACK!
This has nothing to do with her appearance. I fit your description and am completely incensed by her actions.
Attacking her’s or others’ appearance is counterproductive. Maybe look at your own motives.
Repost:
—————————–
DEEDS says:
October 23, 2014 at 10:53 am
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE WIDELY: Charges will be brought against Casey Nocket, that is not the issue (I am a former NPS ranger). The issue is the sentencing. She should be fined the maximum amount allowable by law, and the cost of restoration and repair at each park she desecrated (that includes graffiti removal – which she should perform herself – the cost of removal supplies – including personal protective equipment, the cost of staff time at each park in dealing with the issue – including the cost of a ranger sitting there observing her while she performs the removal and interpreting the removal to the public), she should have to document the whole process on social media, including releasing a public statement about the inappropriateness of the forum in which she chose to share her (crappy) artwork, AND she should pay for the development of graffiti/vandalism education programs at each park. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
Give me a break, the whitehouse!!! Those buffoons?
They can’t do anything right no only are they literally bankrupt but, figuratively bankrupt. Delusional to the point of being utterly dysfunctional is their MO—- so why would you want to go and do that??
This whole thing has become. Can’t see the forest through the trees type of thing—- blow’n way out of proportion no two ways about it.
It needs to be a bit more extensive than that. She also needs a lifetime ban from all National Parks. Sure, she can clean it up while sitting there enjoying nature’s splendor. But it would be fitting punishment to know that this was the last time she was going to see it…. ever! A strong message needs to be sent.
I agree completely! Everything that is costs to catch and remove her ugly drawings (wont use the word art-because its not) should fall in her lap. Not to mention that even it if it were something decent to look at it would still be wrong, but her stuff is just plain childlike. Ive seen better drawings at our local playground from a group of 5 year olds, a bucket of sidewalk chalk and a half hour to kill before snacktime. Do us all a favor and give up the posting of your ridiculous drawings..they will never be art..you’ve had your 15 minutes of fame..now do us and yourself a favor…choose another passtime. Your drawings make my young daughters look like a Picasso. Your a novice
Any contemporary artist’s unsanctioned painting on a rock or wall in the national parks would be terrible art and it would be a desecration to our parks.
Thank you for pointing out that her “art” is crappy. It’s an insult to real artists, who paint beyond the 7th grade level, and who have the sense to appreciate the Art that is Nature.
Why should we even need 100K signatures to demand accountability for such arrogance and blatant disrespect for nature, the law, and other visitors to these parks? I would think that just ONE call to action should suffice. But maybe 100K will be enough to let her know not to quit her day job. EVER.
In any case, Signed and shared.
I agree with the above statement. Not everyone likes natural beauty however those that do far outnumber those who don’t. She shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this at all.
I am advertising this petition on all my social media accounts.
The point really is not how amateur her artistic output is as much as it is how she is handling the aftermath and her oblivious, albeit ignorant view of her actions. Not to mention her tumblr account and all of the disrespect she’s given to all of her protesters. If you watched what she was saying last night on tumblr, she specifically said that she was ‘on the lamb’ (whilst previously correcting someone for their grammar) and will escape to europe. She has since deactivated it to some cencal street art collective. If this is true, then that last update is false and should be made aware to the park service. I truly do think the tumblr account was her and should not be shrugged off as hackers. That would be a mistake. She might even bail back to us here in the west. Let them know this ASAP…
oh god no we don’t want her and her crappy art/vandalism over here in Europe! Please don’t let her come over.
Cleaning up at her own expense would be plenty for her and others to have second thoughts with their “art”.
Fines and jail time are foolhardy at best—- fines go where? Government? Nothing good can come from that stupidity.
Jail time costs us taxpayers an extravagant sum for what? This would be overkill to say the least? We all have better, much better things to spend tax payer money on.
Maybe these foul mouthed, violence hungry Internet quarterbacks could redeem themselves by helping out with some of the clean up too—- since their options neither nor helped in the conversation.
Could not agree more!
I believe there is a petition to President to have her face real consequences. $10,000 fine, 5000 community service to read about Native People & BANNED FROM INTERNET.
They need to ban her from all national parks as well (after they have her scrub off all her artwork).
Catch this disgustingly arrogant little criminal and give her some jail time.
Welcome to another example of the entitlement generation.
Parents, this is the end result of raising your self-centered brat to believe everything they do is “special” and they world “deserves” them. Her behavior is about as narcissistic as they get, and her total lack of remorse or understand that what she did was wrong reeks of a sociopath in the making.
Lady, you’re no “artist” and your “art” is crappy, and certainly does NOT belong anywhere unless someone ALLOWS it there.
Frankly, I hope they find you, fine you for the cleanup charges, give you a year or two in jail, followed by 5000 hours of community service cleaning up “art”.
People like this, and those who defend her are disgusting…
I don’t think this has anything to do with the so-called “entitlement generation.” What she did was disgusting, vile, and despicable. I completely agree that she deserves strong punishment. However, this current generation is one of the most environmentally conscious and eco-friendly generations of all time. More and more people are speaking out in favor of natural park protections, climate regulations, etc. I don’t know anyone from this generation who would condone what she did.
Agreed. The only thing generational about this is the fact that she had social media to broadcast her work, along with the lack of media literacy to know that broadcasting might get her in trouble.
Wrong, people over the ages have graffiti’d in nature, but it takes a particular modern nut to repeatedly paint their hackery across the country. It’s not really about generations, but this generation does have a big contingent of spoiled brats raised to believe everyone deserves attention. It’s crystal clear in the art and music being produced. This generation is more interested in being noticed by any menas necessary than organically making art that in itself is a protest or statement.
It’s a question that requires lengthy analysis to get at. I understand your reluctance to paint any generation, since individuals matter, but sorry, charlie, your generation, just like every other one, has its characteristics and foibles. You are NOT special, so do me a favor, someday, and yield your path to me, instead of expecting me to yield to you.
It’s an amazing trait I’ve noticed in millenials, although today I had a 70 year old lady literally stand right in front of two of us while we were reading something. Trust me, boomers are the most selfish people in US history. It really comes down to being an American, as much as anything, and American females, let’s not even get started there, although it only took me this many words to think about the American male, and go, oh well, those jerks too. There is something, however, about the young American woman. No amount of attention can ever suffice.
She’s managed to stand out as an idiot and a criminal. She probably thinks she’s going to be the next Jeff Koons. It will be a test of your generation to see if she succeeds like the Kardashians, The Black Keys, and other horrid hacks did.
It’s easy to slap labels on people, but she does not represent me or any of my friends. There are a large amount of us who aren’t into spotlights or attention. What’s wrong with her is found in many generations and it’s diagnosible, fitting the Axis II.
Vandalism, pure and simple.
ALWIN BRATTON says:
October 23, 2014 at 5:24 pm
“One bullet should takcare of it…Not that expensive….”
I hope the several dozen comments similar to this on this subject on this blog and many other forums does not reflect the maturity, morals and mindset of the outdoor crawd—- I fear it does though.
People should sit back and review what they are saying—- a by product of political correctness at its best I guess.
She has an anti social personality disorder
I think her work is ugly – I have seen graffiti more attractive in the city. Her punishment should be to remove all of it and any other artworks that do not belong on such beautiful
old rocks.
Thanks for defacing natural beauty.
National parks are mother natures end product after billions of years of geological evolution; and then you go to paint your sh!tty art on them using eco-toxic paints, and in such a manner where you think your art is even significant of being there.
YEAH, her art blows goats!!She sucks!! I hate her so bad
Thanks for ruining it for the rest of us that actually want to see the art of mother nature in action. If you want to do something constructive, take some art courses, read the history of Real artist and their works of REAL ART. Better still visit some art galleries. Instead of enlightening people, your scribbles are actually painful to look at.
I get that you guys are mad,
But I wonder what your priorities really are here.
I understand that what she is doing is wrong,
But what’s more wrong and terrifying is that you are so proudly posting her personal information. What she did isn’t “cool”
What you are doing? Is dangerous. PLEASE stop. Grow up – report this properly and stop trying to make yourself look like some vigilante superhero when what you are doing is worse. You are dealing with a human being – yes, a stupid vandal human being who painted all over your favorite special rocks,
But a human being.
Go ahead and make an example of her legally, and once she has been charged go ahead and share that information all over the place, but STOP POSTING HER PERSONAL INFORMATION!!!
It is not personal info if she is posting for all to see. She is doing this posting all on her own via her twitter,tumbler etc… She obviously is proud of her work and wants all to share. So get off your high horse. If she wanted to keep her info private, she wouldn’t have shared this crap all over the internet. She is a ‘star’ now, as I saw her reported on the national T.V. news. She must be so proud of herself! I hope she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. She must not have known about the laws that are in place for people who deface National Parks, or have an ounce of consciousness.
Please. She made her “art” public and now facing the public backlash. Her personal information is out there and she put it out there. She has to face the consequences of broadcasting her crime.
We wouldn’t know about this if she hadn’t bragged about it. Get used to this price of freedom of speech: people can say that they don’t like what you said or did. And lots of us don’t like what Casey Nocket did or said. That is how freedom of speech corrects its faux pas — by freely expressing its disagreement.
These are the actions of a self absorbed, narcissistic douche bag from the planet of Moderne Education. “Anything that I deem to be “art”, is “Art”! I may do this because I am special”. She need to get time for this along with about 1,000,000 hours of community service.
Dear modern hiker, clearly you are confused at what constitutes beauty. Nature is perfect and we as humans cannot improve on its majesty, but only emulate it on skin, canvas, walls, dumpsters or subway trains. Take your crayons and chalk to the inner city, to the factories and industrial parks, to add some color, and cease covering what nature so bountifully gifted with your man made toys….. Seriously, just do it.
Artfully put but you might be confused about the article, which is extremely critical of the vandal and shares your viewpoint.
I wonder if she will be arrested and made to do anything. She probably thought it was a good idea to begin with. How could she? I would hope , if she is worth anything at all, that she would come forward, apologize, plead ignorant, and figure out a way to fix this really Ugly Act of indecency she has perpetrated on us all.
Her behavior is the grand scale of standing in the middle of a city street flashing your naked body from under a trench coat. Forcing people to look at you. You can’t unsee that ugly, and unfortunately we can’t unsee this ugly either.
I live in SE Arizona. If she tries this crap in our beloved Chiricahuas, she had better hope that the rangers catch up to her before the locals do….
This behavior reeks of personality disorder, not sure but I would not be surprised if this person landed somewhere in the spectrum around Narcissistic Personality Disorder, a condition that features the inability to have “insight” to their own illness, display grandiosity and inflated ego, have empathy for the feelings and wishes of others, and needs a constant supply of attention and praise from sycophants or “followers” which they go to great lengths to cultivate (social media is the perfect platform for this). The also know how to play the game without much anxiety, often playing the victim. She is now online defending her work claiming to be a feminist. So don’t fall into the trap of calling her names so that she can say it was all done to show the world how mean men are by displaying a few comments laden with name-calling. This is a sick individual who needs to be set right and needs to clean up her mess on “our” (taxpayers) property. She thinks she has a right (she doesn’t) to do this, and we have the right to demand that she clean it up or pay to have it cleaned up. Aside from that lets leave it to the National Park Service to pursue her. Don’t be aggressive toward her, she’ll just use it to play the victim. Channel your energy into putting pressure on and demanding action from government and law enforcement. Source: I’ve worked in psychiatric medicine.
Could also be the manic stage of bipolar. But in addition to not calling names, we shouldn’t be attempting to diagnose someone who at very least isn’t present for a proper clinical workup, especially from those of us who lack proper credentials to do so. (I live with bipolar disorder, so when I reviewed what she had done — the long road trip, etc., my condition was the first that leaped to mind.)
This solution is not perfect… But here in Narragansett, we’re experiencing similar problems with low-life maggots tagging our rock beaches with cartoons and, in some cases, their fraternity letters. I’ve posted a few before and after photos from how several residents tackled the problem, and while I wish we could stop the vandalism period, I offer these pictures for further discussion:
http://algonquinredux.com/narragansett-ri-heroes/
We as a nation can push to make the legal penalties stiffer. But is anyone aware of an alternative solution to the remedy in my photos?
In Fort Collins CO we started an art program in which artists paint all the large electrical boxes that used to get tagged constantly and now they are really interesting looking with a different local artist doing each box and in five years I have yet to see someone disrespect the artwork by tagging on it. I don’t know if you want the same solution for rock benches but it has reduced graffiti here.
Thank you for this suggestion. I’m starting to talk it up and ask around.
I just did a news search to see if they’ve found her yet. Instead I found a young blogger on Cosmopolitan, a mag read widely by 20-something females, who yesterday praised Ms. Nocket for “breaking the rules”, suggesting to readers that she is “….possibly your new hero”. This is truly unfathomable:
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a32482/female-graffiti-artist-is-new-most-hated-person-on-instagram/
I sense she is another young person unclear on the concept of right and wrong. Call out the author on social media that portraying this type of behavior as something to emulate most definitely falls into the camp of “wrong.”
However, it is quite heartening to see the all comments on the article you posted that tear it to shreds.
As I have said elsewhere in this thread, the price of free speech is that people can use their free speech to criticize what has been said. Ms. Nocket didn’t keep her art to a few friends. She blasted her creations across the InterNet and declared them good. Our right to freedom of speech lets us say that she is wrong and we can give our reasons why. The nice thing about true free speech is that it is like good science: it polices itself.
Im an artist and I would NEVER do this. And not to be critical, but girl, your work is HORRIBLE! You need to go REMOVE all these half ass images you have scrawled on the environment and either go back to school and learn how to paint, or better yet just put down the brush and become a cashier at forever 21.
There is a petition up asking the white house to prosecute the vandal. Don’t know if it will do any good but worth a shot. Find it here
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
This selfish voyeurism is everything that is wrong with America. Our national parks are, “For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People” Not your personal canvas.
sign the petition to have this poor foolish talentless idiot made accountable https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
she desires fame and attention more than decency, truth, and nutrition. she dyed her dark hair blonde and she has puked into toilets meal after meal. now that she is a trim blonde, she imagines herself as the world’s next great rebel artist. she trekked out to our nation’s greatest landscapes to make her mark for all the world to see. but she knows not the exact statement she wants to leave so she painted herself as pretty as can be. her lack of imagination and erratic hand eye coordination could only manage poorly rendered yet accurate rock portraits of a chain smoking, wig wearing, bulimic casey nocket. but wait, look over there! up and to the left! there is breathtaking beauty, the most gorgeous natural thing you’ll ever see!
now that it’s nearing last call here in minneapolis, i have to confess… like a normal looking girl with her ugly friend… nah, who am i kidding, i’ve had my eyes on that beautiful blue crater all night. fuck off creepyting, u don’t make your surroundings any better.
Clear narcissism. Folks, the majority of her “art” left behind are self-portrait caricatures if you haven’t already caught that. To wit: her smoking photo on her twitter account @ https://twitter.com/caseynocket, the pictures of her post going blonde (http://www.supertopo.com/climbing/thread.php?topic_id=2514209&tn=20) like the portraits, and the eyebrows are the same.
I bet her real, verified, mother, Robin Finnegan (https://www.facebook.com/rfinnegan1) is super-proud of her daughter now. Funny how all her kids FB pages are offline. Guess someone should have told mom to remove her relationship affiliations.
One word, sick!!!
Art….hardly, just plain childish sidewalk drawings, you should be ashamed of yourself. And you should get both arms broke..
There are so many other, more appropriate places she could paint here art—Countless walls & buildingsides for murals, large rockfaces on PRIVATE property, etc etc etc
Her selfishness undermines any beauty or positivity her art might bring.
It would be so much better if she scrawled where someone else had to clean up her scrawlings. Your entitlement matches hers.
Obviously she’s never heard the phrase “Tread lightly”. Sad.
I don’t know if this is getting spread around much however as of 6 hours ago there are claims that the Feds are starting to wake up and take a look at what she’s doing:
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_26787016/feds-chase-criminal-case-against-artist-who-marred
Social Media is a very good way to brow-beat the authorities in to doing their jobs, and the Blogosphere is alive with massive outrage, now it looks hopeful that she’ll be punished and serve as a warning to others who think this is acceptable behavior. :)
Since she’s apparently got such a big ego, her only punishment should be tattooing that shitty art all over her body. One big one on her forehead, one on her back, stomach, and a tramp stamp saying “creepytings” on her lower back. Maybe then she’ll understand what she’s done.
She seems to think her vandalism is “art.” He may be stupid enough to think being forced to wear her crap is a good thing. She’s so stupid something like that’s possible. :( And she’s apparently not in custody yet!
lol, perhaps a little Inglourious Basterds treatment will do the trick?
That is not art in any way, shape or form. It’s not even good illustration. To compare herself to Banksy is an uneducated and ignorant excuse. Ugh, the visions of grandeur she must have calling herself an nature lover and an artist. It would be wrong to define her as either.
This is so incredibly sad. It’s shameful that this young person never learned to have respect for the natural world.
Or apparently respecting nothing else! Or she’d not even b doing this sacrilege. Hurts my heart. All these Parks r wonderful for their amazing beauty, strength & their contributions to keeping our planet healthy, I.e., taking care of carbon dioxide. So wish she’d not have done this. Am very glad she’ll b found pretty soon.
Too bad there very little positive discussion on this matter, just a lot of haters.
Sure, see should clean it up. Is really that big of a deal?
Casey,
You are an Asshole, with a capital A. I and millions more go to the wilderness to escape having to be around assholes like you.
Only a self centered idiot who doesn’t care about other people would even conceive of such a thing.
It’s all about “look at me” and look at how naughty I am, selfish, self serving, and I am sure, that you some how have it in your twisted little mind, that you are somehow right for defacing these landmarks.
In a world full of greed, where war and human violence fill our screens, How are you really any different from the assholes we despise that seek to increase their own “worth” at the expense of others?
You have become part of the Problem, not part of the Solution.
Fortunately the world has good people, people who are willing to volunteer to clean this crap up. If she’s arrested maybe we can get a list of places she vandalized and we can have a national effort to get volunteers to clean it off, make it a big venture.
Our kids today will do the work, young people today are as environmentally aware as my generation was, all we need to do is point them to what needs to be cleaned and the current generation will fix it.
Erm, the girl’s name isn’t Casey. Casey is the one who is reporting the story.
Actually, I think they are both named Casey! I should have added her last name, but the app wont let me edit!
Give her a bucket of soapy water and a scrub brush. Make her work 16 hours a day scrubbing each painting till they are completly gone. It should take her a very very long time since it’s acrylic. Haha! Make the punishment fit the crime. I’ve never had the opportunity to visit these places and now if I do it’s marred by a complete idiotic so called american woman. I’m ashamed and embarrassed. I am praying she is caught soon before she ruins another piece of our American beauty
Casey is the author not the artist…..
or both!
