If you own it, you can break it

As a February 19, 2014 New York Times article, “Behind the Smashing of a Vase” by Nick Madigan notes, Miami artist Maximo Caminero destroyed a vase by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei that was on display at the Perez Art Museum Miami in a protest against Miami museum policies. Caminero was arrested and charged with criminal mischief. The irony of this situation is that one of Weiwei’s earlier works involved the destruction of a vase. The difference in the situations seems to be that Weiwei owned the vase he destroyed and Caminero did not. As conservators should we not be troubled by the implication that ownership is what determines whether an object can or can’t be destroyed.