Ztohoven

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"Drunk traffic lights" by Ztohoven in Prague
"Drunk traffic lights" by Ztohoven in Prague

Ztohoven is an award-winning Czech guerrilla artist collective known for its pranks. The most well-known of these pranks - and the one which led to six of its members being prosecuted - was the June 17, 2007 "Media Reality" incident, in which they hacked into a weather forecast being broadcast on Česká televize and inserted a digital image of a nuclear explosion and a mushroom cloud on a live panoramic shot of the Krkonoše Mountains. This led to the January 2008 announcement that six Ztohoven members would be prosecuted for scaremongering and spreading false information; they faced prison sentences of up to three years. On March 25, 2008, A Czech judge dismissed the scaremongering charges against the artists, citing public amusement rather than public unrest, but the prosecutor said the state would consider an appeal.[1]

In December of 2007, the Czech National Gallery awarded Ztohoven the NG 333 prize for works unrelated to the "Media Reality" incident; this included CZK 333 000. [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hacker Artists Cleared in Czech TV Stunt - New York Times - March 27, 2008
  2. ^ A Czech War of the Worlds: Mushroom Cloud Pranksters to Stand Trial - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
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