Um, both are named Casey…
Well spoken words. :o)
The only punishment I can think of as suitable for this clueless imbecile is a year of hard time spent collecting leaves and twigs under the tutelage of Andy Goldsworthy. No cell phone, no camera, no internet, with a steady diet of cold water, haggis and oatmeal.
Just now · Like
Are you kidding? Apprentice to Goldsworthy, even collecting leaves and twigs, would be an incredible honor. She needs to be breaking rocks in Leavenworth.
I think the real crime here is that outfit she’s wearing. Neon cossfit gear with hiking boots? Girlfriend, Joan Rivers is rolling in her grave.
She’s got a new (or made public again) Instagram account under “officialcreepytings”. I’ve already shared some of my spleen with her, but obviously she’s either clueless or arrogantly ambitious (or the most likely culprit, a combination of the two) because she’s convinced she’s in the right and somehow this is about her freedom of expression. I hope the authorities catch up with her and there is some reckoning, but in the meantime I think folks should let her know en masse what they think about here “art”
Yeah that Instagram account is definitely not her. Whatever genius decided to start it forgot to turn off location posting and they were writing from Portland, OR.
It’s not even good art (not that it even matters)…it’s terrible.
Agree
She’s an attention whore and a bad “artist”. Feminist my ass.
If anyone can track her down 1) we can report her to the Forest Service for defacing public property. This looks like narcissistic/ exhibitionist destructive behavior and (I agree she is a failed artist.)
The state of NY would probably fine her is she did this along one of the highways….
Good post, twilla. Succinct and wholly accurate.
Unfortunately too many Americans have the elitism of thought and action in them and don`t think of others, Just look at the way many park and hog two spaces without regard to who else might need a space. I got mine so who cares about the rest.
She dishonors the people who put their whole heart into protecting these gems! John Muir, Ansel Adams,Stephen Mather, Robert Sterling Yard and countless others! What was it that Teddy Roosevelt said in his speech at Yellowstone.”Leave it as it is! Man can only mar it! It should last the ages!
Auwe! Damage is done and continues. One more reason I am embarresed to be American. Lived so many years outside USA, I wonder why I came back to this disrespect. Shame, shame, shame!
She does not embody the American values or spirit at all and she is acting in ways that are Un-American. I am proud to be an American on a forum with so many other Americans who are proud of their country and will boldly protect it from those who would seek to harm it from within and without.
Damn, what an idiot you sound like. Projecting whatever silly notions you have of “American”. As disgraceful as Casey Nocket.
Embarrassed to be American? This has nothing to do with being American, it just happened here. Germans used the Sphinx in Egypt for target practice at one time. This has everything to do with being a bad person with no regard for others. To be so self centered to believe something you have created needs to be added to these places to enhance them is as egotistical as one can get. Don’t blame this on Americans, we don’t deserve that and if you are so ashamed, let me tell you that there are flights out of the US every day.
You are incorrect, as in wrong. It was not the Germans [they have enough to live down with the Nazis and WWII thing]. It was the French at artillery practice.
I hope those “artist” get a nice big fat FINE for this “paintings”.
What a stupid White girl putting her bad art on the natural. She can’t even really draw good. She should go to jail for life for this.
really… why bring race into it… you’re laughable
I don’t think it’s necessary to call her a stupid “white girl” – If I were to say a stupid “black girl” it would be a racist uproar! She’s an idiot and disrespectful to all of us -color of her skin is not a factor here. There’s no sense in stooping to her level.
Good point, we are trying to stay above the garbage not dwell in it.
Yes, this white man agrees that this is a spoiled white brat who hides her sense of privilege behind bad “art”.
I hope those “artists” get a nice FINE for that s***painting.
Boundless ignorance fulfills our destiny to utterly fuck up the planet…. and we are well on our way to success!
This disgraceful idiot needs to gtfo of my country.
This is not “white privilege” Pat Pearson, just because she is white, and it is a tired ad hoc accusation that has been thrown around far too often lately as a convenient way to deviate from addressing the the true problems. What evidence do you have to support that? It is actually a case of a deviant shallow minded city dweller who has no respect for nature or others and thereby will continue to cause harm until she is stopped. Don’t divert this topic over to your own political ends by misdiagnosing the crime and criminal. Entitled hurtful narcissists come in all races and it is up to all races to cease being decisive and instead bind together to stop those deviant ones among us, like her, who harm others with their selfish acts.
*correction, cease being divisive.
I disagree, Rose. She could be the poster child for white privilege. The evidence is that she is white and she is privileged. I mean this respectfully, but your argument is enabling, not binding; like saying rape is just a crime some people commit which has nothing to do with misogyny. It is not productive.
Amen Rose. My thoughts exactly.
Prosecute her for environmental damage. Nature doesn’t need another human making it’s beauty uglier. If she cared for the environment she would treasure it not destroy it!
AMEN!! She is selfish, uneducated, &.a criminal. Hope she is arrested and has to restore areas go original condition.
As a photographic artist, I am appalled. I capture beauty, not deface it.
Her punishment: felony prosecution requiring —-
1) jail time- in a crowded city jail cell (like a drunk tank), Not a clean prison cell. Just a week would suffice.
2) Substantial fine – $5000 – $10,000
3) Banned from National & State Parks and lands for life
4) Required to remove her largest work supervised by feds…(all transportation and removal costs paid by her)
5) ***She can NEVER profit from this experience in any way. No books, articles, interviews, or displays of her “work”.
http://jbosh1972.hubpages.com/hub/various-ways-to-remove-dried-acrylic-paint
You are an awful person. Disgusting that you would deface our national parks. Doesn’t get a whole lot more self-fish than that.
If she really wants to be an “artist” do something artful and unique. For example: Take a selfie with a pine cone in your ass. She’d get a lot of “likes” for that.
lol…ahhh I love it…lol Now that’s art of words…lol. Thanks for the bust a gut laughter.
Thanks for getting the word out about these Outrageous acts by a self absorbed person!! Thank you so much Casey for defaming our National Parks (which we all own, not just you!) Narcissistic is the right word to use for this chick.
You people are thinking to far into this, just make her go back to all of these places out of her pocket and post pictures of her cleaning it. Problem solved.
I like your style.
Some sort of punishment would make her think again before she defaces public parks.
Brilliant! While we are at it, let’s tell any bank robbers that we catch that as long as they return the money we are all square. And murders….if they will pay the funeral expenses, no harm, no foul! No more DUI’s either…just hold the driver until he sobers up and put him back in his car and on his merry way. Statutory rape? Well, those young girls will eventually be “of age” so what is the big deal anyways? Drug deals…well heck, anyone they sell to eventually comes down off their high so it was like it never happened, right? We need more innovative thinkers like you, it will really solve the crime problem…our prisons will have to close due to lack of criminals!
Sorry but hes right, the only punishment for nonviolent crimes should be simple fines, restitution, and community service. Throwing people in prison over things that technically dont actually hurt anyone is insane and inhumane. And if you think some rocks out in the middle of nowhere are of more value than actual human lives, then the real problem here is YOU and your moral priorities.
Nonviolent crimes are not victimless crimes. And people are not the only possible victims.
Completely disregarding the social contract we all abide by is inhumane to the rest of society. Rocks are not more valuable than human lives.
Disregarding the value of a natural environment in a protected area set aside by all of society is the core of this issue. The real problem here is that this woman has decided that other peoples experiences are not as valuable as her own.
Responses like yours confuse me. I feel as though you must not value the natural world in any way. Perhaps you never leave the city or the computer screen? I’m not sure how your position is even remotely justifiable.
Although I value the wilderness much more than you do, as may be implied by your comment, I do agree with you that jail is not appropriate for “non-perspn” misdemeanors. Fine her a few thousand bucks, and make her clean it all up at her own expense, while posting the photos of her scrubbing the rocks with a wire brush while wearing an orange jumpsuit for maximum humiliation.
The value these places have is beyond just a bunch of rocks in the middle of nowhere. The fact that they do not have much value as far as resource extraction and generating profits for the logging, mining, and drilling interests is irrelevant.)
The problem is, when she vandalized those rocks, she painted over other, older markings. Which means she can’t just scrub it off with a wire brush. Unfortunately, the acrylic she used is going to have to be separated from the rock below, by experts, who are expensive, in order to attempt to preserve the features below.
These are not in the middle of nowhere…these are in Federally Protected National Parks. She could have sat at home and painted all the rocks she wanted. The law is clear…this is an act of vandalism, and in Parks punishable by 6 months in jail per occurrence. Send her no-talent self-absorbed ass to the clink! They have lots of nice walls to paint on.
Completely agree with that one, community work to undo what she did!
Yep. Then still go to prison.
Um, GregBo, two problems with your nifty li’l “solution”: First, some of her doodles were made OVER (or near) ancient and/or protected pictograms. It’s going to take actual experts to fix the damage she’s done on those particular sites. Second, even on the sites where she’s not defacing some illiterate tribesperson’s ONLY form of communication/expression/art, it’s going to take a deft, EXPERT touch to remove the various materials she seeped into the stones without jeopardizing and further eroding the rocks/surfaces themselves.
I’d rather watch her sit in jail, scribbling (in Sharpie please) all over her cell walls then being forced to scrub THOSE clean…
Yaaaaa! I like the way you think.
As an Artist, I would never scribble random crap over another artists work. Would you deface the Mona Lisa? The Thinker? Jim Morrison’s grave? No, a true artist would never be so cheesy. These Natural Artistic Works of our Earth are sacred and beautiful. What a sad no talent child this is.
The first rule of Art is that NOTHING is “sacred”
rules are made to be broken is the next “rule” of art
Also the first rule of morons.
Art doesn’t have a rulebook last time I checked.
Generally when intelligent people use the phrase, “In art, nothing is sacred.” They are referring to nothing being sacred IN THE REALM OF IDEAS. Does that phrase mean that art is a license to murder or rape? Of course not. Does that make artistic acts automatically valuable and immune to criticism? No. Disfiguring or defacing property or the natural landscape is an issue of being an immature douchebag.
It is a moral issue and not an artistic one.
Ya that’s about it in a nut shell. Some people who crave media attention will do anything to get it. Does she really consider herself an artist…hhhmm interesting.
This blonde defines #WhitePrivilege rather clearly. The blithe disregard of all customary respect, cheerfully documenting it, and assuming she’ll never be caught. And if caught, will skate.
Unbelievable. For someone who’s supposedly fond of “beauty”, she sure does enjoy defacing it with her shitty “art”. She’s not even that good …. has anyone told her?
Since there’s photographic evidence of what she’s done, can’t she be pursued legally and held accountable? Maybe she’s related to the asshats who knocked over the sandstone formation.
Ugh….
That last photo looks like the top of Deer Mountain in RMNP. I have a photo on my wall right next to me with almost the same view, but I only left footprints and took photos.
Plain old defamation! Heartbreaking –can’t see the beauty in our Natural World–need to leave a mark! EGO
This is a shame to spoil the wilderness with such horrible markings. I can’t call that artwork.
It really is horrible, my 5 yr old can do better than that and she already knows better than to be so disrespectful in a national park. I’m guessing she knows she sucks and it’s the only way she can get any attention.
Add to the Urban Dictionary:
NOCKET:
Noun: A self-centered person.
Verb: To do something for self gratification that hurts others.
Touche!
She needs to nocket off!
(Sorry, couldn’t resist and it’s true)
As an artist photographer who appreciates wilderness, hikes, canoes and volunteers time to maintain a lean-to in the Adirondacks I feel more than qualified to observe that there is no comparison whatsoever between what she’s doing and Banksy. Banksy’s art is clever commentary in and on the urban environment. Her ‘art’ is juvenile and says nothing except “Look at me. I’m painting these bad paintings where I shouldn’t so I’ll be famous”. It is an act of inflated ego pure and simple. In my wilderness ramblings I occasionally do encounter art installations, small sticks or rocks piled in artful ways, compositions made with leaves wetted and stuck on rocks in streams, things meant to be undone by the forces of nature (wind, rain, flooding), temporary just like everything else in nature. They are invariably small, use all natural materials and respectful of nature. What she is doing is none of that.
She is selfish, childish, and a bad “artist”. Obviously, she is out there for her 15 minutes of fame. I hope she receives several years of hard labor to repay all of us who have to look at her defacing garbage. There are ways to express oneself and gain the support of other like-minded people. Drawing terrible “art” in protected wildness spaces is not one of them. I support people wanting to make statements but this is pure stupidity.
“Several years of hard labor”? This isn’t the 1800’s. How angry of a person are you?
A+
Making a statement? What, that’s she’s ignorant? I’m sure everybody knew that before.
Is this person mentally ill! I can’t stand reading this….she is so disrespectful and completely FULL OF HERSELF, narcissistic to the hilt! GOT TO JAIL FOR YOUR ACTIONS AND LEARN!
It’s very disrespectful but that was extremely ableist language. Just because someone does something asinine doesn’t make them mentally ill.
It’s a variation on the Greater Internet F**kwad Theory. Relatively Normal Person + Audience = Total F**kwad Behavior.
Hope she’d in custody and being informed in no uncertain terms what a truly bad person she has been.
Why bother putting this absolutely shitty art anywhere, let alone beautiful national parks and land marks.Stick to fucking finger paint because your art is 3rd grade quality.
It’s amazing how many of you don’t think anything through. You all harassing and threataning this girl on social media/the internet is JUST as bad as her leaving a trail on social media/the internet. If you all think that is truly her on tumblr– you’re dumb.
so its cool when the so called “Indigenous people” aren’t we all “Indigenous” to this earth, anyway,… Draw pictures and Carve into Rock, but O NO, how dare one of Us leave our mark… you all are brainwashed into thinking you are worthless and have no right to leave a signature on this earth .. Well I am going to CARVE my Tag into a OLD TREE this week some were
Why don’t you attach your name and location to that caving as well. Better yet post your picture along with your art work so we can all enjoy it you obnoxious idiot.
News flash: if you carve into the tree, you’ll kill the tree by opening it to disease. Way to make your mark NOT last.
Also way to be brainwashed by the cult of individualism where you need to feel so special and get so much attention! Look at meeee!
It’s not about whether they are indigenous to this earth, it’s whether they’re indigenous to this particular continent and yes, they are, and we’re not. We could be born here for generations to come but we insist on acting like kudzu, which is also “born” here but is not native here, and climbs all over the place damaging EVERYTHING. Kudzu people. Not indigenous.
You have paper to draw on. They didn’t have paper back then. Two entirely different situations. Grow up.
Man your a moron, you can leave your stupid mark that no one will care about somewhere that is not LEGALLY PROTECTED LAND.. man, how are you so stupid? How did you make it this far?
Carving your tag into a tree is probably the most accomplished thing you will do in your entire life so go ahead, feel proud loser.
Cave paintings were done inside caves for creative purposes and around dangerous conditions or to provide information to other folks. We already do this in the form of street signs, posters, art museums. We’re above the need to deface nature more than we already doing with polluntants and our garbage. Your argument is really just “well primitive folks graffiti’d so why can’t we?” It’s childish, educate yourself.
Some people are just born to be stupid.
Wonder what dear departed Cactus Ed would say about this. Much Vandalism has been done in the name of development in the parks which in his words have turned them into National Parking Lots. Vandalism does not get worse than the Glen Canyon dam or what has been done to our old growth forests in our National Forests (not sure there are any left). Don’t like what she did but way worse has been done in the name of development.
How can you say one is worse than another? One just as obscene as the other.
Have read the whole thing, got alittle to upset but do we know what kind of material she used? I´m just hoping it will wash away after the first rain.
Ment to write haven´t read the whole thing.
Acryllic paint.
Why comment if you haven’t read the article? She used acrylic paint it is not going to wash away.
heartbroken to see this. i go to the national parks to get away from the vandalism that’s in my city. i hope they are able to remove them, especially yosemite as i am planning a trip for next year and it will be horrible to see that when i go hiking.
This is why I hate social media. Narcissistic individuals with a concern for only themselves. This vandalism is the epitome of selfishness. Hopefully she will one day face an appropriate consequence.
Indeed, I also am very concerned about social media and how it promotes narcissism and self-involvement.
Yes, but if it wasn’t for her using Instagram and social media, she probably wouldn’t have been caught. So, yes, she is narcissistic, but thankfully that is the exact thing that helped get her caught.
Social media is no more to blame than nails or whatever they use to scratch into sandstone walls. How many users of social media haven’t done this kind of thing? Are we going to indict the millions because of a few fools and narcissists? There are many who use social media for the purpose of promoting the natural beauty of the world (myself included) and photography in general. We weren’t the ones doing this or supporting it. If anything needs to be indicted it is a culture of self privilege that is merely amplified by social media.
What a selfish, untalented, moron…..I think she should get community service in Barrow, AK.
This way her “art” work will melt in the spring. The fact that some are trying to defend her just confirms what is wrong with today’s America. No respect, courtesy nor class.
Obviously this portrays a lack of respect and appreciation for nature, the theory on art has certainly degraded in the modern times to absolute garbage, this has destroyed an otherwise beautiful location to no more than an eye sore!
All it takes is one person and others follow suite, have pride in the natural beauty which clearly surpasses your so-called art!! You should hang your head in shame and do the honorable thing in removing it!! How you will without further damage is beyond me but I hope you cop the heavy hand of the law to be made the example to others who might think defacing natural monuments or landmarks is okay!! Stupid B*!!
I the to break it to you, moron but, if an “indigenous” person did this today, they would also be in BIG trouble. But you are obviously too ignorant to understand that HISTORIC marks, left HUNDREDS of years ago are NOT in the same category as modern graffiti.
And why don’t you try to be a little more original that copying and pasting your same statement over and over? Oh, wait, you are obviously too stupid to come up with anything original to say.
Because that’s what a stamp is you fucking moron. It’s repetitious to prove a point so the observer never forgets. People like you make people like me sick to my stomach. Go to sleep already child.
Charges, anyone? State or Federal? If anyone’s earned it, it’s her. She can brighten up the walls of a cell, I’m that pissed.
Federal and State Parks. Clear law violations. Jail her egocentric ass. Her art sucks, to begin with. Damn, if your’e going to deface a national treasure, at least make it a Banksy.
Right?? These look like the doodles I used to make on the backs of notebooks when I was bored in high school. That’s where hers should’ve belonged. I hope that when she gets caught, Hey punishment (besides possible jail time) is cleaning up each one of these herself.
Yes! A perfect punishment. Except she’s so stupid and selfish that it would take two rangers to keep track of her and keep her from adding to the damage.
EXACTLY what I said :) belongs on a brown paper bag book cover….what a little dipshit
I think she should be sedated and then have her cheeks, arms and legs branded with a selection of her images. That sounds like an appropriate gallery for her art. Then she can have a lifetime to reflect on whether her placement is really defacement.
