Rock Art or Vandalism?

A collection of new pictographs have been discovered spread out across 10 National Parks in the Western United States of America. The problem is that they are not 1000’s of years old; they were painted this year. And the National Parks Service has decreed that they are vandalism and are investigating accordingly.

It seems that 21 year old New York artist; Casey Nocket visited the parks earlier this year and decided to record her visits by creating pictographs which she publicized on her Instagram and Tumblr accounts under the name Creepyting.

The National Parks Service said in a media release “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.” If Nocket is charged with and found guilty of vandalism she faces the prospect of 6 months in jail and a $3500 fine.

One can’t help but wonder if in 100 years the National Parks Service will be providing the same protection to these art works as they do for other rock art sites under their control. Although it is a pretty safe bet that from the materials used (acrylic and felt pen) and the work’s exposed locations they had better start sooner than later.

To me Nocket's work seems more considered than the petroglyphs from Coso Rock Art District (Shown below). They look like preparatory sketches for a larger work.