Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: grafitti

Right across from the station was an old Tesla (electronics) factory that I couldn't determine the status of. After 1989, Tesla was drastically downsized and split up into subsidiaries as small as cities, with Lanskroun getting this plant as a specific "Tesla Lanskroun." It's still listed in the business directories, but the website, www.tesla-lan.cz , was down. One other Tesla facility in Lanskroun, however, is still functioning as Alema, Inc. Even the main website www.tesla.cz/en/tesla has no info on Lanskroun, so I gave up. I do note that next to the logo is some grafitti of what looks like Ronald McDonald with a chainsaw, which is at least amusing.

Here are some more of the repro posters.

There were also adbuster-style road signs among the posters.

The Czechs are rarely vicious in their criticism of even their most hated enemies, however. Most of the posters were either imploring the Russians to better serve the cause of socialism by going home, while others, like the one on the far left here, simply joked around, saying in this case "We don't give beer to occupiers."

Although grafitti was much rarer in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic than in the modern Czech Republic (for that matter, it was rarer everywhere in Europe in the 1960's than it is today), during the brief protests of 1968 the Czechs used it aggressively to insult the Russians or to voice their grievances. Many posters were also put up, in spite of Communist efforts to restrict access to printing presses and copiers.

Here's a detail shot of the "grafitti."

Update: After a web search, I finally found some information about this building, from the Litomerice city website: "The House of "U Cerného orla" ("At the Black Eagle") This house is one of the most important Renaissance townhouses. It was built for the Housek family from Adlersberk in 1564 by the Italian builder Balli. In 1650 it became the seat of the Oulík knights from Trebnice and was given the title of Králev Hrádek nad Labem. The plaque over the entrance inscribed with the words SALVA GUARDA (Honor Guard) means that the house wa under the special protection of the ruler and could not be looted. On the front of the house the extensive remains of Renaissance grafitti were discovered in 1957-58, depicting biblical scenes and folk allegories. Today it is the site of a hotel, restaurant and private gallery."

The location is just one that I remember, without remembering very much else about the day in question. I actually rediscovered this shot when I was scanning the roll, as I had completely forgotten about it. I'm assuming that this was a joke done at the depot, and not what a vandal would do....vandals are idiots and probably wouldn't be able to come up with this.

This is the Renaissance Town Hall of Plzen, but I shot this as a closeup in this way, or at least a crop, to get some of the artwork on it, called, misleadingly, grafitti. Don't mess with this building, a---holes. In any case, I wish the photo looked better, but the scan was horrible, I think because the exposure was too dark....yet again.

This is my last shot of the old Nadrazi Svetice before it was demolished as part of the Praha-Ceske Budejovice corridor reconstruction. The new station is far more modern and "nicer," but I don't know how long it will last before the vandals wreck it, too.

And here's a shot of even worse vandalism, much like you would see in London, or maybe New York circa-1982-89. Now...is that stuff on the ground moss, weeds, or....

Here's a shot of the lovely Cerny Most Metro, at the Cerny Most end of the tubular bridge. In reality, it's not this awful inside the station, just outside. I can't tell what that stuff on the footpath is, but I'm sure you can guess.

In a place as filthy and disgusting as Cerny Most, grafitti, public defecation, litter, and miscellaneous vandalism are inevitable. It seems that these things go on most where people figure the place is so vile that nobody in law enforcement will notice, and come to think of it I've never seen a cop out here (don't count on them not showing up if you're really bad, though). No criminals or cops in this picture, though, just litter, grafitti, and panelaks. Surprisingly, nobody has chosen to take a dump on that roof.