Or given a can of paint and locked in a 100 sq ft room for life. But I will be happy if she gets a felony on her account that will haunt her for life (think background checks for jobs, house rentals, possibly some travel restrictions), has to pay up the full cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars for removal of her ugly scribbles + a fine on top of that, has to publicly apologize, has to participate in the removal process by scrubbing the rocks with her own toothbrush under supervision (and pay the cost of such supervision), has to participate (for free) in educational programs about vandalism and give speeches to kids about the consequences of her poor life decisions and serve in restoration programs of other vandals’ scribbles and graffiti, and then gets a lifetime ban to all national parks and all state parks, forests and reservations.
I think that would give her something to do and think about, because she apparently doesn’t have anything creative to do (she can only do destructive things) and think about (she can only think about herself).
^That is a good idea!
Deeds — “It can be removed using biodegradable products and most times, you will not even know it existed. ” I would love to hear about some of these products. We get vandalism in the wilderness I patrol, and getting the paint and such off the rocks has been difficult.
Bodiemike – Try using Smart Strip. $21 a qt but it works and its enviromentally freindly.
Hey Dave B — Thanks for the tip. I will check it out. We are staying away from the toxic stuff; some of the spray paint is near creeks and in vegetation, and the cure might be worse than the problem. Often we just tip the boulders over and ‘remove’ it that way. But some of the spray paint is on granite slabs, so any ideas will be helpful.
More idiots like this ad we’ll soon have security lines at park entrances checking your backpacks and strict regulations on what you can bring in, like TSA at airports brought to you courtesy of a couple terrorists :/
1000 years ago she would be simply thrown off a cliff to set an example of what NOT to do, problem solved. But in modern day she will be fined a couple thousand dollars, get a suspended sentence and walk away with it, and we will all have to suffer by giving up some of our privileges of freedom and experiencing natural wilderness.
best response yet
You’re a horrible person. Too scared to put your art in a building in a city where you could get caught. So you put it in the wilderness. And you’re a horrible artist. Stick to a sketch pad, forever.
A sketch pad would be a waste of paper. Now, first of all BANSKY!!!??? Really, she thinks she’s in that company? And second, why didn’t she stay home and do this on daddy’s house? I’m sorry, but this really is one dumb-ass example of white privilege. I am so embarrassed to be an artistic, white female on the same planet as this bozo. Maybe 20years of house arrest with just prints of her fine art to look at.
Well I think make her clean up the mess she made and then some she needs to learn respect for the land. I would die if my children did that to our national parks let alone if it were someones wall or home, how shameful and disrespectful to us all.
A defining difference between vandalism graffiti and street art graffiti. Street art helps redefine human created environments and structures within public space thereby influencing social understanding within those environments. Vandalism graffiti of this nature reeks of inflated self-importance, selfishness and ignorance. Our national parks are some of the few places on this planet, certainly in this country, that allow us to step outside our humancentric lives and recognize just how insignificant we are as a species in comparison to the time span of this planet and diversity of life. Anything creative that happens there needs to respect that sanctity and work with it harmoniously, possibly exist temporarily and preferably happen with permission. Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty comes to mind. I can’t believe this girl is actually trying to compare herself to Banksy. Not only is her work poorly executed, it’s meaningless beyond her ego, she was using acrylic paint and markers on some of the most ancient landforms in this country, and she is a bragging serial offender.
If you don’t own it, don’t mark it!…Period…its not yours! Don’t touch other peoples stuff. ANYTIME!
Please don’t deface the natural beauty nature already has. Not everyone enjoys your work. And Natures Canvas has already been drawn on by God himself.
You all are going to look really stupid in a few thousands years when future archaeologists are studying her art the same way we study the Nasca Lines
You’re an idiot. Her work is horrible, a child could draw better. So you’re saying this is the only art they will be able to study in the future, not rushmore or any of the bronze statues or huge sculptures that are erected in every city? Try to not breed, because that would help our society not look so stupid as well.
There’s nothing special about her ‘art’; it’s simply a banal expression of cranky narcissism. Nature is best enjoyed pure.
You gotta have piss poor critical thinking skills to come up w/ that one Superabound1…nah, more like negative I.Q. points, (note, a dirt clod would be an example of zero I.Q.)
What the fuck is wrong with people these days?
Sign the petition to throw the book at her. I was # 3,307 … https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
Well poor girl trying to express herself through “art” I am sure she will have a lot of time and hope space in jail to express herself more and maybe a lot of extra acrylic paint
Catch this stupid bitch and punch her in the titties.
HA!!! I’d love to!
She’s no Banksy. She isn’t taking an ugly, urban area and making it more cultured, interesting or beautiful. She is nothing but a vandal and criminal. Her “art” is no improvement on the original creators!
You stupid cunt. Buy a sketch pad.
ha ha good one
Best comment by far!
LOVEE Kelly Dee…
It’s bad enough that she destroyed so many beautiful landmarks. But her “artwork” is awful and looks like something a child would do, and she thinks the world wants to see it? I hope she gets jail time.
For fuckin’ REAL!
Yes, for freakin’ real, she deserves federal time and MUST make restitution!
Lastly for the artist, her problem is that she went after national parks. She should go after symbols of capitalism and misogyny instead. What is politically wrong and in congruent with going after a national park? If your pissed about public property then you got that across. The context should match the idea. Also, I had a hard time reading and understanding your icon. I get it but create a different trademark than the smoking woman. Being of an industrial mindset, I would choose something slightly fascist and make it instantly recognizable. I would consider pop art methods. Okay?
You are familiar with the term “pretentious”
” She should go after symbols of capitalism and misogyny instead.”
Firstly, Thirdly, Finally, She’ll look pretty fucking good in an orange jump suit after she learn how to pluck her eyebrows without tweezers or razors. Fun fun. I’ve known quite a few people who have done 5 to 10 years for a whole hell of a lot less.
Being a narcisitic little asshole is her first problem. Thinking she is above the law somehow because she draws, extremely crappy art on beautiful scenery that belongs to all of us, is her second problem.
Being an inconsiderate cunt and assuming we want to see her shitty excuse for art or her spandex clad ass, is her third problem.
She’ll have several more to add to this list when the park service get done with her in court… and if she doesn’t there will be some people raising hell here in my neck of the woods.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. If she considers herself an artist, she should also ask herself what her art is trying to convey. By choosing these locations she is essentially saying, “My art supersedes natural beauty,” or possibly “I am anti-public spaces,” which are both acceptable statements she’s allowed to make if she can back them up (albeit there are probably more skilled ways to do that); however, her iconography is so off those topics that the viewer can only conclude she is a self-absorbed egotist with nothing but a lust to be popular. She comes off as an unimaginative narcissist, with a slight skill for doodling, while pretending to be an “artist” as an excuse to serve her ego. It’s unfortunate that it’s forced upon anyone who wants to experience the natural wonder and rare inspiration any of these spaces can offer.
Idiot
She should be sentenced to community service, placed on a trail maintenance crew, and learn exactly how hard people work to keep these places beautiful and accessible.
If she gets off with community service, someone had better have a really really good explanation as to why her and non of the other people who have sat in a federal pen. for years on end for less. And that she’s young and has her whole life ahead of her won’t cut it. I know people who didn’t get to see their children grow up and she’s nothing special.
If there is any sense in justice this is exactly what they will sentence her to do. Sling a pick ax and get to work.
Good one!!!
I agree, Mrs. L. She should be made to do it in Yellowstone…In December….
She may actually like trail maintenance. How about having her pick up trash along the side a of a busy urban interstate, while wearing an orange jumpsuit and banning her from National Parks?
She is playing on her supporters feelings and desires to begin a discussion about gender politics and property. I sympathize with that. I could name a hundred better ways to start this debate but not one better way to launch her name into the media. Her actions seemed geared to anger as many people as possible. If her actions were not meant to get people talking about the place of art or gender issues then what are they meant to do? What is she trying to do here? (OK done for the night)
Fuck you.
plus 1
Idiot
‘…launch her name into the media’. You said it. Self-serving, ignorant, disrespectful. Even if she was trying to spark discussion about gender politics and property (which I doubt crossed her mind), her approach obviously missed the mark by light years. Personally, I will never use her actions to utter a breath into that discussion.
She could stand on a soapbox outside a campaign rally for some pol who stands for misogyny and plutocracy — there are plenty of such politicians, and that is where much of the ugliness in America is. That needs no defacement of beauty.
Hey everyone – please take a second to read our follow-up post to this to see how we, as the outdoor community, can channel all this rage into something positive for the parks we love.
http://www.modernhiker.com/2014/10/23/why-the-creepytings-national-parks-vandalism-is-a-big-deal/
If someone finds you doing this and makes you eat your paint…. no sympathy from me.
You are a pig! How could you do this. You should be arrested and banned from parks, in fact anywhere outdoors. I am soooooo disgusted.
This is an example of a spoiled rotten brat.
Her clueless mother is to blame.
Spare no expense cleaning this mess up.
Send her the bill at her new residence in prison.
UPDATE: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_26787016/feds-chase-criminal-case-against-artist-who-marred
come on Earth you keep falling short in your weak attempt at inspiring awe that this great lady
decided to pick up your slack. evidently nature isn’t artsy enough for some.
There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
Susan, I’m in the same boat. If she’s just trying to leave her “mark” such as the original people of the land left theirs, then is it really necessary to financially end this woman’s life? Although, on the other end of the spectrum, she vandalized federally owned property that we all pay to maintain and keep beautiful, so she needs to be penalized. Both different perspectives, yeah.
Even if her intentions were in the right place, what if we all acted like this and left our “art” or “mark” around areas of raw nature- it would then be an unnatural environment and defeat the purpose of why we retreat to these parks.
Well what she did, we as a species have been doing for thousands and thousands of years though, right? And can anything even be considered truly unnatural in our world? What are artificial things but an amalgam of natural elements? I’m not a fan of her work, or her choice of canvas, but it’s really small potatoes compared to the much larger works of civilization, cities built and cluttered on areas that were once just as “pristine”. The only thing that ever strikes me as unnatural about the world is the way we humans create these divisions and borders, between natural and unnatural, all the while forgetting how everyone and everything is actually interconnected and interdependent. /endrant
THIS thread proves what the true damage done by such attention-seeking vandals results in: They get their 5 seconds of *fame* and all the insecure wannabes think it’s cool. So it becomes acceptable to people with no sense of respect for anything greater than their own Ego, who endorse & generate massive damage to this world. Each of you who wander through life like this are FAR more dangerous than Big Oil and all other entities of ABUSE and disrespect, which hopefully will end with this pathetic self-obsessed Me-Generation. It’s another symptom that nouns like ‘humanity’ and “Human BEING” have become meaningless, other than representing an endorsement of destructive self-aggrandizement and profiteering. Congratulations, and I’m glad I won’t be around to see your grandchildren trying to deal with the wasteland you’ll leave behind. Did your mommies never praise or hug you? Please, GROW UP before it’s too late.
@Blue Hey listen, I’m not endorsing her actions. I’m merely arguing that the ire and energy directed against her might be better redirected at bigger problems.
And I find it odd that you feel that you’re entitled to write me and a whole generation of people off as useless narcissistic and toxic bums, based off of my comment. Are you so free of fault and vice and selfishness that you can judge other people like that. Certainly I’m full of faults, and no doubt so are you, unless you belong to an alien species.
We’re all involved in the problems facing the planet. Though I would argue that big polluting companies are substantially more of a problem than us selfie takers when it comes to an issue global warming. (again not to shirk personal or age-peer participation).
Anyways is crucifying this woman over her shitty art going to solve anything? That’s all I was saying. I believe in treating people and nature with respect, and that includes those who I disagree with or who have wronged me or the world. All I was arguing for was moderation. Thanks for missing the point pal. Good day.
Edit: Moderation and Perspective was the point of my original argument.
Yes, it is necessary, to prevent the vain and stupid from following in her footsteps.
I am not so generous.
The ancients who left hints about their existence shared a narrative. They also didn’t have the options we do now to otherwise express themselves.
This woman is only lifting a leg, and trying to gain some undeserved fame by defacing wilderness with her narcissistic hand.
i love the people saying ’10 years of prison’. do you realise it costs like 30-40,000 $ a year to put someone in prison, not to mention the cost of the court process (you know, some of us still believe in Due Process, not mob violence).
i mean go find 1000 NPS employees… ask them what they could do with 30 grand a year – should it go to putting some stupid girl in prison for removable graffiti, or should it go to hiring another full time employee. See what they say.
the internet has come so far removed from reality… i dont know. scary stuff.
One bullet should takcare of it…Not that expensive….
serio, let’s throw her off a cliff. for reals.
It is worth it to discourage other vain idiots from doing the same
Thank you. Just want I was thinking. Some people are getting downright biblical over a layer of paint. We all agree it’s wrong, but reel it in a little. Or seek help.
(…just *what* I was thinking.)
How about 4 stakes, 4 wet rawhide straps, one ant hill. Some assembly required.
You people are ridiculous! Don’t you have something better to whine about? What she did was very beautiful and creative. She did not desecrate any property! Author of this, get a life!
Crass and cynical way to get your name out there for the promised reward of money. Yeah, I get the Dadaist subtext. Its a poor excuse along with the gender politics to create “controversy” . I could take virtually any action, put and object in an unusual context, or paint anything anywhere and make up a political or cultural reason why you just don’t understand it. It still wont make up for the fact that you lack talent and have no real ideas or reason other than your crass personal motivations.
There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
I understand the the thoughts about purity and what ColumbusFilm was arguing, However, I caution everyone around her that art and ideas are sold in the context of the capital system. her actions appear to be everything I despise about self promotion. Time and time again, infuriatingly it work sometimes. Will we allow our minds to be saturated with faulty arguments that are made for the sake of promotion?
Typing too fast. I meant this scheme works some times. Just look at Jeff Coons and so many others. Does it bother anyone that he and others like him have such a loud voice and spread what I consider mental pollution?
Neither beautiful, nor creative, and there are photos above of all the publicly held lands she desecrated.
Tell me you are joking Steve….please. She absolutely desecrated property. Property that belongs to all of us. If she wanted to have pictures of her art in the midst of natural beauty, she could have used chalk and let the rain wash it away. What she did is illegal for a good reason.
hey steve are you willing to bail her out of jail ? i didn’t think so then shut the fuck up !!!
Steve you are a fucking retard who probably really just wants to fuck her. This “property” is public wilderness that is protected for a reason. So stupid assholes like you and her can’t just slap paint on shit. And I frankly have no faith in her ability to DO the clean up. I seriously doubt she’s smart enough.
I say give her an orange jump suit, just like you would a kid from a trailer park who was born into the poverty stricken home of a server, or cook, on the border of one of these national parks.
She is nothing special. Her art is hardly more than something you might hang on the fridge for a your “special” 10 year old and just because she’s pretty, does not make her exempt from the law.
HAHAHAHAHA, thumbs up to you.
Yea Steve, you must be right…. We should definitely let anyone who wants to leave their mark on a national park, paid for by our tax dollars, so that some lady in spandex from New York can feel good about herself. In fact, let’s go ahead and allow littering as well, maybe throw a gas station or two in there to make it feel more like our hometown. Your level of simply not getting is laughable man. If you don’t see the value in keeping nature natural, at least have the courage to say so and the guts to stand behind it rather than leaving some thinly veiled insult at people who know some facts about nature and care about it. Unfortunately for all of us, dumb folks like you are all too common. Good luck in handling your idiocy bro, seems like it’s working well for you….
Piss off, troll.
It is the opposite of beautiful. It was kitschy and ugly. The park spaces are meant to only highlight the beauty of nature, not to showcase some bimbo’s utter lack of talent and creativity.
The spaces she destroyed were not hers to alter in any way.
Of course she did. She is a spoiled, self-centered bitch. Her destruction was not just in poor taste, she broke the law. If she wants to paint, she should buy some canvas. My tax dollars are used all the time for things I don’t like, so I’d certainly endorse spending some money to keep her in an orange jumpsuit for a few years. Maybe make her paint some cells whiles she’s there.
i am an artist. When I was building a name I showed insulting, controversial and/or political images and was trying to over expose myself. We were known as a jaded, sarcastic and apolitical group of artists. This is beyond cynical, selfish and crass to pretend this has anything to do with art or gender politics. Its about money. Someone who would do this to further their career almost always has no artistic talent. I am sure that she really cant paint and doesn’t know what she is doing intellectually.She just knows how to be loud and get negative attention. what a POS
the park service already has procedures in place to deal with vandalism, and guided tours already talk about not doing vandalism. just let them do their job. i cant imagine how a ranger would feel being forced to do OT watching some girl wash paint off a rock when there are more important things to deal with, like people having heart attacks, kids getting lost, maintenance crumbling, etc.
its kind of hilarious how much people hate this girl, considering the real, actual bad stuff that happens in parks (go ask someone at Big Bend what their top 3 problems are, it aint girls painting stupid pictures).
ehh.. uhm… on the list of bad things people do to national parks, this is not really that bad. i mean its bad, dont get me wrong. someone will have to go wash it off some of these places… but there are much bigger threats…
for example uhm, insufficient budgeting for maintenance? confusion between BLM, Forest Service, and Park Service? Confusion between Parks and National Recreation Areas? Politically driven decisions to make some obscure tiny house into a national park, when there are huge tracts of amazing land that are not being protected at all? massive amounts of red tape causing large amounts of man hours to be lost to filling out paperwork instead of fixing broken stuff?
lets not even go into the drug dealers… i mean its funny how people are more angry at this girl than they would be at some illegal pot farmer who sets booby traps on federal land.
Maybe the point of this is to confront us with the question: If defacing nature with artwork is this infuriating, why isn’t it 10x more infuriating when nature is defaced with pavement, pollution, mining, drilling, dams, etc.? However “ugly” her paintings have been, that’s just an aesthetic thing. At least they don’t threaten ecosystems or contribute to our C02 ppm.
“I’m angry at her because she’s a terrible person, I would never deface a piece of nature for my own pleasure like she’s doing!” OK, are you sure? Your power, gas, water and garbage bills are proof that you’re participating in practices that are only made possible by much more destructive things than painting a rock.
If a high % of people are outraged at this, it goes to show that preserving nature’s beauty is a high priority to most people. Maybe it’s an instinct. Then why are environmentalists pushed to the fringe, why do we continue to pollute and destroy, if most people feel this way? We’ve been desensitized to the reality of the damage our economy does to the planet, and we’re accustomed to a system where money buys you the ability to destroy and nobody can do anything about it.
