![]() Each piece is typically composed of approximately 300 cubes, measures about 0.9 by 1.3 metres (3 ft × 4 ft), and weighs approximately 36 kilograms (80 lb), though the exact dimensions depend on the subject and the level of detail. Stacking the cubes eventually produces a full image, which is then glued to a backing board. Using a computer program, the artist works out the precise distribution of the six colors on a Rubik's Cube required to achieve the desired image he then manipulates one side of each Rubik's Cube to reach the required pattern. Since 2004, Invader has also created a series of works, typically for indoor display, exclusively using Rubik's Cubes (a style the artist calls "Rubikcubism," a play on the Cubist art movement of the early 20th century). He has also taken steps against legal action in late 2015, while planning another "invasion" in New York City, he put out a call on social media for building owners who would be willing to host his mosaics legally. Since the 2010s, when his works became highly sought-after by art collectors and theft became a real concern, he has begun to choose sites that are more difficult to reach and to create larger works with more delicate tiles that cannot be removed without damaging the piece. More recently, Invader has adopted strategies to avoid the removal of his works. In Montpellier, locations were chosen so that, when plotted on a map, they form an image of a giant Space Invaders alien. Smartphone users can also hunt for mosaics globally using the "FlashInvaders" app. The mosaics are mapped, catalogued and photographed to indicate their locations within a city using this data, the artist then prints and distributes city "invasion maps". The red and gold coloration reflects the five-element theory of Chinese philosophy.Įach "invasion" usually takes around two or three weeks, with the actual installations taking at least a week. No two pieces are alike.Ī revamped Mario Princess, installed at Bibo, a restaurant on Hollywood Road in Hong Kong, in 2014. The sites for his mosaics are often chosen for their visibility, local interest and symbolism. ![]() ![]() He believes that museums and galleries are not accessible to everyone, and so installs his work at street level for ordinary people to enjoy on a daily basis. Invader sees himself as a "hacker" of public space spreading a mosaic "virus". He claims that only a few people know his real name and his face and that his parents think he works as a tiler in the construction industry. To guard his anonymity on camera during interviews, he pixellates his own image or wears a mask. Invader works incognito, often masked and largely at night. Invader installations have become desirable collectors' pieces, to the point where some works have been stolen off of the walls upon which they were installed. The patterns can be easily decoded using standard QR reader smartphone apps one such message, when decoded, reads, "This is an invasion." Invader also makes QR code mosaics using black and white tiles. In 2012, Invader made a short film Art4Space documenting his attempt to launch one of his aliens into space on a modified weather balloon. As of January 2020, Invader had created mosaics in 79 cities, with 3,858 Space Invaders comprising over 1.5 million ceramic tiles, and had published 24 "invasion maps." Since 2000, he has also installed more than 70 pieces of work around Hong Kong. Paris remains a primary location for the artist's work in June 2011, Invader marked the installation of his 1,000th work in Paris with an exhibition at La Générale entitled 1000. During subsequent trips to Los Angeles, he also placed mosaics on the eight other letters of the sign. He often installs mosaics in culturally and/or historically important locations, with one high-profile example being his December 31st, 1999 mosaic on the letter D of the Hollywood Sign marking the Y2K bug. ![]() Invader has since staged "invasions" in cities and countries worldwide, including seven in New York City and three in Hong Kong. Using tiles to represent the pixels in the games' 8-bit graphics, Invader began making mosaics in Paris in the 1990s, and went on to install mosaics in 31 other cities in France. One of Invader's aliens (MAN 47) on a wall in Manchester, England, installed in 2004 Ī graduate of a Parisian École des Beaux-Arts, Invader initially derived inspiration for his creations from the video games he played when he was growing up in the 1970s and 80s. ![]()
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