Dubbed the “Fire Sale,” all proceeds from the pieces will go directly to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group of U.K. charities that coordinates resources for humanitarian aid. Currently, the group is aiding those affected by Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Both of the art pieces are called “War in Ukraine” and will be sold as prints for £150 (roughly $195 USD) each. Both runs will have ten “randomly allocated, hand-finished” editions by Del Naja. As of this writing, the sale will run until March 22, 2022.

Originally sold as one item, popularity for the artwork quickly grew and Del Naja decided to release a second print. “Due to the overwhelming support we are launching a second edition,” he wrote on Instagram. “All proceeds will be donated to the DEC appeal [the area of the DEC responsible for providing aid in Ukraine].”

Beginning on February 24th, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what he called a “special military operation” into the country of Ukraine. The resulting campaign has caused a humanitarian crisis in the region with millions of people forced to flee the war zone.

Those interested in purchasing a print can do so on the Fire Sale website.

Launched in October, Eco-bot.net is currently set up to flag ads it deems “greenwashing.” According to their site, greenwashing is when corporate advertisers mislead consumers about their green credentials. As of this writing, 1,369 ads posted on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have been flagged as containing false or misleading information regarding climate change.

Del Naja developed the system alongside artist/researcher Bill Poster and Dale Vince, the founder of green energy company Ecotricity. According to an interview with Creative Review, the project was meant to run alongside a scheduled show in Liverpool. The group canceled the show in protest when they found out an arms fair was taking place at the venue, however. Instead, they shifted their focus to The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). Their platform flagged numerous greenwashing examples from companies who sponsored the conference.

“In terms of the way it’s propagating [climate misinformation] on social media, it’s frightening,” Del Naja said. “When we ask Facebook what their response is to some of the information we’re picking up, some of the data we’re finding, they always refer us to the fact-checkers. But who are the fact-checkers?”

Massive Attack’s show was created as a “super low-carbon” trial event to test the feasibility of hosting similarly environmentally friendly shows in the future. The duo believe that an arms fair ties directly into environmental issues that could exacerbate armed conflicts in the near future, though.

“On the eve of a global event that’s totally critical if we’re to avoid a catastrophic extinction event, arms barons are shop-windowing technologies that inevitably harm and incarcerate people, often in the hands of states already acknowledged to be human rights violators,” said Massive Attack’s Robert “3D” Del Naja in a statement.

“The International Red Cross says that the impacts of climate emergency seriously increase the risks of armed conflict, by exacerbating existing social, economic and environmental factors,” he continued. “In what world is that an ‘opportunity’ worth promoting? As artists, we cannot travel along with that.”

Massive Attack feel so strongly about the topic that they also expressed solidarity with the Liverpool Against The Arms Fair. The group held a demonstration last Saturday, September 11th at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral.

“The one-off testbed show planned for Liverpool involved design, planning and relationship building on a scale that dwarfs any conventional tour, so it’s really disappointing that for reasons way beyond our control we can’t pull it off,” said Del Naja. “But showing solidarity with the people of Liverpool at this crucial moment supersedes that.”

Narrated by Massive Attack’s Robert “3D” Del Naja, the film centers on reducing the carbon footprint of the live music industry. Del Naja stresses the music industry “couldn’t or wouldn’t move fast enough for live music to play its part in rapid decarbonization,” emphasizes the impact touring has on carbon emissions, and urges musicians to work with cities rather than promoters on reducing the live music industry’s carbon footprint.

Liverpool’s director of culture Claire McColgan, green energy industrialist Dale Vince, and Tyndall Centre’s Carly McLachlan also feature in the film.

Origins of the Partnership

Massive Attack’s partnership with the Tyndall Centre was announced in November 2019. Originally, the band pledged to work with the Tyndall Centre to “map thoroughly the carbon footprint of band tour cycles, and to present options that can be implemented quickly” along three core dimensions: audience transportation, band travel and production, and venue emissions. The research was to culminate in a low-carbon-footprint show. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic virtually shutting down live music gatherings ruled out the event.

Massive Attack’s Activism

Massive Attack are no strangers to incorporating environmental activism into their touring plans. They’ve paid to have trees planted, often prohibited the use of single-use plastics, and traveled by train to shows wherever feasible. In an op-ed for The Guardian, Del Naja mentioned that the band even considered giving up touring altogether. The idea was ultimately dropped as they settled upon reformation from the inside rather than outright boycott. “To create systemic change there is no real alternative to collective action,” Del Naja said.

Earlier in the year, Massive attack were among the signatories on “Lift the Siege,” an open letter calling for Israel to end attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Ambient forerunner Brian Eno is among the signatories, as were downtempo figureheads Massive Attack. Other acts from the electronic music space who signed off on the plea were Helm, Violet, Ciel and Hiro Kone per Resident Advisor. Other musicians include Roger Waters, Mary Black and XY accompanied by dozens of writers, filmmakers, actors and philosophers.

“Long before the global outbreak of COVID-19 threatened to overwhelm the already devastated healthcare system in Gaza, the UN had predicted that the blockaded coastal strip would be unliveable by 2020,” reads a passage of the letter. “With the pandemic, Gaza’s almost two million inhabitants, predominantly refugees, face a mortal threat in the world’s largest open-air prison.”

“In these times of international crisis, we must stand for justice, peace, freedom, and equal rights for all, regardless of identity or creed,” the letter closes out. “We may be staying at home, but our ethical responsibility shouldn’t.”

After going on something of a tirade against Banksy during the interview, Goldie (whose real name is Clifford Joseph Price) referred to him by his first name. “Give me a bubble letter and put it on a T-shirt and write ‘Banksy’ on it and we’re sorted,” said Price. “We can sell it now. No disrespect to Robert, I think he is a brilliant artist. I think he has flipped the world of art over.”

Price and Del Naja are rumored to know each other well; both had been graffiti artists in the ’80s before garnering worldwide renown as musicians. Previously, Banksy’s politically charged pieces had been observed to pop up in locations where Del Naja had recently visited, although many speculate that a group of artists work collaboratively on the murals.

Robert Del Naja has neither confirmed nor denied the suspicions at this time.

Source: UNILAD