So……., why do we throw the book at teenaged local for doing the same thing? BECAUSE if they DIDN”T EVERY DOUCHE BAG WITH PAINT WOULD BE HERE DOING THIS SHIT!!! Anonymous Coward…, you picked the right name buddy rough. I have lived between Canyonlands and Arches National Parks since 1965, and believe me, this is way worse that confusion, or drug dealing. These rocks didn’t ask her to sell them some dope. They don’t need fresh toilet paper. What the fuck are you talking about even? The two things have nothing to do with one another and your reasoning is faulty (I’m being kind). We live with tourists who feel like they are the only people to trod this land every damn day all year long and believe me Mr. Coward, it gets fucking old!!! So do yourself and everyone else on here a favor and shut the fuck up. You don’t have the tiniest grasp of the implications caused by allowing this kind of behavior. So you go back to worrying about drug dealers and beaurocrats (which I highly doubt you understand fully in any case), and let the people who are in charge do their jobs.
I don’t think she should be trusted to clean that up. I think she should pay for that to be done.
This is A disgrace to art! thanks a lot you stupid bitch!!!!! Your art sucks!!! I hope they lock you up for a long time.
reminds me of some other defacement…can’t put my finger on it…oh yeah… Mt. Rushmore http://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm
TOTALLY
Oh, I forgot the part where the designers and sculptors of Mt. Rushmore were talentless hacks who acted with no one’s approval. How could that have slipped my mind.
you are a bad person and you should feel bad. grafitti is meant to reclaim the defacings of the earth (buildings, brands) and here you are defacing the EARTH itself. leave no trace..
Is that really the justifications that idiots now give for scrawling thier stunted crap everywhere? “I vandalize because I’m striking a blow against reality”
I’m equally horrified by a. her incredibly bad art b. her egotistical misguided; pathetic bid for attention. RE: the bad art; I am a professional fine artist/educator. I would be all over any of my college art students who drew this poorly. Amazing that she is proud of her deed. I see no excuse; and yes; she should be held responsible for her actions under our State Parks law’s…..State Parks that preserve the natural beauty of our land; belong to everyone; and need to be protected by everyone.
These are NATIONAL Parks, not State Parks. It is so strange how few people grasp the differences in public lands.
She’s looking at a federal felony conviction here. What a dimwitted, self-absorbed, talentless twit. Maybe she can decorate her cell.
The “art” is terrible and she’s putting acrylic (which is plastic) paint all over national parks. Gross.
unbelievable that someone would have such blatant disregard for the desires of others as she tries to foist her “artwork” on others. This is a grand OYE VAY moment!! Drum her out of the core and have her walk the short plank.
Steve……………. I think I speak for quite a few people when I say, “Fuck you, you are dumb. Shut up. Get a life and have a bowl of shit for dinner. Someday you will get punched in the face, and if I could watch, I’d laugh, because you deserve it. We have to keep laws about where to walk and were not to because of stupid assholes like you. You are a waste of skin”.
What a low-life jerk.
If you feel like painting a landscape do it on canvas. Don’t deface a National Park.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
i think her comment about drawing on gravestones was facetious. surely she understands tombstones ARE private property. if she truly believe she is a graffiti artist, may i suggest the side of her apartment building. if she lives in a condo, i wonder how her neighbors would react.
comments suggesting violence to her are not called for. a stint in prison would be a good punishment.
The thing about gravestones is from that fake Tumblr.
Interestingly, a friend of the REAL Casey has popped up on Twitter to defend her (look for the #creepytings hashtag).
No different that what white people have been doing since 1492. Defacing Native America. Send her back where she came from.
Postmodernism has done you no favors
Well said rauh!
The really pitiful thing about this, is, if all she really wanted to produce was Instagram postings, she could have taken pictures and used Photoshop to add her ‘art’, leaving the landscape untouched.
Even chalk would have been preferable to using acrylic. WTF was she thinking? Her art sucks anyway, TBH. My 14 year old draws a lot better than this.
This vandal must be caught, prosecuted, and given the maximum punishment for her destructive deeds. I’d say that 10 years in a federal prison ought to give her time to think about the difference between art and vandalism, though I doubt whether she has the mental capacity to do any deep thinking about anything. It is also my belief that anytime the term “graffiti art” is used by anyone in the art establishment, it glorifies and encourages this sort of vandalism. Graffiti is not art, it is crime.
Man has been doing this forever. Mount Rushmore? Who gave those men permission to carve their idols into that mountainside? What if the native Americans in that area didn’t like those “figures”? Do we really own property, or do we just claim some for a period of time? It seems that most of you here are demanding gallows for the person in subject: You may want to consider what it means for someone to temporarily claim a space of land, be it with paint or money or physical force, as well considering what it means to lock someone up inside of a cage. I urge you to think outside of our individual societal context and seriously re-calibrate your moral compass.
Idiot, the Indians where scared of the black hills. They didn’t live there, they were only interested in the hills after… They realized the hills had monetary value.
So that makes this right? I think your moral compass is askew.
Crass and cynical way to get your name out there for the promised reward of money. Yeah, I get the Dadaist subtext. Its a poor excuse along with the gender politics to create “controversy” . I could take virtually any action, put and object in an unusual context, or paint anything anywhere and make up a political or cultural reason why you just don’t understand it. It still wont make up for the fact that you lack talent and have no real ideas or reason other than your crass personal motivations.
I never said it makes anything “right”. This is about consideration, not justification. Now I ask you: What makes it right to lock someone away in a cage? Painting on rocks that .0000001% of the population will see before nature erases it?
Locking people in cages is expensive and ineffective. A flogging with a whip would be a lot cheaper and would put some permanent graffiti on her body to help her remember the lesson. If she can put ugly marks on our parks then we should be able to do the same to her body.
The National Parks are preserve for all to enjoy, and remain one of fewer and fewer places to witness relatively unspoiled wilderness. Most people visit these places to have a visual cleansing of things like street art. Society created these laws, and we’re all part of it, like it or not. You can wax philosophical about land ownership until your brain hemispheres reverse, but what she did is objectively wrong.
“…until your brain hemispheres reverse…”
EXCELLENT!
Good point. However, I still think she show extremely poor taste and judgement.
Good thing I wasn’t there, We have worked so hard for many years to keep the wilderness as we find it, this is the work of scumbags and they shouldn’t allowed out of their straight jackets and cells!!!
very, very sad to say that this horrible person is responding through tumblr – and in reading her posts, she obviously didn’t care one bit about what she did – she sadly seems extremely proud of herself and what she did….I sincerely hope that the powers that be are reading all of her replies and adding that into how they press charges against her…http://creepytings.tumblr.com/
I saw those, too – I’m 99% sure that’s no longer her running that Tumblr, though.
You can’t fix stupid. But you can publicly fine it and put it to work under tight supervision.
I forwarded this story to CNN. They followed the story about the two Scout leaders in UT topping over the rock formation, so maybe they will pick this up.
That land belongs to the native Americans. Anyone interested in justice should be actively campaigning to give it back and stop destroying it with park service bs.
She just couldn’t shit in her own Wheaties, she had to shit in ours.
PLEASE SIGN AND SHARE WIDELY: Charges will be brought against Casey Nocket, that is not the issue (I am a former NPS ranger). The issue is the sentencing. She should be fined the maximum amount allowable by law, and the cost of restoration and repair at each park she desecrated (that includes graffiti removal – which she should perform herself – the cost of removal supplies – including personal protective equipment, the cost of staff time at each park in dealing with the issue – including the cost of a ranger sitting there observing her while she performs the removal and interpreting the removal to the public), she should have to document the whole process on social media, including releasing a public statement about the inappropriateness of the forum in which she chose to share her (crappy) artwork, AND she should pay for the development of graffiti/vandalism education programs at each park. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
Given that she used acrylic paint rather than chalk, I’m tempted to think the maximum penalty prescribed by law IS appropriate.
Deeds: Thank you for your input. As a professional artist, I am deeply distressed about this. It is an example of someone who is not educated enough to make a distinction between graffiti on an abandoned building slated for demolition and a gorgeous form of nature. This is indicative of an immature ego that thinks it is at a certain artistic level and it isn’t. It saddens me. Yes, she should clean up her mess for sure, and on a humorous note, a pro should step forward and give here some drawing lessons, because the work is weak and cliche at best.
SIGNED. I hope this has a lasting effect on her career. No remorse. Makes me sick.
Hey Deeds! I have shared the petition on all my social media feeds and with all of our local media in Utah. I encourage everyone to do the same. More coverage, more signatures!
I’ve shared the petition link with all of our local media in Utah who are covering the story, please share it with your local media. More coverage, more signatures!
Excellent post, Deeds!
Shared on my hiker groups on FB and twitter. I was dismayed when the dimwits that pushed over the rock formation in Goblin Valley got off nearly scott free! I have also signed the petition; I hope this changes things! I live in the Southwest and have hiked for years in natures’ beauty; it is my cathedral. This makes me so very angry and saddens my soul!!!
Not Art. The only artistic quality of her chicken scratch, is that it represents destruction of pure art. A degradation that is an insult and affront to anyone who understands the real treasure of the National Parks. She’s lucky I didn’t come across her on the trail while she was engaging in her degeneracy.
Whether it was good or bad art is beside the point anyway. As someone else observed in a different group I go to, “Even if it was Michaelangelo carving the Mona Lisa onto my stomach, I’d still be mad.”
Will be in wilderness later today. If I encounter anyone painting with acrylic they will have chosen instantaneous death.
She needs to be prosecuted and forced to pay the costs of cleaning up her “art.” Period. She has been selfish and thoughtless and inconsiderate of others. The NPS knows who she is – it’s time she gets charged for each and every act of vandalism.
What a pretentious ass. Egomaniac. Sick. Stupid.
Its JUST by the grace of God himself that she has the common sense to whipe her own ass…Idiot
Heading into wilderness today. If I encounter anyone painting in acylic they will have chosen death.
@ Exabachay,
You have any tobacco? Love the name
Even chalk is defacing the natural element for the time the it exists. It takes time for either nature to wash it off or someone else. In the meantime the image is there for all to see – and her “art” is not what I go to these places to see. Her “art” or that of any one else (but looking at her’s especially) cannot compare to the “art” that nature has already created.
If you are in a National Park and have any paint you get a $3000.00 fine and should be banded from all parks for ten years. While it won’t solve the problem entirely it would be a start
But…what if you bring canvas, and like to paint landscapes, and are truly inspired by unspoiled wilderness? It’s not paint that’s the problem, it’s entitled fools like her.
Art Schmart. She came into MY HOME and destroyed, defaced and vandalized. Tourist dollars? Yup, the local economy needs them. Do we need this kind of garbage going on? No! One more example of the “entitled tourist”. Would you, you narcissistic idiot, go into someone’s house and take a crap on the living room rug? No? Then please don’t leave your crap behind you here. I live in Canyon Country. These parks (many of them) are in my back yard, and have been my playground for all of my life. Multiple generations of my family have been stewards of these lands. How dare you, you psycho? Keep your NYC BS in NYC. By the way, since these parks are FEDERAL, how do you like the idea of prison? Document your stupidity for your 15 minutes of fame? Hope your sentence is worth it……
Not all NYC folks are assholes, nor would they do such a thing. I live in a major tourist area, people from all over are nincompoops. Many of our beautiful sites have been desecrated by “good heartland” people. Don’t make this into an “East Coast elitist” thing. It damages your argument, which is a very good argument. (I am not an East Coast elitist defending my tribe.)
Don’t blame NYC, that’s not where she’s from. She’s from the Catskills so she should know better.
She is a fool! Can I go to her house and paint it lime green zebra stripes? The cool artist respects his / her natural surroundings!
What she is is an imbecile. Wrong move missy! Posting your stuff on instagram made you easy prey for the feds! You may get your opportunity yet… I’ll paint the pic for you….that is she will be painting the jailcell walls! Loser with a capital L.
Chas,
Every time I take a dump, I look at the output and think about how artistic I am. Perhaps Nocket would appreciate it if I go to her house, after a large meal of raw onions and cabbage washed down with Guinness, and leave my art all over her house. I will sign it “crappytings” in homage. She will appreciate my art.
Bumart
Good job, Casey.
I had to endure vandalism at Joshua Tree National Park and Pinnacles National Park last year on a trip to beautiful California. While it didn’t make me slit my wrists, it was disturbing and it wasn’t anything I expect when I visit National Parks. I see this crap all over the place at State Parks and Forest Preserves, but that’s expect since people are mainly morons.
This woman is a p.o.s. and represents what many Americans are turning into: narcissistic showoff morons. And even worse, she’s not a good artist. Not good at all.
I hope some government agency charges her with something. Let her spend a few months in the heat erasing her crappy illustrations.
the “Entitlement Generation.”
How sad that people are so ignorant…how would you like if I went a smeared shit all over your house walls…and said..(oh my bad I know I shouldn’t have…but hears a handful of shit)..ignorance is a curable disease;)
He name should be “Casry Nocket Off”
The saddest part about all of this is that even if she’s punished by the law, the parks she’s defaced won’t be restored to what they were.
I am a former NPS ranger who personally created the graffiti recordation and removal program in the park I worked at. It can be removed using biodegradable products and most times, you will not even know it existed. Ms. Nocket should be charged the cost of that “restoration and repair” including all equipment, products, and personal protective gear, PLUS the cost of paying the hourly salary of a NPS ranger to manage her work and interpret the removal process to the public.
Cost of restoration and repair would be nice… but this offense deserves Prison time. This b*tch deliberately, repeatedly, and knowingly committed Federal Felony offenses. She should be going away for 5-10 years. I wish I had a statute to cite… I’d love to know if prison time is even an available option.
Oh, I’m advocating for the maximum allowable fines by law – including jail time – these are just additional things that I feel should be added onto the sentence.
And this is the federal code citation: Vandalism, as described in the Code of Federal Records, 36 CFR 2.31(a)(3): Destroying, injuring, defacing, or damaging property or real property.
Deeds: 36 CFR 2.31 clearly says what she did is illegal, but its not clear in that section what penalties may apply. Still, thanks for the info.
there are too many people in prison in this country. its hilarious how many bad things happen in parks and people somehow want to throw her in prison. do you have any idea how much it costs to put someone in prison?
imagine if you took the money it would take to keep her in prison, and instead gave it to NPS for upkeep and maintenance.
the justice system does not exist so that angry internet bloggers can indulge in revenge fantasies. there are many many worse crimes being committed in parks all the time, strangely enough i doubt they will get as big a reaction.
What would putting her in prison accomplish? She will be caught, a more appropriate punishment administered, and she will have to live with the embarrassment and notoriety of being known as the narcissist who did this. She won’t be able to talk her way out of it, which I suspect is what she expects. Yes, she needs to be held accountable, but she also needs some serious mental health help. What bothers me most about your comment (and others), though, is the lack of compassion for someone who clearly is somehow disconnected with society and maybe with reality in some fundamental way. The paint will weather away pretty quickly. I wonder, though, what the viciousness of some of these comments says about our society, where children are daily vandalized. Are you speaking out and working to make your community a safer place for them? Or anything?
spoken like someone who’s never done jail time! lol Send the bitch to the federal pen. Believe me, she’s not going to feel cool wearing that gut up!
This is too lenient. She should also, since these are national forests be brought up on federal charges for each and every one of these offenses, and fined in addition to the fees AND cleanup costs. Other vandal artists (including Banksy) know that they shouldn’t deface these natural landscapes, which are being preserved in an attempt to have less human impact on them.
Sorry if my post wasn’t clear – This is what I feel she should be sentenced to in addition to jail time and whatever else is allowable by law. Plus, she should pay for the cost of transporting her to all of the affected sites, and the cost of her room and board while performing the graffiti removal.
Deeds — What biodegradable products do you use? We encounter spray paint on granite in the wilderness I patrol, and have had a tough time getting it off. The products we use are not that effective; stronger products would cause problems for the wilderness. Thanks in advance.
Oh, yes, and sign the petition: https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
It’s just another way to get public attention on this thoughtless, selfish person, and hopefully bring some pressure to bear on the law enforcement folks to make sure there are public consequences for public “art.”
Thanks for the link! I signed & shared encouraging others to as well.
This all could have been avoided if she had just done her drawings in chalk.
Doing the drawings in chalk does not mean anything. She broke the law, regardless of the medium used. Per the park service’s news release:
“Vandalism, as described in the Code of Federal Records, 36 CFR 2.31(a)(3): Destroying, injuring, defacing, or damaging property or real property.”
She willfully defaced national (I’d jump to saying international) treasures, all because she seems to suffer from delusions of her own greatness.
How could she have avoided all this? By not doing it at all, ever.
every time anyone walks a trail they are damaging property. every time they Build a trail they are damaging property. every time someone drives their car it damages property through the air pollution and the engine oil runoff. in countless other ways, there is damage done simply by people being there. people need to get some perspective.
if she had used chalk it would have rained and washed off by now. problem solved.
this is a perfect example of a sort of group-think internet hate squad that is out of all proportion with reality. sure its bad, but the NPS has had procedures in place for many years to discourage vandalism and to deal with it. its not the first time someone did something stupid in a park and it wont be the last. Throwing everyone in jail who is young and dumb is the perfect way to perpetuate the prison industrial complex – you know, what liberalism is supposed to be against.
Interesting perspective. I’m on the fence about this right now.
Good thoughts. Once in the FS, I did a 1 yr eval on a site we had partly logged out for habitat creation. In spite of some problems with the contract operator going in with heavy machinery on unfrozen soil, the site looked good: lots of new growth, good soil cover, and signs of wildlife. Soil compaction was minimal, even where the machinery had been. Out of curiosity, I tested soil compaction on a hiking trail that ran near the site. The trail was heavily compacted: a ribbon of soil as hard as asphalt, and this wasn’t even a heavily used trail. It was, however, representative, and one reason we encourage people to stay on trails: to minimize damage elsewhere.
Or hadn’t done the drawings at all.
You take a picture of the site you want to draw, and then do it all in photoshop. Viola!
It is very sad to see how people can so easily disrespect and vandalize nature for their own misguided and self-absorbed reasons. i personally hope she is caught and heavily fined if not given some prison time.
This story will be long dead by the time the government goes after her. If the government is anything, it’s methodical.
What a bitch! Those lands belong to US, not her selfish pride in crappy art. I hope she gets the slammer for life. How damn stupid are yoou Casey?
Her art is an intrusion on nature.
Wow, how horrific. This is precisely the reason I’m so dismayed that the book (and soon the movie) “Wild” has gotten so popular: more people in the few wild places we have left means more damage. Not that this person was necessarily inspired by “Wild”, I’m just saying that… If there’s one moronic, selfish, “it’s only one picture” or “toilet paper is biodegradable” idiot per thousand visitors, and the number of thousands keep increasing, there is only more and more damage. There are so many places we’ve already ruined as a species, but perhaps it’s our species’ destiny to destroy every last wild place with our imprint before we realize (a little too late) that those selfsame places sustain us. Whoops.
