Artist Gavin Turk arrested in London climate change protest
Turk held for obstructing public highway and has no regrets in taking part in mass civil disobedience
The British artist Gavin Turk has said every member of the public will feel the impact of the climate emergency sooner rather than later, after he was arrested during mass civil disobedience in central London.
Turk, who was among 82 people arrested during a coordinated occupation of five bridges in the capital, said the pressure to force governments to act to reduce climate change was “the new future”.
He was among scores of people arrested for the obstruction of a public highway on Lambeth Bridge on Saturday in a mass protest to force governments to take action on climate change. He was held for several hours and released later the same day.
Turk, one of the generation of young British artists who became art superstars in the mid-90s, said he had no regrets about taking part in one of the biggest acts of mass civil disobedience for decades, organised by activists known as Extinction Rebellion.
“It seems like everyone is in an odd sense of denial about climate change,” said Turk. “I was in a quandary about what I could do. I felt taking part was a way of putting my name down and doing something for the environment. It was an incredibly peaceful demonstration and I think we put down some kind of marker. The message is really very slow to get through to people, but it will come to us all, we will all have to deal with the impact of this climate emergency.
“I hope this kind of action has caught the public imagination. It is the new future.”
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