It’s an invasion!
I have been wanting to talk about Invader for a while, but very hard to get in touch with him. Let’s take a deeper look into his work:
Regarding street art invasion:
« I’m often asked how many people are in my group? The response is: there is no group, I work on my own and I enjoy travelling a lot.”
After a few years of thinking and planning, the « invasion » of the world began…
It is with the pseudonyme Invader, that the artist applies the concept of the video game to an urban reality.
This is how the first Space Invader came to be, in 1996 in Paris…
For Invader, the world is a big playground: Paris, London, New-York, Tokyo, but also Mombasa or Kathmandou… over 70 cities have been invaded!
Invader gives each of his piece a « score » between 10 and 100 points, depending on their size, where they are and their composition.
Every Space Invader is unique! Every one is created with a double, an Alias, a clone which is archived in plexiglas and given an identity card (including the date it was born, the address where you can find it, a photo of the location, a map, the number of points it is worth…).
Best if to download his phone application: Flash Invader to photograph/scan the space invaders you find on the streets to get their point credited to your profile! Pretty addictive 🙂
We are 100driiine & StreetLove.fr, check it out… Who beats us?
Some important dates:
1978 : The video game « Space Invaders » was released in Japan
1996 : Invader places his first piece in the streets of Paris
1998 : The launch of the operation « Space Invaders » in Paris
1999 : The invasion hits the rest of the world
2005 : The beginning of Rubikcubisme
Some important figures:
More than 1 400 Space Invaders in Paris (in 2020)
More than 20 000 points accumulated in Paris
77 cities invaded
2 692 Space Invaders in the world
5 commissions
1 500 000 square tiles glued in the streets
6 world tours
22 nights in Police custody
15 personal exhibitions
42 group exhibitions
19 invasion maps published
6 invasion guide published
1 tonne of Rubik’s cubes used for the exhibition « 1 000 » in Paris, along with 6 000 rubber balls
A word about rubikcubisme:
Although most known his « Space Invaders », the artist also works with other techniques, including the iconic 80’s: Rubik’s cube !
Given the name « Rubikcubisme », this project uses the famous brain twisting icon to produce works of art.
« Give me a Rubik’s cube, and I will solve it, give me 300 and I will make a piece of art! »
Always working around the basic « pixel », the artist is developing his art in 3D. With that technique, he developed 3 different series:
– Rubik masterpieces: classic art pieces reworked by Invader (Courbet, Ingres, Leonard de Vinci, Warhol, Manet…)
– Badmen: a collection of portraits of the « bad guys » from cinema, literature or political history of the 20th century (Clockwork Orange, Bonnie & Clyde, Charles Manson, Baader, Al Capone…)
– Low Fidelity: album covers from music from the artists collection (Velvet Underground, The Clash, Bob Marley, Gainsbourg, ACDC, Daft Punk…).
His love for stickers :
« A sticker can be placed in a second and can stay for years »
The sticker is the faster way to communicate for any street artist.
For Invader, it starts with his personal objects: computer, agenda, mobile or scooter.
Invader is creating between 5 and 10 designs of stickers per year, limited to 1 000 copies each. Once the stock is dry, that’s it! And the sticker become a Collector item.
The story behind the Speed Ball Machine:
« I always thought that round was my worst enemy, but no, we have reconciled »
The Speed Ball Machine is a crazy installation created for an event: Miami Art Basel 2010.
The piece is a sculpture in perpetual motion, and it’s made up of a plexiglas container with coloured rubber balls launched at more than 200 km/h by an automatic system.
The viewer experiences the fear of being hit as the transparency of the glass gives the allusion of being touched.
All figures quoted here are likely to have evolved since the publishing of this article…