Stupid b**ch, put year in jail for a year so she can think about it.
Just to clarify, even if it were good, it’s not okay. But if I were her I would be embarrassed to claim that crap.
You’re an idiot. It has nothing to do with her gender and everything to do with her vandalizing public property.
hit wrong reply button this was for the sexism post below
I’m going to give this only a 2 out of 10 for trolling. You can do better
Stop abusing this woman. This is another example of men condemning women, and how spaces are male spaces – owned and managed by the patriarchy. This artist is leaving her mark, and it’s because she’s a woman and because she is invading (penetrating!) the male spaces that she is being victimised. She needs to be left in peace and supported as she is fighting against abuse and making a stand on what it means to be a survivor in a hostile place.
Being a woman does not exempt her from being an idiot, there is no correlation between your idea of gender and responsible acts of humanity.
Sure, stop abusing this woman, but not because she’s a woman.
You’re kidding right? Surely you can’t be that far off the reservation.
WOW! what a very stupid comment
I don’t think this is a gender issue. It’s clearly a vandalism issue.
You’re crazy! She is defacing federal property set aside to be enjoyed for its natural beauty. Nobody has the right to do this, male or female.
Fail troll is fail. I applaud your humorous take on feminists, however.
Shut the fuck up.
Are you serious? This has got to be the most moronic comment I’ve ever read. And I’m a woman!
how on earth is this about feminism? this is about illegally defacing gorgeous and natural national property, and ruining it for women and men alike. take your penetration elsewhere.
This has nothing to do with her being a woman. It has a lot to do with the way she is vandalizing the area
Whaaat?! I’m a conservator, a feminist and a woman and I think what she’s doing is outrageous, and it has nothing to do with her being a woman, but a person that lacks any respect for natural and cultural heritage that belongs to everybody. How on earth is he fighting against abuse by posting photos on instagram? It’s not like she’s leaving any meaningful message, only poorly drawn faces.
Are you serious right now? I truly hope that was sarcasm. It doesn’t matter one bit if this “artist” is a man or a woman, they are defacing the natural beauty of our national parks, and therefore they suck and should be penalized, end of story. She is NOT being abused and she is NO victim, she is a criminal.
Oh god I hope this is bait. Go back to tumblr. This is about defacing the natural beauty of a place.
No, you idiot – pay attention to the article instead of trolling to spread your opinions about something entirely unrelated. It’s because she’s defacing public treasures. The same would go for a man if he were committing the same desctructive acts.
What! Are you joking? Look how this women has now changed this landscape forever by leaving HER mark and invading other visitors private visit to these public lands. You should wake up to the MODERN WORLD….what she has done is not one but several felonies. It’s not that it’s a women than done this if it was a man I would have said the same thing!
Seriously? She’s fighting nothing but common sense and the rights of all others to enjoy beautiful, historic sections of our country. The pictographs are literally irreplaceable. Do you understand what that means? This person is so self centered she believes she can ‘tag’ the Parks. How would you feel if a gang member painted your car, house, or other property? I suggest you move to Germany where there is a female Prime Minister.
No one is abusing this woman. They’re reporting on a vandal. If a man did the exact same thing he would face the same charges for vandalism. This isn’t a feminism issue. Rosa Parks didn’t go tag the Lincoln monument for racial equality.
I hope this is satire
if you had actually read the article I feel you would have noticed that gender plays no role here. Your’e either a fake feminist, and trust me I’ve met real ones, a troll, or an idiot.
Lololololololololololololololololololololololololololol omg I can’t breathe Lolololololololololol
ololol! !!
She deserves criticism, and legal action against her. what she does not deserve, what no woman deserves, is harassment, misogynist slurs, and threats of violence.
It would be super nice if, for once, a woman could be held accountable as a human being, and not subject to a dehumanizing internet campaign from people who don’t give a hot damn about the damage she’s done, and just see the opportunity and justification to attack and abuse a woman.
Believe it or not, there IS a middle ground between “misogynist ranting” and “why won’t people just let this poor troubled white girl destroy natural history with her self-absorbed territorial pissing,” but I’m rapidly losing my faith in the ability of people to pull it off.
These are not “male spaces,” these are COLONISED SPACES, and she’s showing a horrifying lack of interest in what she colonises even further. There is no excuse for this, and even as an anarchist and supporter of public art and guerrilla gardening, this is inexcusable, vulgar, and selfish.
Tell me, what color is the sky on the planet you live on?
This has nothing to do with her gender, she does not own the property she is creating her art ( a stretch of a definition ) on, we all do. If she wants to make political statements, fine. On her land, not ours.
This worthless piece of human garbage deserves all the contempt the world can bring to bear for her self absorbed actions. So incredibly heated right now.I hope she gets prison time!!!
Heh. Funny. :D
Not a gender issue at all. She needs to be prosecuted just like those two fat-ass dudes who pushed that hoodoo off a while back in Utah.
Not disagreeing….just laughing at the obvious troll. A gender issue? ..It’s kinda funny. I think they are making a funny and trying to rile people. So, I was laughing.
No. Seriously, though. This girl commuted a federal offense and then bragged about it because she is not a smart woman. She is some deep doo-doo. Unless her parents pay to keep her out of trouble, which they probably will because, money….it’s actually really embarass..for everybody :\
Wow, Critfem, really? You privilege your abstract notions over indigenous heritage? What an embarrassment you are to all feminists!
BS. She is a selfish vandal who deserves to be prosecuted.
You’re a moron. I’m a woman. Her art isn’t even good. I hope they throw the book at the attention grabbing vandal. As though her crap can add any beauty to what MOTHER NATURE has already created.
Guys, this is a troll pretending to be a SJW. That, or someone who’s so far gone that replies are useless, take your pick.
Are you out of your fucking mind?
That is one of the moist idiotic things I’ve ever read. She is not fighting for survival, she is deliberately defacing national property for celebrity. She has no soul.
She needs to be arrested and prosecuted. IT has nothing to do with her sex, just her poor decision making skills. It’s funny how some women see the sexist devil in every issue!!!
Oh please–the general response to boy scout leaders destroying rock formations last year was identical to this one. Maybe you’re fine with the domination of nature so long as it’s done by women, but many of us repudiate gender bias.
Translating Critfem’s comment: Casey should get a free pass to vandalize national treasures because she has a vagina.
I’d be just as angry if a male defaced a national park. And I AM a female, I’d never do something like this, which I consider being disrespectful to nature. Paint doesn’t belong in nature, and if I saw a gorgeous mountain and that kind of crap happened to be within my view, I wouldn’t even take a picture, because the shot would be completely ruined. People go out in nature to appreciate NATURE. If you want to see art, you go to an art museum. Which is where art belongs.
That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever read. Your Women’s Studies instructor ought to be fired.
The natural environment is the female in this case, and the defacer – the person invading and destroying the natural – is the guilty party here, the “male” in your equation.
Anthropomorphizing national parks for the sake of dogma is defeatist when it doesn’t work for you, right? See how silly that is?
-a woman park ranger who hates having to clean up after jerks like this one
Some of the language used by some of those condemning the bad artist is sexist, and that’s unfortunate. The bad artist’s own tumblr page tries to make this about being anti-female, too. That’s ridiculous for most of the folks who feel outrage, but some of you should consider the language you use when condemning what I 100% agree is a disgusting case of narcissistic, selfish, self-important stupidity. I’d condemn her actions even if she was a good artist, but it’s even easier when the work has no redeeming qualities, because then when she tries to compare herself to Oscar Wilde, it just further confirms all the character flaws I already suspected by looking at her idiotic actions in the first place.
WHAT
NO
That is a ridiculous stance. I am a woman, and am offended by what she is doing, enough to comment. The fact that she is offending this many people should make you realize the extent of the violation. “She needs to be left in peace and supported as she is fighting against abuse and making a stand on what it means to be a survivor in a hostile place” there are other ways to express herself, or other canvas’. Using precious landmarks, earth’s resources, and just plain stomping on the natural beauty is irresponsible and to quote my friend “ENTITLED”. So stop making excuses for her
You are literally retarded if you think she’s in trouble because patriarchy. This comment actually elevated my blood pressure due to it’s sheer stupidity and inanity. I lose sleep at night over the fact that ignorant, reactionary, offense-seeking absolute MORONS like you exist. You are what’s wrong with modern feminism.
BULLSHIT Critfem!!!!!!!!!! Gender my ass! If you, as a visitor to MY HOME (Yes, I live in Canyon Country, and several of the parks this stupid bitch defaced are in my back yard, and have been my playground for all of my life) can not treat it with more respect than that; if you came to destroy in an effort to make your mark on something greater than you are; if you can not come to appreciate and leave nothing behind but the mark of your hiking boot, then STAY AWAY! And people wonder why the locals seem to hate tourists more each and every year. We depend on your money, true enough. However, you are still a GUEST HERE!!!!! And Critfem, just for the record, I am female and a women’s rights activist. YOU however, are a stupid, trolling, pathetic Cow!
I’m a woman and I hope she gets jail time. Do you think I want to see her art or any type of art (including Banksy) at natonal parks. Nature alone is art.
Okay, that was a cute attempt at “parodying a social justice warrior”, little troll. Run along and let the grownups talk now.
No need to play the gender card here. I would be just as infuriated at a man doing this. Remember the idiots who knocked over rock formations in Goblin Valley? They were men and people were just as pissed.
This is a troll. Don’t feed it.
She is a vandal. That she is a “she” is not really relevant to the fact that she is a vandal. She is fighting against abuse by abusing our public lands? Brilliant.
What a ridiculous rant! She is welcome to paint on canvas – not on nature. What she did & is doing is wrong. The earth is not ours to deface. This has absolutely nothing to do with gender.
You sir, along with this crazy egocentric woman, are idiots. Two of the weakest links. Ever. Morons, idiots, and the epitome of what is wrong with our educational system. Look up the definitions for the words I’ve used here in what is called A BOOK at what is called A LIBRARY. Ask your mom to take you when she brings your bagel bites down to the basement. Oh and try to stay down there while the adults are talking. If you don’t know the subject stay out of the conversation.
She being a woman has nothing to do with the criticism. She being a destructive moron does. Remember last year when the two idiotic scout ‘leaders’ (both MALE) toppled ancient rock formations in Goblin Valley? They were called out publicly, prosecuted in court, and there was no pass for them for being male. CRITFEM’s comment seeks to justify what’s unjustifiable with the lamest of excuses.
are you nuts?! She is painting in ACRYLIC paint, defacing some of what beautiful scenery we have left at national parks! it don’t matter if she’s a knuckle dragging troll!! it’s illegal! I like to hike, when I’m out on a trail, I don’t wanna see no mess like this
She needs to realize that what she did was vandalism and that we all, men and women, own these beautiful places not just her. She’s an idiot. And this rant proves that you’re also an idiot.
CRITFEM,
That was a remarkably skilled troll post. I didn’t know that people still fell for these things in 2014.
In fact, I’m wondering if the main article is a joke, bus sadly I don’t think it is.
She needs a good spanking!
this is pure and simple bull-pucky. it has nothing to do with feminism. feminism is about being responsible and not destructive to our surroundings.
parks are not male spaces. how stupid a comment is that. they belong to all of us. as a woman AND a feminist i find her attitude to be reprehensible. the fact that she climbed on petroglyphs to paint her graffiti shows how little respect she has for ANYTHING.
tell you what casey, i am feeling particularly artistic this morning, how about if i paint inside your apartment/house.
i really hope your comment, critem was being facetious, because nothing you said has any validity and makes no sense.
“Critfem” I wonder if you’re really a man parodying what he thinks feminists are like. If you are female, you need to work on growing up and realizing that throwing acrylic shit on Mother Nature isn’t a feminist position.
Interesting perspective. There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
Why yes, we at The Patriarchy have made National Parks as male only spaces. I mean, you can just see the “Males only” signs at the entrances to the parks. We at The Patriarchy shall condemn this woman for violating the male only National Parks with her graffiti.
I don’t like this artistic statement very much at all for being so egocentric that you choose to impose your personal being and insignificant statement onto our shared world. Who do you think you are? What gives you this right? Please stop ruining the amazing beauty of our natural world, it’s not about you… it’s about us and our shared future.
You should change the name of the article. When I shared it it looks like I’m promoting drawing in parks.
Should say; Desperate attention seeker, vandalizes National parks and Monuments, in hopes of gaining recognition for her talentless drawings. THE ONION.
I wish this story wasn’t true….seriously, what is wrong with people? Oh, yeah. Narcissism. Selfishness. A touch of “affluenza”, perhaps?
You had one job, parents. One job.
What goes through this awfull persons mind when she does this?
“Me. ME. Me. ME…….”
In answer to your question, air.
It would be one thing if her “art” was any good but holy shit, that’s like a stoned 3rd grader was given crayons! Seriously, that isn’t art. It is crap. If you think her “art” is good, you really have no aesthetic taste.
Lol
I second that. It looks like middle school doodling.
I’m going to go out on a limb here, and say that it’s art. GOOD is not the point, expression is.
But seriously, express yourself somewhere else. There are literally MILLIONS of legitimate venues for public artwork, if you NEED attention that badly. To deface any public property is deplorable, but defacing the natural beauty of the national parks? Seriously????
For the good of humanity and the natural resources entrusted to us for their preservation, keep Casey Nocket out of public parks.
I feel that before making judgments about someone else’s actions one should ask themselves about intention.
The world is too diverse and full for things to please or anger or have the same affect on everyone; a basic and simple concept, I know.
What can seem inconsiderate, rude or selfish to one person could have intention behind it that holds an innocent and positive meaning for another.
I am an advocate for the outdoors and the beauty of a place nigh untouched by humans. Yet I also find joy in seeing creativity that comes from a person .
Who am I to judge?
ridiculous. I can literaly walk out my front door and see this uncreative crapola, millions of people all over the world can say the same, can’t there be a few places in the world where a person doesn’t have to see stunted peoples vandalism? Shouldn’t there be some place where we can get a break from this this? Her intention was to shout to the world that she is a cretin.
Agreed. Nature is where I go to see everything BUT humans and their ‘work’. This woman is a self centered douchenozzle and I hope she gets convicted so that others can see that what’s left of the real world is NOT up for tagging unless you want to go to jail.
Nice try Casey.
A sufficiently deluded person might go on a killing spree with good intentions. Intentions don’t matter. Whether or not what this person is doing is harmful to society is what matters. We have laws against this sort of thing because we have collectively decided that it is harmful. Furthermore, I find it hard to believe that anyone could have an appreciation for nature and not feel sick at the sight of such carefully preserved wilderness being vandalized. There’s no reason that this beautiful wilderness and that mediocre art couldn’t exist separately, except narcissism and selfishness.
As a intelligent being and advocate for the world who are you not to judge?
Fuck off, grape-nuts lover.
Hi Hortense. You seem tense. Can I give you a massage?
Okay, it is true that there are artists who work in the outdoors, doing earthworks and such (Christo and the artist who did the Spiral Jetty work come to mind).
However, THOSE artists take pains to make sure that they work WITH the stewards of the land they want to use, so as to lessen the impact of their work on the environment. Yes, the “Spiral Jetty” did permanently alter the landscape, but he did so in a way that caused the least amount of overall environmental damage.
I promise you that there was another way for her to have done this if her intent was really to create whatever kind of spontaneous random beauty in the midst of nature you’re thinking of. She could have approached the park services about whether there was some part of the park she COULD have painted on, or she could have used environmentally-safe media. For instance, I know of an artist in the Hudson Valley who did an installation in an abandoned hotel, where she affixed photocopies of articles about the hotel on the inside of the ruin; however, she used a paper that had been specially treated with an organic fertilizer, so as the paper decayed (it was exposed to the elements), it fell to the ground and nourished the soil below as it did. She also made sure to contact the owner of the property and the land management for the area to make sure that what she was doing was copacetic. It is indeed the innocent thing you are speaking of, but she also was conscious of how what she could do had any impact on the land itself.
Casey didn’t work with the park service, and she didn’t try to make sure her media was environmentally safe. Because she didn’t care – this was all about her bid for attention. And yes, I am going to judge her for it.
Thank you!!!
Thanks for sharing a fresh perspective. There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
Well how would you feel if someone came on your property and defaced your home? Didn’t follow the rules of your home. Those parks are ours she had NO RIGHT! As for me nature and the these areas I think of as my cathedral, my church. I am disgusted at her selfishness and her imbecility! I hope they give her the max that the law allows!
It seems that a lot of the people commenting are getting caught up with this Osprey bonehead, which is not the issue. A person is going around and defiling nature in National (protected) historical parks. This is against the law. When our ancestors, all the way back to cavemen, made pictographs, they were a way to communicate. They did not yet have paper or written words, or Kodak or digital cameras. Looking at this young lady’s so-called “art” I cannot see that she is trying to communicate anything to anyone other than the fact that she was there.
My grandparents are in the Guinness Book of World Records twice for traveling to more National Parks (393) in two years. they did it when they were in their 70s and walking with canes. They did it to try to get Americans to see their beautiful country at ground level. NOT to get people to visit these places and defile them.
This Casey Nocket should be ashamed that she has ruined natural and beautiful places with her hideous interpretation of art. I hope authorities find this bizznatch and throw the book at her.
Agreed 100%. I think I’ve put the kibosh on Osprey’s posts for a while, so hopefully people can focus on the issue at hand.
Also, your grandparents are awesome!
I fully agree. She should be prosecuted !!!
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge lover of the planet, BUT… Mayans, Egyptians, Central and South Americans, Native Americans, Spanish, Greeks, Romans, Africans, Asians… Nearly EVERY tribe of people since the beginning of the existence of Homo Sapiens have written, carved, painted, p*ssed, sh*t, possibly painted with sh*t, and sculpted their thoughts and beliefs into the earth.
That being said, In Two Hundred years, the likeliness of humans on this earth that will simply view this as History, as we view all the above tribes work, will be very high. There will be new trends and new outlooks, just like we have new trends, outlooks and tradition from humans 200 years ago.
My advice is; Forget about it. There are far bigger problems to worry about than ‘harmless creativity’.
Besides, I make the rules and what I say is the truth. Me so smart
So very true.
To the person above who stole my name from my original post: Either you’re just a kid, or you’re living in a little kids mind. Either way, it’s time to grow up, fruitcake…
Except that we as a society have decided to set aside these places and forbid visitors from doing things like this. That’s the current “trend” (one could almost call it a law), and she’s bucking it. You’re talking about periods in history when there were far, far fewer human beings and far, far more wilderness. Your comparison of such periods to modern times is seriously flawed. Millions of people visit these parks each year. No, one person doing something like this isn’t the end of the world, but what if a hundred people do it? A thousand? A million? Can you imagine what our parks would look like? And in today’s world, one person doing something like this, publicizing it, and not suffering any consequences can easily make other people out there think it’s okay to do the same thing. Many of these paintings are in highly visible areas near well-traveled trails. Children and other “artists” may well see it, decide it’s “cool” and okay, and decide to add their own mark. That’s not “harmless creativity”. So no, we’re not just going to forget about it, and neither is the NPS.
