Life cycles

(or, I've got Slate's Shoot the Recession photos on my mind)

When I went out to lunch today I carried my camera with me to see what shots I could find. Unfortunately for the picturesque, the weather is behaving just as it should in March, blustering about and supplying us with wind, clouds and rain. So despite my best efforts (and I had no children with me, so no excuse really) my shots of the castle, the Charles Bridge, and the National Theater all turned out flat and gray. Then I passed a window display and I knew that this would be my shot of the day.

Explainer: SLEVA means sale in Czech. Stores across town are marking down their goods, waiting to see what happens as the Czech Republic moves into a recession. And any guesses about the street art in the reflection?

How zebras get their stripes...

 

...at least in Prague.

Mix cobblestones and tram lines with well traveled roads and you get a bumpy ride on many downtown streets here in Prague. I'm guessing the not-so-smooth terrain is why our zebra stripes get their clean edges from duct tape, and their refresher shines from hand applied paint.

Variation on a theme

What's a vacation without the requisite picture of a street musician? When we were in France this year, we didn't meet any musical characters but we did find a piano that looked like it had taken root, just off Colmar's busiest shopping street.

A Ferris Wheel of Gears

Sculpture near Nadrazi Holesovice.

Graffiti isn't the only form of street art you find in Prague. Here's one free-standing example I really like. Only a few of the wheels turn in the breeze.

The Erroll Flynn of graffiti artists

Ano! takhle chci! smenit pohled na kultura!
Yes! I want! to change the view on culture!

Apparently this is what happens when Robin Hood picks up Warhol's banana as his bow and arrow - surreptitious mass produced stenciling.

Along the Waterfront

The green line starts here.

Christine, over at My Typography, suggested microblogging for August. She inspired me last January to try everyday art - turning one of my least favorite months of the year into a time of joy and satisfaction for me, so I thought I'd take her up on microblogging too.

I decided I'd try it with a twist though, picking a theme every few days to follow. As you can tell, I'm on a graffiti kick this week. We live with a lot of graffiti here in Prague, and it is one of the first things people remark on when they arrive in town. I notice it too when I first get back from a trip or when I pull out my camera, and over the years I've found all sorts of samples that are a bit more interesting than the incessant tags and bubble letters that cover walls here.

These pictures are from 2006, the last time the Vltava threatened to flood Prague. When the water rises, the city builds barricades along its waterfront. Firmly anchored by posts buried in the embankment and further buffered by sandbags, the barricades work well. They kept most of the river out of downtown Prague in 2002 and again in 2006. They are tempting graffiti targets though - someone apparently decided that the post would make a fine connection to the green trail and slapped on a sticker to help show the way.

You can see just how high the barricades can go in the broader view below.