Artist fined for light tampering

A Czech artist has been fined US$3,760 (CZK 60,000) for replacing the glass in pedestrian crossing traffic lights with stencils of comical and vulgar figures. David Brudnak, 33, was also ordered to pay an additional US$5,140 (CZK 82,000) by the Prague court for the damage done to around 50 traffic lights by his stunt in the Czech capital in April 2007.

Pedestrians were confronted by, for example, an illuminated figure dangling from a hangman’s noose and a legless man. Brudnak, along with other artists, was acquitted earlier this year of criminal charges for inserting images of an atom bomb explosion into a television weather and tourism broadcast.

Right: Brudnak fitted pedestrian crossing traffic lights in Prague with a selection of figures

22 May 2008