And neither is the internet. She’ll have to change her name now if she wants a career.
You are the worst troll ever.
If you want to paint on rocks, do it in your back yard. “But my back yard isn’t as pretty as a National Park!” you might say. That’s because we don’t let assholes vandalize our national parks, and for no other reason. We’ve protected these places by law and we visit them because we want them to remain untouched, and we want to be able to spend time in nature. If we’re not going to protect some of the most beautiful landscapes on Earth from small minded narcissists like the subject of this article, we may as well just start building McMansions on top of them. It’s like touching an oil painting by an old master in an art museum. You’re degrading a priceless public resource for a moment of misguided self satisfaction. I hope she ends up in prison.
Thanks for your much needed perspective. There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
Sorry everyone. Osprey did not take his medication today and is feeling a bit “off”. For the record, he lives in group home and has never been to a National Park. He certainly does not know about the principles of “Leave No Trace” and failing to do so is disrespectful and inconsiderate, among other things to others. We, Osprey’s caregivers, are truly sorry for offending all of you.
I’m selfish and am in denial that the enjoyment of the parks are for everyone. I hate myself.
Osprey – more questions:
– Do you get permits when bushwhacking in the National Parks?
– Do you feed bears?
– Do you fly drones?
This is great, over 200 comments from arm chair quarterbacks most of who have not and will not been/be where these scribbles are. So, what is the big deal?
Getting panties in a bunch over this. What a waste of time.
Well I have had my comic relief for the week… Funny stuff.
I’ll point out that many of those photos had their locations correctly ID’d by people on this thread. We use our armchairs to store gear when our closets are full.
I hate America.
We don’t have to go there to understand the stupidity. And for the record, I go to many of the parks all the time and see graffiti. It’s not just this one person and it IS a big deal.
It’s true. Plastic sheets just don’t hold up as well with poop as they do with pee. I’m hoping Osprey will grow out of this someday.
Mom! Stop it. You are embarrassing me!
You would think this women did some type of cardinal sin – she scribbled on some rocks. There are worse things in this world too numerous to list.
The milky lickers have brought this non issue to an ear piercing bunch of gibberish. They must love to hear themselves talk or something…
Osprey – Alright, enlighten us, please. What are your top 3 favorite National Parks, and why?
Go.
Gates of the Arctic National Park
Glacier National
Denali National Park
Am I correct in assuming you are a resident of Alaska? If I were to paint the words “Alaska hikers suck” on your favorite trail, what reaction could I expect from you? If you caught me doing it, would you be mad? What if I painted your real name in big pink neon letters, would you even care?
It’s just another case of people who think to much of themselves and not enough of things that DON”T BELONG TO THEM. BUY a sketch pad . The planet is losing more and more of it’s natural beauty and for what strip malls and self-entitled idiots who can’t even paint thinking that everybody is interested in their really bad paintings. Yes she is a bad person just like she said.
Is this bitch serious?!? I agree with everyone else but let’s also point out that her “art” is fucking TERRIBLE. Stop it, just…..stop.
There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
White privilege in action.
More bed wetting… From the clueless.
It’s true. Plastic sheets just don’t hold up as well with poop as they do with pee. I’m hoping Osprey will grow out of this someday.
stop. anyone could do this, of any gender, sexuality, or race. It is a bad thing to do, it is one ignorant person who is not representative of an entire culture due to the fact that she is white.
You have never set foot in any American city over a couple hundred thousand people
?
Wow! Incredibly selfish behavior… what a shame.
I agree to the selfish behavior. Unfortunately what she professes to be art is very close to what my 7 yr old nephew draws and his are better. Perhaps a few years of art class would help if you decide to defile the beauty of our national parks. Yes, she should be responsible for cleaning it up, cost, time, and anyone who assisted her.
Seems there are enough people commenting on her stuff that seem to know her, shouldn’t be too hard to find her and set her to cleaning that crap up with her tongue.
Her life has just gotten immensely complicated. She seems to be a pampered brat with a penchant for morose art. Hopefully, she can survive this. In prison they would cut her face. Even with an attorney mom, she’s in trouble … and already convicted in the court of public opinion.
Oh! how she can let herself think that what she did is an Art ? O.O … she’s foolish to think her creepy things is an improvement upon these national parks.
Cry me a river. Has no one ever heard of pictographs? They have been around since the beginning of time.
Too many bed wetters… Get over it!!
You are an idiot.
I concur with nicboz
are you serious? This is the problem with the world today- people who have the attitude that defacing a national park and then taking a stupid selfie of the whole thing is no big deal – just ridiculous
Hey everyone, this clown just invited us all to go paint his house!
Not even close to the same thing. Sorry, don’t try to justify it.
Moron
Well if this is a “pictograph” is her message to society that she’s a dumb bitch? Or perhas your basically an ignorant lemming feeding a fool’s ego.
I love that your only argument is that other people did it before now. It’s true, vandalism has been around for a long time. What you don’t get is that the pictographs you’re referring to were done long before the places in question were made public property and our tax dollars used to protect and share them in their natural state with future generations.
Yeah, except when pictographs were around humanity wasn’t building megalopolis cites and destroying the environment. Unsullied nature is so much more precious now. People who respect wilderness don’t want to see the remaining beauty defaced and graffitied. Personally, I think graffiti can beautify the ugly concrete of cities, but when I happen upon it on a millions-years-old rock in the middle of nowhere I feel disgusted and violated. If I came upon pictographs, on the other hand, I would feel reference for the ancient nature and the extinct native people that created it. Bottom line, there are too many people, not enough nature, so please keep the last bits of untouched earth beautiful, ok?
When I come across stuff like this, I simply destroy it. Nature will clean up the rest.
Childish and selfish. If I’m a bed-wetter, you then must still be in diapers. Grow up.
The wilful destruction of not only national but global landmarks in favour of spreading her shitty doodles? I sincerely hope she is brutalised in jail for these acts. And you should grow up, this isn’t a matter of copying those of an ancient era. What they did was record their history in the form they had available and now in the modern world we have technology and literature that we leave behind – what she’s doing cannot be likened to those of old. She’s a vandal and a criminal.
N she can’t spell..”creepytings” where’s the damn h..gal?..
I’m no bed wetter. I’m a disabled Marine combat vet. This isn’t a pictograph, neither she or you are still in the stone age.
This is vandalism plain and simple. I agree with one commenter, just put this on national TV and let nature take it’s course (pun intended).
Pictographs? Yeah, Native Americans…not spoiled, trashy, fake human garbage…
Son, you are disrespectful and an inconsiderate person. Go to bed, now. I mean it.
And the bed wetting continues…
Mister Osprey. Would you mind telling us what national parks you have visited in your lifetime, and which are your favorite. While you are it, please tell us all your favorite John Muir quote. Thanks!
You’re a moron. Petroglyphs were used as a means of communication and expressing culture. These were before large civilizations and grimy cities. Nature looks fine the way it is. Beautify an ugly place. She’s not expressing anything except a need for attention and self-adulation. Because there are other bad things in the world, people can’t speak on things that upset them? Go extinct, Osprey, you’re talking from ignorance.
Some sure like to hear themselves talk.
Too bad it has to be about an non issue…
You obviously:1. know this woman 2. you are also guilty of defacing what isn’t yours to deface 3. You are the woman in the story 4. Dream of a life living in anarchy.
I live in the Southwest and this really REALLY annoys me. I can’t believe this girl did this. I think the Park Service should be free to MAKE her go back and clean up as much as possible (on her dime) even if it means turpentine, power washing or sandblasting. Then put her in jail one day for every day and each site the areas were defaced.
well I think one of those charges should get her more than a year in prison… it probably wont though, they’ll prob make her clean them up and then give her some sort of park service hours, who knows.
“turpentine power washing or sandblasting”
this is the perfect example of why we need a Judicial system separated from the executive branch, and a perfect example of the problem with mobs of angry internet bloggers.
power washing, sand blasting, and turpentine would do far more damage than the paint she used.
Cry me a river. Pictographs have been around since the beginning of time nothing new.
Too many bed wetters… Get over it.
We will get over it, after she has done her time in Federal prison and paid for the damage.
Think your overreacting? People have been doing this forever.
There are bigger fish to fry…
*you’re
This is why we can’t have nice things.
i guess youre another person who has absolutely no freakin respect for nature.these arent fkn pictographs, this is vandalism. pictographs were done thousands of yrs ago when thats all they could do to show how they lived. this stupid bitch is doing it for attention, bc attention is the going thing now a days, whether its good or bad. shes another hipster copycat idiot thinking she is pushing boundaries, but shes really just a selfish twat. and the complete crap she is doing has nothing to do with nature at all. and the pictures suck.
ur a dick
Are you an utter moron? No it is not over-reacting. She is ruining the experience for others who want to go and be able to enjoy nature as un-touched by humanity as possible.
What she is doing is bad enough (and dear gods I hope they catch her) but for your obviously inability to understand, consider if everyone started doing what she was.
This is NOT AT ALL like Pictographs which are historical record of long dead civilizations. She is vandalizing nature and ruining the scenic aspect of the area. Bad enough that civilization has encroached on nature as much as it already had without her plastering reminders of it everywhere where people may try to hike so as to get away and enjoy some calm.
And when they did it there weren’t any protected parks or monuments. She can find her own rocks somewhere not protected.
Scribbles on a rock Indians have been doing that for thousands of years. No big deal .
Get over it the world has bigger fish to fry…
Sorry everyone, I was wrong.
You might feel it’s a non-issue. Let’s see what the courts say about it. I have a feeling it’s going to be a life-changing issue for one person. So it’s all matter of perspective. You’re not going to jail, so you can make light of it.
Are you seriously comparing this woman’s talentless tripe to ancient pictographs? The KEY difference here is that that this idiotic “artist” can express herself in thousands of ways that do not involve defacing federally protected parks. Our early ancestors, that drew pictographs in caves, were INVENTING art as we know it. Please, for the love of art, do not compare the two or use THAT as an excuse for her bad behaviour. The LAST thing anyone wants to see while surrounded by the unspoilt beauty of nature is some ugly scibblings of an obviously overly entitled brat.
Oh Osprey, I have some fresh fish back at the nest. Let’s get bird freaky tonight.
So has murder, rape and theft. Just cause you can, doesn’t mean you should :)
Hey Casey (the awesome author, not the creepy one), anyway you can moderate the Troll( Osprey) out? No need for someone who clearly just wants to insult without adding value…
I’m on it … as much as I’m enjoying the replies :)
I frequently travel to the affected areas multiple times a month. These places are pretty much my backyard so Im personally upset about her actions. Its very sad to see such little regard for these national treasures that are highly regarded around the world. Reminds me of the kid that defaced an Egyptian temple but worse. 10 plus national parks is absurd and she needs to be made an example of so future “artists” and shitty tourists don’t do the same
Someone needs to submit this to a major TV network. Let them run it on a national spotlight.
She will get what is coming to her really quick.
The sad thing is that this isn’t an isolated incident. I would love to see a weekly article about vandalism in the national parks and in nature in general, so that,
1. The people responsible can be held accountable.
2. So that we (park rangers, volunteers, anyone who cares about nature) can start repairing the damage these people have done.
Honestly, I would hike up to these places just to wipe off that crap if I knew where it was.
Shameful. Truly shameful. Take only pictures,leave only footprints.
Hot girl, pretty art. #yoloswag
If by hot you mean an incredibly stupid, ugly person, I’m with you.
I agree….nothing hot or pretty about ignorance or stupidity. If this is the definition of “hot” and “pretty” then the world is in worse shape than I thought
She’s an idiot and she made an idiotic mistake that she needs to pay for. She needs to pay money to the parks she defaced and she needs to help with the cleanup efforts. She did a retarded thing and she needs to make it right. That said, nobody knows this silly broad. We don’t know if she’s a good person who is just doing an idiotic thing or if she’s a horrible person or not. She doesn’t need to go to jail and create more prisoners, either. She needs to pay for what she did wrong and we all need to move on. You don’t need to try to track her down or ask for her head on a plate. It’s NOT that big of a deal. She fucked up and she needs to unfuck things. It’s not your responsibility as the public to go on a witch hunt and make all these dumb assumptions about her. You know the only relevant information – that she did a stupid thing. That’s enough, isn’t it?
Would you be upset if somebody vandalized your house or your church/temple/mosque/synagogue? That’s what these places are to many people, and they do belong to all of us.
The bed wetting continues…
Does it matter if one person drops trash? What if 7 billion people dropped a piece of trash? The reason we respect our parks, our land and our space is because we have enough foresight to recognize what it would look like if we all decided to be disgusting vandals… Clearly a virtue you don’t possess.
wow youre a complete baboon idiot. another entitled waste of oxygen.
Look everyone, a troll!
Is is within your power to NOT be a pizzle? Seriously. This is bullshit. I mean fine, call it art if you want. Hell, I paint, who the fuck am I to judge? But don’t plaster your brain-vomit on a national fucking park just because you feel entitled and think your art deserves it, because I can guarantee you that it really, really doesn’t.
There are much more important things in life to worry about.
Like our country is broke – broke – broke. To the point of no return.
Some one scribbles on a rock big deal…
Son, you are grounded. Go to your room, now mister.
No, it’s not enough. We need to send a message that the majority of us, as citizens, do not want this kind of vandalism in our publicly owned parks. Calling her an “artist” is one good place to start correcting the damage; she is not an artist, she’s a selfish vandal. I agree that she doesn’t need to be locked up – yet. First she should have to personally remove her trash, paying for all costs, and THEN she should do prison time. If we don’t send a message to graffiti vandals that we will not tolerate their intrusions, they’ll never stop. Graffiti should be scaled like all other crimes, with the marring of publicly owned land raised to a felony level. Hell, it’s my land, too, and if I had my way I’d chain her to the land she damaged until it was as close to the original un-scarred version as possible. And I’m a kind, tolerant person, usually. Honest.
We know that she did a stupid thing, knew that it was wrong, and had no remorse about it. Sounds to me like she may be a bad person. I’m not saying she deserves prison time, but if they’re only going to fine her it needs to be enough to make her realize that what she did was wrong. Obviously she doesn’t care as it is.
How do you unring a bell?
shes hot, let her do what she wants to
What the actual FUCK are you thinking? Defacing a national park, ridiculous. This is why there is absolutely no faith in humanity
the obvious thing is for people to use chalk – the park service could give away chalk and tell people to go nuts
The obvious thing is for people not to be selfish. Using chalk deprives others of their experience as well. Does it really make a difference whether you’re staring at a monument defaced by chalk, sharpie, or acrylic paint? Sure the first will wash away sooner, but it’s still not something I, or most of us, would want to see.
A rock in the wilderness? It’s a protected national park Tony. Please tell me you’re really not this stupid.
This makes me angry.
Oh no, she when to Joshua Tree. It is on Ms. Nocket.
My solution, let the punishment fit the crime. I hope she likes the garbage she calls “art” well enough to have it tattooed all over her own body!
i hope she has to go back and clean it all off!! What a moron! Good art but wrong outlet! this makes me angry! I love Crater Lake’s beauty (not been to the others yet) it shouldn’t be defaced!
Let the punishment fit the crime, make her spend the next few years cleaning up the mess she made.
NPS just put out a press release: http://home.nps.gov/news/release.htm?id=1649
National Park Service Press Release
For Immediate Release:
October 22, 2014
Contact(s): Jeffrey G. Olson, Jeffrey_olson@nps.gov, 202-208-6843
Vandalism reported in 10 national parks of the West
Incidents illustrated on social media
WASHINGTON: The National Park Service is investigating reports of vandalism in at least 10 national parks in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah.
While we can’t discuss details of a case under investigation, we take the issue of vandalism seriously. National parks exist to preserve and protect our nation’s natural, cultural and historic heritage for both current and future generations. Vandalism is not only a violation of the law but it also damages and sometimes destroys often irreplaceable treasures that belong to all Americans.
There are forums for artistic expression in national parks because national parks inspire artistic creativity. These images are outside that forum and outside the law.
Parks affected (awaiting confirmation): Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona; Yosemite National Park, California; Death Valley National Park, California; Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, California; Joshua Tree National Park, California; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; Crater Lake National Park, Oregon; Bryce National Park, Utah; Zion National Park, Utah; and Canyonlands National Park, Utah.
http://www.nps.gov
This boils my blood. How arrogant, entitled, and self-absorbed do you have to be to imagine that your doodle could possibly improve on the majesty of mother nature – and on public lands of all places! Areas which are designated to be shared and enjoyed by all people.
I hope she is jailed, fined, humiliated, and hunted for sport, the rest of her life. Perhaps while she’s in jail someone can hold her down while another inmate carves some ‘art’ into her face.
What a thoughtless, worthless excuse for a human being.
Andrea. We’re all very upset. But you wishing physical harm on another person is about as arrogant and self-absorbed as her actions. I do hope she is punished. I hope she gets community service. I also hope that maybe this experience becomes to her what a dying wolf was to Aldo Leopold. Who knows, maybe she’ll learn and become a champion for our wild places.
Yes, I do apologize. We’ve had so many natural areas around my home vandalized that now many are off limits to the public. This is an issue that’s been pissing me off for a long time, and I guess reading about Casey today was the last straw…..I just lost it.
Certainly, you are correct. Facial mutilation is over the top. Nevertheless, I think she should be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Yeah. Those… cave people… with their bulls all over the Lascaux caves.
Hey lady, chill the fuck out. There are worse things people have done in this world than paint on a rock in a public park. Yeah she shouldn’t have assumed people would enjoy her little doodles historic and beautiful places, but at least (it looks like) she had better intentions than some child molester or serial killer who’d probably bury his victims in that same goddamn wilderness. There are a million things out there so much worse than this. It’s sad that people get so upset about insignificant (and fairly harmless) shit like this when there are much darker, nastier things happening out there.
Besides I think you’d find other people who are more worth “hunting for sport”, as you so charmingly put it, than this silly woman.
There was a time when I would have been absolutely outraged by this woman’s acts, but I’m not sure what I think about it. Lately I’ve been questioning the concept of purity and just what the definition of nature should include. Maybe I should be outraged, but I’m really in limbo about this right now.
But the thing is it really isn’t up to you, or her, or any individual. It’s public property and our society has collectively (democratic process) agreed that while the vast majority of our landscapes have been altered and developed, we want to preserve these few places. Someone who owns a private piece of land can feel free to paint all over it. Otherwise it’s not theirs to do with as they please.
NPS has issued a statement
http://home.nps.gov/news/release.htm?id=1649
I go to the parks to enjoy the beauty of nature, not to see some idiot’s lame attempt at “art.” I hope that she’ll get the chance to scribble on the inside of a jail cell soon.
Great art. Wrong canvass.
“Great art”
Um, no. It’s painfully similar to what you find carved into that middle school desk where they put the stoner-soon-to-be-drop-out kid.
I think the art she has created should not be scorned upon based on the fact that some national parks have inscriptions dated back hundreds of years ago. All she is doing is creating a canvas upon a canvas that simple chemicals could remove.
Actually they contain inscriptions dated to thousands of years ago.
And some parks exist primarily to protect those inscriptions. Keep in mind that the park was not protected when those inscriptions were created. Those individuals were creating them on their “property”.
Those same simple chemicals that need to be used to clean up acrylic paint can damage the ancient inscriptions of which you speak.
The park belongs as much to you and me as it does to her. Did she ask either of us for our permission? NO. In fact, the laws and regulations are society making it perfectly clear that we do not want any further inscription in these areas.
That, plus the fact that I wouldn’t want to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to such a beautiful place to see random scattered poorly drawn faces with a fucking hashtag around it.
Bullshit, the park is public property, it doesn’t belong to her. Following your logic, I could carve my initials on her face and say, I was merely creating a ‘canvas’ upon a ‘canvas’ that simple laser surgery could remove.
Andrea, that is a terrible argument. You most certainly could not as her body isn’t public property. I totally understand being mad at someone who does this, but responding with ultra violent remarks doesn’t really make you look or seem like a good person yourself.
True, I was just pissed. But I do hope she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Come on, her face is no more public property than yours is. And maybe threatening mutilation is not a real good thing to do on a public forum.
I hope she enjoys her soon to be felony arrest record.
Graffiti has been around since the beginning of time. Have you ever heard of pictographs.
Too many bed wetters… Cry me a river.
Bed wetters? Tell me you don’t you are particularly bright or clever…
(edit:) Bed wetters? Tell me you don’t think that you are particularly bright or clever…
Hi Osprey, mind if I get a pull off your mama’s teet after you’re done. Thanks in advance.
That assumes I will ever be done.
The point of a National Park is that it is there to preserve things as they are. If you are gonna go ruin them why bother with the designation in the first place? When I hike I am hiking to get away from humanity, not to be reminded of it’s bullshit.
are you for real? “creating a canvas”??? I go to those locations to enjoy the beauty and history- not to see some idiot’s acrylic painting on the rock of a person smoking a cigarette. Comparing her “artwork” to the historic artifacts in these national parks is just ridiculous
Jesus, people are stupid. Are you fucking joking? (And what the hell does “scorned upon” mean?)
do you really think its the same think? You are clearly an idiot, those people LIVED on the land and created those images, not some hipster who thinks they are god’s gift to art so EVERYONE in the national park should look at it?? Give me a break,screw this woman, she should pay the highest price for this. You can paint aNYWHERE yet you are so SELFISH that we ALL have to see it? Bugger off lady, your art is not even good.
It is my job to mitigate damage to artworks and it is not a matter of just removing paints from rock with “simple chemicals”. The paints tend to be absorbed by the rock and leave traces and shadows even after cleaning. It can be quite a difficult and time consuming process which will be costly in labor, even assuming all the paintings can be easily found.
Imprison the Blankety Blank. Damn East coast idiot,
Appalling, just appalling. I hope she gets some jail time and punishment in cleaing up defaced property with a toothbrush, harsh chemicals and a hefty a$$ fine
Zank, the petition to the White House is probably a good idea to bring attention to this, but I wonder about its efficacy, and whether it will get the number of signatures required for anyone to pay attention to it.
I would suggest sending an email to the National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis at jon_jarvis@nps.gov and expressing your outrage and disappointment his direction.
It would appear this will not be Ms. Nocket’s first experience dealing with law enforcement:
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20120110/law-disorder-jan-10-2012
After having read the articles and comments that have so far been posted here and on other sites, the adjectives which I believe most aptly apply here are:
narcissist
ignorant
entitled
I am quite saddened by this. My guess is Ms. Nocket more than likely had some academic training, but it would appear the tuition might have been better spent on liquor or lottery tickets.
I was just getting ready to share that link as well. While it may not deliver the necessary signatures it is something tangible that can be shared and increase the awareness. I’ve also dropped notes to the major online news sites that I felt would pick this up.
It appears Little Miss Destruction just closed her Facebook account. Bet she made it through about 3 of 1,000 personal messages and realized she’s toast.
She’s got a lot to delete then. Her social media presence is quite expansive. I wonder whether this is a “fear of consequences” thing or a “Wow, I really should not have done that” thing. I’m guessing the former.
I would not be so quick to petition the White House. I have been reading that the feds are trying to ban picture taking in national parks and on federal lands. If you petition, the White House with their everlasting overreach, they just might decide to close all national parks to the public to “preserve” them. This issue needs to be dealt with, but be careful what you wish for – the last 6 years should have taught us all that.
If you read “the feds are trying to ban picture taking in national parks,” then you are reading ridiculous garbage. Looks like you’re engaging in some overreach of your own.
A hunting accident needs to happen…also I think that Mount Rushmore is also vandalism. I think it’s the same thing.
Instagram account deleted. That won’t help the charges.
She deleted her FB too. She’s running scared.
I have visited many of your wonderful national parks from the uk. Yosemite being my favourite place on this earth. I am saddened that someone can think it is acceptable to spoil these beautiful natural spaces for their own amusement seemingly without a thought for the many others that enjoy these wild spaces. There are many places to express yourself with art, but this is not one of them. I hope she is stopped before she does more damage.
People finally care about making sure future generations get to enjoy our remaining national treasures, and you think they’re just being crazy? The people who carved into that rock were wrong, but they weren’t on a mission to deface everything every historical monument on the continent, and they weren’t doing it to to create a viral buzz about a mediocre artist no one cares about. Pressing charges might be the only way to get her to stop this. I’m against whiny people making a big deal out of silly things or things no one can change, but this can be easily handled by the authorities, and hopefully it will be with a swiftness.
Let me ask you. Do you seriously have no issue with a self-absorbed snot walking all over artwork left by ancient peoples, and painting her brand logo on the ground that connects us (and future generations) to them?
I dont have an issue with someone leaving their mark on a rock out in the wilderness. I didnt see any art of hers mixed in with any ancient art, I was under the impression she was doing these paintings on random rocks at the parks.
Where did she deface any pre-existing art?
(not saying she didnt, just saying I havent seen any pics where she has)
The one in Canyonlands is right next to an ancient structure. It’s an archaeological site, for crying out loud. In fact, NONE of these are on “rocks in the wilderness”. They all seem to be in highly visible places right near well-traveled trails. And that’s not even the point; the point is that these places are protected by Federal law for the benefit of our entire society. Millions of people visit our National Parks every single year; can you imagine what they would look like if every visitor did this?
Tony, you’ve been a bad boy. No dessert for you.
I didn’t know National Parks had random rocks…
I was taking a guided walking tour in Yosemite, when the ranger suddenly left the group to arrest a couple for collecting pine cones. It wasn’t taken lightly.
It is illegal to pick up rocks, dirt, flowers, plants, pine cones, etc. from National Parks, so I don’t think any of the rocks are random either. Whether on a main trail, and especially off trail, it is illegal to vandalize or steal. Period.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
An abysmal example of how one should enjoy the outdoors, especially in the majesty we call our National Parks. This is the very opposite of the “leave no trace” principles I was taught by the people who introduced me to being outside and enjoying our natural wonders. I can’t imagine that anyone would knowingly be so selfish.
This isn’t a small thing. People like this will one day reduce our ability to really experience and enjoy the National Parks and National Forests.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/press-charges-casey-nocket-finesmax-community-servicejail-timeetc-httpgooglhy4yqj-defacing-np-nm/1y8xJBGm
I’ve created a petion to the White House. If nothing else this needs national media attention.
How do I sign this?
Thanks for doing this Zank.
It’s getting spread around online.
I just signed and forwarded it on too.
What the heck is wrong with you people? This girl painted on some rocks. People have been doing this for thousands of years. The fact that you are all so brainwashed that you think this is “vandalism” is crazy.
I have 2 words for all the people referring to this woman as a criminal or vandal. Grow up.
Also, they show a picture of all the names carved into the side of the cliff at Joshua Tree, should all of those people be prosecuted for carving their names into a rock?
What has this country come to?
You should all be ashamed of yourselves…
Are you mentally impaired? Serious question.
Acrylic paint isn’t biodegradable. She is harming the planet no less than someone who tosses plastic in the ocean. And you openly support that behavior, which is vile.
Are you serious? Its a painting on a rock. It will have no impact AT all compared to the impact the actual BLM or DOI has on the exact same location. Lets look at all the parking lots, roads, dams, etc that we put in place. You’re worried about someone drawing on a rock? Really?
The infrastructure that is in place is a necessary accommodation to sequester traffic and use to the smallest possible areas. Many of the parks have revamped this infrastructure over the years to divert traffic away from sensitive areas. In places like Yosemite, it is a necessary evil as there’s no other way to sustain and support visitation from millions of annual visitors. Besides, the National Park does not function in the same way as a National or State Wilderness, which forbids wheeled vehicles of any kind (despite NPS land containing numerous designated wildernesses)
With a few exceptions, the dams you are speaking of – Barker Dam, for instance – have historical and cultural significance and receive the same protection as the natural habitat. Whether you think that a drawing on a rock is insignificant in its impact on the landscape or not, it is a Federal misdemeanor to deface – or alter, if you prefer – National Park property. The specific language for that law has been in place for over 30 years now, and even though the parks can’t possibly prosecute every single vandal, any individual altering park property in this way is committing a crime.
If you still think this is something worthy of ridicule, I suggest you petition your local congressman and pursue a change to the law, as it will undoubtedly yield better results than arguing on the internet.
Would you agree that the impact this paint has on our environment is little to non-existent compared to the impact the Federal Government has had on it?
Tony: If you’re talking only about the effect on the ecosystem, then yes, I would agree. A small amount of paint on a rock has less effect on an ecosystem than a road or a bathroom facility or a campground, not to mention heavy visitation or air pollution.
However, I don’t think that this is what the argument is about. The argument, as I understand it, is that it is illegal, and to many people offensive, to alter national park property. It appears that this is the case even if it is only a rock or a tree trunk.I get the impression that most outdoor enthusiasts, myself very much included, go outside to get away from things like this. Seeing graffiti on the trail – regardless of how artful – is at best a disappointment and at worst a bitter source of anger and resentment.
Shhh… Your logic and common sense is going to scare him away.
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone thought, like you, that’s it’s ok? Our parks would be brimming with masterpieces like hers. Yeah, not so much.
All Im trying to say is that I dont think a girl painting on rocks is that big of a deal. If its such a crime and such a huge deal then we should shut down Mt Rushmore all together lol. Return it back to its “natural” beauty. Explain to me why we needed to carve a bunch of faces into rocks so that our government could profit from it.
We have SO many other REAL issues in the world and you guys are all worked up over a few paintings that you would have more than likely never even seen unless you read this article.
Wouldnt it be great if everyone focused on more important things than a random citizen creating art on rocks and taking pictures of it?
In the grand scheme of things, no. It’s not a big deal – at least not compared to the multitude of other problems in the world. I would counter though that the incident seems to be tapping into some of the frustration for these problems, including disregard for the natural environment, self-absorption aided by social media, and the feeling that people get away with all kinds of things.
I agree that it would be great if more people directed their anger on affecting major change on the plethora of problems facing the world. And I don’t know that people getting fired up over this incident means that that already isn’t the case, though.
On a personal note, I always thought that Mt. Rushmore was an arrogant thing to do. By extension, the Creepytings business is every bit as arrogant.
Rudy Guiliani totally turned New York City around from a crime ridden hell-hole to a reasonably safe place with a concept called “Broken Windows Policing”. The theory was that if you tolerate the little crimes then you effectively open the door to bigger crimes. And conversely, if you address the little crimes, then the big crime problems mostly disappear. In practice, this approach was a huge success.
We should not tolerate this woman’s behavior. Yes there are worse problems in the world but we are a rich society and we are capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time. We should do our best to BOTH address those other problems AND slap this woman up along side the head with the full and maximum force of the law. I’m totally OK with completely wrecking her life.
your comments are exactly what is seriously wrong with the world today….people just don’t seem to give a care about anything…me, me, me….can’t we at least protect the SMALL amount of places we have left without some moron thinking it is perfectly okay to paint on a historic site?
People view national parks as works of art and hence they are protected under federal law. Every rock, tree, historic structure, etc. is a part of that artwork. When someone puts their name on a tree, paints a picture on a rock, or damages something of historical significance, it is viewed it in the same light as another person put, “you were doing it to the Mona Lisa.” If nothing else, ITS AGAINST THE LAW. National parks belong to everyone, by doing what she did, she is defacing part of our National Identity. You are getting mad at people for want her to be punished for breaking the law. If you don’t like the law, maybe you should write your representatives. Also, there are an infinite amount of rocks that aren’t protected under federal law, why not #leaveyourmark on one of those rocks that no one cares about?
Tony, defacing national parks monuments is a felony in this country, believe it or not. I’m sorry, but if I am going to see our national treasures on vacation, I don’t want to see someone’s name on them. Her behavior was idiotic and should be punished in accordance with the law.
You will be hard press to find ANY National Park in this country that doesnt have someone initials or name carved in MULTIPLE places. As a matter of fact its almost a tradition in many places for school children to do this.
Tony, multiple people doing the same wrong thing in a variety of places doesn’t turn that wrong act into something right or acceptable.
Tradition? Thanksgiving dinner with loved ones is a tradition. Giving your mother flowers for Mothers Day is a tradition. Moving the tassel from one side of your cap to the other during graduation is a tradition. It’s sad to see anyone calling the defacing of public property “a tradition,” even when you write “almost” in front of it.
It’s “hard pressed” and she isn’t a school child. Anyway – everyone stop feeding Tony the troll. He’s whipping us into a frenzy. We all know who stands on the side of right (not to mention educated).
Hahhah You are “whipping yourselves into a frenzy”. I just stated my opinion. I think there are much more important things to complain about than a girl painting on rocks.
First world problems…
All I have to say is, if you give one person largess to do as they please in the National (that word means belongs to the Nation, as is) Parks (Open and Natural), the onslaught of self obsessed, entitled ‘artists’ or ‘graffiti artists’ will turn it into an urban slum in no time flat….wake up, see the BIG picture…
Most Natl Parks have carvings and initials drawn in random locations. Its actually really common.
As a matter of fact, no, it’s not. I know, because I’ve actually worked as a ranger in three different parks. Any schoolchildren visiting any park are very explicitly told not to do things like this. And as a ranger who has hiked extensively in many of our parks and interacted with visitors, I can safely say that you’re full of crap. Very few of them take anything or “leave their mark”, and while there are occasional cases of vandalism, they are few and far between. That’s why we’re getting so riled up about this, why the NPS is launching an investigation, and why you’re basically the lone dissenter here, off in a corner by yourself because you just don’t seem to get it.
So the example in the picture of the Joshua Tree carvings up there isnt something that can be found at multiple other National Parks in this country?
Joel: What parks have your worked at?
I dont know why you think I am “in a corner by myself”. I am just giving my opinion on this particular situation.
I have worked at Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming, Oregon Caves National Monument in Oregon, and Zion National Park in Utah. Zion is one of the parks affected by this stupid, thoughtless, selfish little girl, which is why I immediately recognized where her painting is located. I spent my time at Oregon Caves telling each and every visitor not to so much as touch the walls of the cave or the formations inside, pointing out discolored formations that were touched in the past and signatures which are now frozen into formations forever. I spent my time in Zion roving every trail in the park, and never saw anything like this. I spent my time at Fossil Butte explaining why people can’t take fossils. This type of behavior is in direct contradiction to everything the NPS stands for, and I can’t abide your defense of it. No, the example from Joshua Tree is not typical; you won’t find things like that in most parks. And as a matter of fact, they’ve now closed that area and have had to hire restoration artists to repair all of that graffiti. Arches recently had to close an area tucked away inside a small canyon which had started to be affected by graffiti. So idiots like this girl are costing people time and money in order to fix this crap. Yes, you can find things which people have left behind every once in a while, but examples of wanton disregard for the rules like the one in Joshua Tree are the exception, not the rule. And people like me, who rove trails picking up discarded water bottles, looking for people who are breaking the rules, and trying to preserve these places for everyone who visits them, have to deal with crap like this. And believe me, we have better things we could be doing.
And I realize that you’re just expressing your opinion. Do you realize that the vast majority of American citizens don’t share it? That’s my point.
Which makes it OK to do? I hope you don’t have kids . . .
Tony – quick question – where is your favorite hiking trail in a National Park?
You’re an idiot.
It is vandalism, and she should be fined heavily for it. You’re an ass for defending this sort of reprehensible behavior.
Reprehensible behavior? You’re a ass for saying painting a rock is “reprehensible behavior”.
It’s debatable whether painting on a rock is reprehensible or not. Altering National Park property is a Federal misdemeanor and therefore punishable by law. Whether you appreciate the outrage caused by this act or not, at the very least you must recognize that a law is a law.
And please, try to keep the conversation civil. You clearly have a point to make, and I respect how strongly you feel about it. However, calling somebody a name is only going to alienate people to your point of view.
Tony if anyone needs to explain why you are wrong for you t understand you are beyond help. We can debate if any graffiti is art but in our common park lands preserved “to stay natural” this is as wrong as you are. Go defent a park bully, you are in over your head here.
We literally have a natural park that is man made art.
And then you go on to assume Im defending a bully? The only bullies I see in here are the people bullying up on a girl for hiking in national parks and deciding to leave here mark where she travels. (something very commonly done)
A crime is a crime, and indeed in this case it will go punished.
What is her reason for doing what she does? White privilege.
Nah. The law is the law, my son. We don’t get to pick and choose which ones apply to us. If “creepytings” doesn’t like it, she can either engage in the political process to change the laws, or she can risk prosecution.
In the meantime, I think it’s you who should grow up.
Perhaps the National Park Service mission statement will illuminate you as to what Is “wrong” with us:
“The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.”
What you are witnessing, Tony, is the outrage of people who share these values and are offended that a person would flagrantly deface an environment that many people in the country have a deep personal connection with. For many of us, I presume, this is no different from somebody adding “artwork” the Lincoln Memorial.
In other words, the country came to this point over 125 years ago when the NPS was edtablished. Few people are going to experience shame when attempting to uphold the values of a treasured public institution.
People finally care about making sure future generations get to enjoy our remaining national treasures, and you think they’re just being crazy? The people who carved into that rock were wrong, but they weren’t on a mission to deface everything every historical monument on the continent, and they weren’t doing it to to create a viral buzz about a mediocre artist no one cares about. Pressing charges might be the only way to get her to stop this. I’m against whiny people making a big deal out of silly things or things no one can change, but this can be easily handled by the authorities, and hopefully it will be with a swiftness.
Let me ask you. Do you seriously have no issue with a self-absorbed snot walking all over artwork left by ancient peoples, and painting her brand logo on the ground that connects us (and future generations) to them?
I find it hard to believe that you can not see the difference between someone “Just painting on some rocks” and defacing areas in National Parks, strictly protected from littering and the removal of indigenous flora, fauna, and even the rocks themselves. These places are to remain pristine so that future generations can see an environment altered by man as little as possible. Frankly the hubris of this young woman is perhaps what is most galling. Since most if not all of the acrylic paint can be removed, jail time is a bit severe, but charging her for the removal plus whatever fines are standard would be appropriate. Perhaps as community service a national public apology to show the seriousness of the crime (and yes it is a crime) would help to discourage others from doing the same.
Jail time is not severe. A public apology won’t teach her anything. She knows she was doing something shitty, and did it anyway. Jail time may be the only punishment that will have any impact on someone that incredibly selfish.
Keep making excuses for degenerates scumbag. People who want to destroy places that are sacred should be put in jail.
Wow.
How about because cave drawings thousands of years ago were made before the advent of paper and pen?
Ignorance is astounding.
“What has this country come to?”
You said it all with that nonsense.
Don’t spend a lot of time walking in the dirt, huh bro?
You should. It will make you a better man.
Oh my god Tony you are too stupid to insult! Where do you live so that I can spray paint your car with a middle finger print on your hood of the car? Hey humans have been doing this for a million years, why stop now.
So you feel anyone who visits these National Parks can leave their idea of “art”. If you enjoy this display you need to visit any big city rail area and take in all the fences, abandoned buildings or trains.
The Joshua Tree photo is of Barker Dam, not a rock cliff. People only started carving their names into a a couple years ago, and now look at it. One of the problems with vandalism is that it tends to inspire others to do the same (Broken Windows Theory). While to you this may be just a girl who painted on some rocks, it has the potential to become much more than that if left unprosecuted and unrepaired. Joshua Tree NP is currently working with some professional conservators to test treatment options for the graffiti on the dam. It can’t actually be completely repaired, but it can be made less of an eye-sore. I’d rather the NPS budgets go to things other than having to clean up after vandals like this woman. I for one think defacing public lands is sad and shameful. If you disagree that’s your opinion, but it doesn’t mean I am “brainwashed” and there is no reason for me to be ashamed for my opinion.
I’m with you Tony. Some of these people want her executed. It’s ridiculous
.
I’m going to ask you a simple question and see if the point can get through that ignorant head of yours. Nearly three million people visit Zion National Park every single year. Now imagine three million people doing this every single year. Do you have the slightest idea what Zion would look like? You’re the one who needs to grow up.
Tony – I hope she enjoys having a federal arrest record: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2011-title36-vol1/pdf/CFR-2011-title36-vol1-sec2-31.pdf
Tony, I think it’s you and especially your parents who should be ashamed for raising such a self-absorbed, egotistical, apathetic, jerk. These aren’t ancient cave drawings. This is graffiti plain and simple and if this “art” was placed on the side of a building, it would be justly punished as such. We don’t need people like this woman (and you apparently), going into our natural areas and defacing the wilderness like so many blight-filled urban areas. You obviously don’t sound like someone who travels our natural areas and if so, you don’t follow the naturalists motto of “leave it better than you found it”. It’s very depressing that you are defending this self-centered idiots actions and I really hope that if you ever decide to travel into our natural areas, you stop and “grow up” first and realize that this kind of vandalism is wrong. Everyone deserves to travel our natural areas when they are unspoiled by the graffiti of a silly little brat with no respect for the natural world. Shame on you for not seeing the crime here.
I guess when you are unoriginal and untalented the only way to stand out is to push the bounds of decency. I saw many of these places in a road trip years ago the US has so much natural beauty. This person is self absorbed human trash and I hope she is caught and prosecuted.
And I support graffiti, good writing, on trains and in alleys.
Graffiti on trains is vandalism, too. For one thing, it can cover up information needed by responders to an emergency. “The difference between ‘art’ and ‘vandalism’ is PERMISSION.”
Absolutely is, and I’ve never seen grafitti on the TDG placs, so I can’t say that graf on trains is dangerous as you believe. Sure its illegal and not permitted but its way better than shitty acrylic paintings on rocks in National Parks. I’ve seen some awesome murals on trains during my summer job seeing a dozen boxes a day and most artists mask off or paint around any stencils. Not nearly as big a deal, truly harming no one, nor destroying the natural beauty that belongs to everyone.
There’s a rail switching line that runs behind my house. Trust me, they do paint over the placards. A lot. The only thing I’ve never seen painted over are the military vehicle transport trains, but those tend to have armed guards if it’s anything bigger than uparmored humvees…
I’m pretty sure that’s considered poor form in the graffiti community. Breaking the law is part of it but causing real damage isn’t. Also, if you do this your piece is more likely to be removed and you’re out your paint and notoriety. Not saying it doesn’t happen, it’s just not a real part of what people who know what they’re doing are doing.
Keep that nonsense for the inner city. This is so shameful and I hope the damage can be restored.
Would love to get an update after she gets arrested and prosecuted.
Just a reminder to keep the discussion civil here – Any harsh language or links to personal info will be deleted from the thread.
I know temperatures are running high on this story (and believe me, I was upset when I learned about it, too) but please try to be civil in the comments. Thanks, everyone!
find her. charge her. make her scrub every last bit off (supervised) with a toothbrush. and no winter gear.
I would like to see her pay the tens of thousands of dollars it will cost to mitigate her damage. After she gets out of federal prison.
Nothing screams art and natural beauty more than including your instagram username in all of your paintings. Creepytings?? This girl is what we refer to in my town as ‘touched’.
((Post edited to remove personal info))
according to facebook one of her favorite activities is “not caring”
I agree 100% man. What a disgraceful thing to do.
This makes me so angry. I feel bad for all the people who’ve come across her “art” so far.
You are the worst, this is so self absorbed its unbelievable. And your art is pabulum, and I’ve earned my right to say it.
It just kills me that her mother “SarahJBerman” is PROUD of her. Right here! I would die of shame. http://instagram.com/p/tVXPTIHo5f/
Where do you think she learned to act like this? To be this oblivious to societal norms and expectations isn’t easy. You have to have parental “help.”
Looks like you got linked in the main /r/CampingAndHiking sub:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CampingandHiking/comments/2jyd2c/this_artist_is_defacing_national_parks_around_the/
So folks can go comment there. Behave yourselves :)
That is now one of the top 10 /r/CampingAndHiking posts of all time
I am outraged that she can be that selfish to deface national monuments to get some publicity. Art! What art? She is not any good at it, they all look like beginner drawings! And to be so arrogant to do them it acrylics!
I don’t know what is more pitiful, her arrogance believing that people might think she is good; the fact she thinks she is above the law; that she is stupid enough to publish her vandalism, (sorry about expressing myself like this but she totally deserves it); or the fact that she is so lousy at drawing!
I don’t care if she’s Pablo Picasso. What she is doing is utter and total sh*t and not worthy of any respect whatsoever, regardless.
Hope she enjoys painting concrete walls of her cell…
This is so infuriating. Justice better be served.
Great job, Casey!
She wanted her art to go viral and that is just what is happening. And yet, not the way she planned…
Another one though i’m not sure where this is at perhapse someone else will.
http://creepytings.tumblr.com/image/97709493447
I think that might be Pinnacles?
I saw that one, too – to my eye it looks like southeastern Utah – and it’s posted on her Tumblr right after another post from Canyonlands.
Anyone want to check out Lee Vining and Lundy canyon? Sigh.
http://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?3,77478
Maybe the Forest Service needs to get involved in this, too?
I bet she has similar tags in and around NYC that the NYPD might be interested in.
I just found a few more in an old open window with the Instagram still active … including one interior of a building in Denver, another tree, and her scrambling over protected pictographs in Joshua Tree.
I worked as a ranger in Zion for six months last winter; I’ll shoot an e-mail to one of my old coworkers there. Looks like her “work” is up the trail to Upper Emerald Pool. And I think the one in Canyonlands might be right next to one of those ancient granaries. If that’s the case, she’s not only defacing a National Park, but an archaeological site as well. Just ridiculous. I’ve worked at three parks, and have had to call a few people out on improper behaviors before, but nothing even close to this. I’m trying to imagine how I would react if I were out roving a trail and came upon someone doing something like this.
Yup – the Canyonlands one looks like it’s right next to Roadside Ruin in the Needles District. As much as her photos try to make her look adventurous, it seems like she never strayed too far from the paved roads when she was doing these.
Thanks for letting your friends at Zion know – maybe they can pass the word along to Canyonlands.
One of the oldest forms of human expression is painting on rocks…. I look at her paintings and have trouble seeing them as vandalism, I tend to see a gift.
Subjectively, it is tough to determine the difference between art and graffiti. Objectively, however, these “works” were created illegally in federally protected land while existing petroglyphs and pictograms (and even anglo settler graffiti on places like Newspaper Rock) were there *before* the protection.
I’m not a lawyer, but I think that’s a pretty strong case for classifying these as vandalism and not art.
I don’t think you know what the word “subjectively” means. Subjectivity is entirely intuitive, i.e. it is unavoidable, which is kind of the opposite of “tough”. You also seem to be confused about what “art” is.
This is objectively art, and vandalism, at the same time. Subjectively, it’s terrible, either way.
I was speaking in the journalistic sense of subjective information vs. objective information – i.e., what some people consider “street art” others consider “graffiti.” That is an entirely different debate but that’s what Henning was alluding to.
Like you, I feel this stuff is subjectively bad and objectively illegal.
There are plenty of rocks that aren’t located inside National Parks.
True, but the value in that is the preservation of a lost culture. To “add” art to a National Park runs in direct opposition to the purpose of the park, which is to protect and preserve. Besides, if we condone a thing like this, it’s not much of a leap from art on a rock to a coca cola billboard on Half Dome.
or at least a tomato soup can ;)
You see a gift, where I see theft. She claimed our public parks for her own purposes.
You, sir, are an ass, just as she is! Defacing anywhere is disgusting, but in our national parks? Come on, how stupid can you be!
You need to learn how to read more closely before you see red and start pounding your keyboard.. Raphael didn’t post anything you’re in disagreement with.
What are you talking about?
Do you have autism?
Would you see it as a gift if people came into your home and painted all over your clothing, your bed, your kitchen, your bathroom, and all your personal documents? Probably not.
In any event, there is one basic tenet of human interaction that parents seem not to be teaching their children: KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF WHATEVER DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU.
These acts of vandalism are destruction of the property that belongs to all of us, and not just to one person. It’s a cheap plea for attention from somebody who wants to be noticed. In the words of the vandal herself: “I know, I’m a bad person.”
I completely agree, I think the art is great
rich her art if that’s what you call it is a great pile of dog shit
Henning, she does have a gift. but while you mention that painting on rocks is “one of the oldest forms of human expression,” that is the case because, at the time when cave paintings were most-prominent, that was a main tool of communication and creativity. In 2014, I do not see this being true; People have many other avenues for creativity outside of painting on rocks in a national park.
Please be aware this is not a gift I want. It’s like finding coal in one’s stocking, vice a jewel.
Why couldn’t she have painted on some unprotected rocks? Why deface a national park, which exists to protect the beauty that is there?
we are way beyond needing to express ourselves on rocks. what this broad has done is not art. or expression. of anything beyond “i don’t care.” so all this outrage is just feeding her narcissism. nothing said here against her will make any difference. seems to be a bit sociopathic to me.
we are also beyond mt rushmore. the whole nation had a different mindset back then. personally i think it is extreme hubris for man to think it was ok to desecrate an entire mountains for some faces.
Yeah, I posted enough to get the conversation started without going to much into the personal information side… She’s not exactly very hard to find once you have any peice of info at any rate.
And once you do even the tiniest bit of digging, you’ll find more photos of her defacing National Parks :/. Thanks again for helping to bring this to our attention – I just emailed the NPS Ranger investigating the issue offering help, but as you mentioned, it’s going to be pretty easy for them to track her down. I bet she wishes she didn’t sign all of these “works” with her Instagram account name now …
Perhaps this narcissist thinks she’ll get a slap on the wrist, (like the stereotypical blonde getting out of a ticket) and make a million off of the free publicity…..???? Her ‘art’ is unremarkable in its inappropriateness and if it were transferred to a more acceptable ‘canvas’…Try Andy Goldsworthy’s approach to outdoor art…..this is biodegradable and worthy…http://www.morning-earth.org/ARTISTNATURALISTS/AN_images/GOLDSWORTHY/575/gold_rowanlevs.jpg
What a narcissist this person must be.
Exactly, a total and complete narcissist.
what that away, instagram?
Yet somehow cave paintings are natural and beautiful.
No one ever said that they were “natural”, and whatever beauty they may possess is secondary to their primary importance, which is historical/archaeological. They tell us about ancient cultures. I don’t really care about the “culture” of this arrogant, self-absorbed idiot, and no one else does, either.
Maybe in a thousand years her work will be an archaeological treasure… the future-people will assume we had terrible taste in art and no talent to speak of.
Except that there’s documentation of the laws that this vandal
violated, in addition to the faux pas, taste- and talent-wise.
perfect
The difference is that traditional cultures lived in these places full-time and had few other means of artistic expression. This person has virtually unlimited artistic opportunities that would be unquestionably ethical and legal. If she absolutely has to paint on natural objects, at least she could get her own property to work on, or find interested landowners to offer their land as a canvas.
Oh come on, you can do better than that. You could have said something like, yet somehow building a house is acceptable… Cave paintings are a completely different ballgame for many reasons. The first of these is that the people who made them weren’t actually defacing the few remaining wild places, set aside for the sake of them remaining wild. Those were their homes. They were essentially marking their personal property. A drawing in the cave would be like you painting a mural in your garage. A national park doesn’t belong to one person and therefor is not for one person to decorate as they please. Would you be happy if your roommate decided to paint the house without so much as asking you? If she wanted to paint on a mountain, she is more than welcome to purchase a ranch and do so, or ask the rest of the park’s owners for their permission.
Obviously, not a thinking brain in her head. So unbelievable that she actually thought that her art was something to share as she defaced federal property. I am so glad there are citizens willing to show her her errors.
My Reddit thread was removed due to people posting personal information in the comments section fyi.
Boo. I had a feeling that might happen. Sometimes Redditors can get a little too enthusiastic with stuff like this, but we certainly wouldn’t have found out about it without them :)
Sorry about that, but it was getting out of hand and Reddit deals with that type of thing by handing out account and subreddit bans. I would have left the thread and just removed the comments if you hadn’t posted the personal account links and the personal pictures in the lead of the thread itself. (Linking to personal social media accounts is explicitly noted as one of the verboten items in the Reddit guidelines, as is starting vigilante threads- however warranted)
Though I’m glad the sub helped spread the word while it was up. Not sure if that explicitly was what got the investigative ranger involved but it definitely helped.
I’m just glad my original reddit thread has gotten more people invovled in the situation. i love my national parks, so when my friend contacted me who lives in the park with a photo and a request to find them i jumped at the oppertunity. I hate these types of people.
Truly pathetic. I love the outdoors and love art but desecrating the National Parks like this is unacceptable. I hope that investigators from the NPS can and will do something about it……thanks for bringing it to the attention of the masses.
http://www.eathikedrink.com
What is truly pathetic is this self righteous lynch mob. You guys all make me feel so gross.
God, what a twat. I love that she made her Instagram private.
Absolutely wrong and incredibly disappointing. This wannabe artist is selfish and foolish to think her “art” is an improvement upon these beautiful national parks. Hopefully she’ll face prosecution and get a clue.
If you were able to grab any photos of her instagram feed before she closed it, there’s a NPS investigator looking for info on Reddit.
I just sent him an email. I’d been screen snagging everything into Evernote with original URLs. I got the crater lake, death valley, zion, and canyonlands pics.
Just in case anyone might want to drop the soon-to-be-incarcerated Casey Nocket a farewell message. https://www.facebook.com/casey.nocket?fref=ts
Seriously, stop it.
You guys need to just NOT harass people. Informing law enforcement is one thing. Forming a lynch mob is another. GET A FUCKING GRIP.
This is a human being. THAT? Is a rock.
Wow – so wrong, and so disappointing. Very very frustrating and sad, among other non-productive things.
Woah.
I just got really, really angry.
I’ll assume profanity isn’t cool here.
I’ll leave it at that.
Right?!? Ugh I’m so disgusted about this.
Whatever happened to the classic motto “Take nothing but photos, leave only footprints?”
And Zion. I’m just shaking my head. Who on earth 1) thinks it’s okay to vandalize national parks and 2) posts about it all over the interwebs?
http://creepytings.tumblr.com/post/98291278012/september-17th-2014-zion-national-park
I’m calling the Ranger Stations of all of those Parks today. I hope others join me.
Good idea. I know a number of people in the system. Going to work the phones myself.
I ran across a post from a Yosemite rep. on Reddit looking for more info.
She’s toast.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Yosemite/comments/2jvbst/graffiti_artist_with_no_regard_for_her_actions/
While reading it, you can actually hear the sound of a plane crashing.
Maybe we could donate some rubbing alcohol. http://m.wikihow.com/Remove-Acrylic-Paint
Best to leave the cleanup to the authorities. We wouldn’t want to cause more damage than she already has, especially around pictographs.
This is true, especially where there are historic and/or prehistoric pictographs/petroglyphs. the alcohol could severely ruin them.
So you are going to call every National park and tell them they have graffiti?
They know… They deal with it regularly. This is not some isolated incident that you discovered. It happens on a regular basis at all the parks (and in all the town, villages, cities, etc.) across the country and across the WORLD.
Its really not that big of a deal unless we decide to make it one.
I guess we decided to make it a big deal. Which it is.
Tony, go to bed. Give it up. You’re outnumbered, outsmarted, out-of-your-league, here. If you can find an urban slum somewhere you’ll probably be able to locate kindred spirits who will agree with your childish input. Otherwise, you’re embarrassing yourself with every post.
Tony is right. Go find 100 park service employees (you know, real people, not internet hate addicts) and ask them what they think. They deal with this kind of crap all the time – and its definitely not the highest priority they deal with.
Tony – come home now, its bath time!
What about railroad cars?