the invasion continues

February 10, 2005 3:11 AM

Who is "Invader"? We may never know but what is known is the artist has installed more than 600 mosaics in Paris. His influence has spread to other places such as New York and Los Angeles and some have been chronicling the invasion. [quicktime may be req. for some sites]
posted by squeak (26 comments total)

Other invasions can be found here, here and here.
posted by squeak at 3:12 AM on February 10, 2005

You just answered one my lifes little mysteries. I walk/drive past these almost everyday of my life and everyday I wonder where they came from and why. I'm happy its not some property developer or something lame like what gouranga turned out to be.
posted by 13twelve at 3:26 AM on February 10, 2005

Also, he's put mosaics in Amsterdam and on Visby Stadsmur, and in many more cities. He's been all over the place.
posted by dabitch at 3:29 AM on February 10, 2005

I've been noticing more and more of these around Manchester (including that one, 13twelve - there are loads in and around the northern quarter and by Affleck's, too, I think) - it's nice to know I was right (ish) in assuming it was someone's eccentric little project - I just had no idea of the number of cities it covered. Fantastic links, squeak, thanks!
posted by terpsichoria at 4:05 AM on February 10, 2005

rather typically for amsterdam's policy that the city counsil desides to fight the invasion.. :-S

im gonna get me them shoes & a bucket of paint ;)
posted by borq at 4:07 AM on February 10, 2005

Downloaded the map and am going to walk around Manchester all day till I've seen them all (much like I did with all those cows last year).
posted by 13twelve at 4:20 AM on February 10, 2005

Pretty cool...I love stuff like this

If anyone from the website is checking this out, you have a little error on the "About the Artist" page. I think you mean our, not out.

"It's out goal to track them all down, whatever it takes. "
posted by lobstah at 4:26 AM on February 10, 2005

Maybe I'm missing something, but what am I looking for in 13twelves image?
posted by salmacis at 4:57 AM on February 10, 2005

Salmacis, look above the world "Withy".

I suppose Manchester is quite lucky the puke yellow Arndale had been torn down before this picture was taken.
posted by 13twelve at 5:02 AM on February 10, 2005

This has seriously been bugging me too. I always thought the invader was some kind of logo for my photography school until I saw it in a completely different part of town (Paris). I'll be keeping a sharper lookout from now on.
posted by themadjuggler at 5:02 AM on February 10, 2005

I think the important question is: Are they being shot before they reach the ground?
posted by effwerd at 5:22 AM on February 10, 2005

Damn, now I have that music in head!

I have a shitload of 1" mosaic ceramic of assorted colors in my garage... think I should invade my town? :)
posted by LouReedsSon at 6:15 AM on February 10, 2005

Slightly related to "revs", a longtime NYC graffiti guy who has placed canvases and "tags" made of sheet metal around the city. I like them(scroll down), though these are not great examples.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 6:56 AM on February 10, 2005

I just explained these mosaics to a friend who saw a few in Paris. Now I can refer him to this post. Thanks, squeak.

Some similar "campaigns" include Toynbee, Obey, and You Are Beautiful.
posted by shoepal at 7:04 AM on February 10, 2005

I wish I was rich and had time to do stuff like this.
posted by fungible at 7:35 AM on February 10, 2005

It's amazing how much longevity this project has. I first saw them in 2001 when I was in Aix en Provence. Funky little mosaics, awfully hip for such a small town, but ok, cool. Then a few days later I went to Geneve and they were there again and I started to get disturbed.

Projects like this are more fun when you stumble into them.
posted by Nelson at 8:45 AM on February 10, 2005

Some similar "campaigns" include Toynbee, Obey, and You Are Beautiful.

This one has the cool factor of not being language specific... As an organism capable of living in more environments will Invader spread further??? What will the limiting factor be? I guess the pop culture reference? Interesting, are there more places where the video game was known or where English is the primary language?
posted by scheptech at 8:49 AM on February 10, 2005

I was thinking about that fungible.. is he loaded, employed with an airlines co., or just incredibly devoted? I've met my fair share of graf writers in NYC, and it seems like they come in all flavors.
posted by Jack Karaoke at 8:52 AM on February 10, 2005

Maybe it's not one person. But someone who started it (in Paris) and then a bunch of copycats strated to copy his things around the world. Kind of like "Kilroy was here".
posted by kika at 9:17 AM on February 10, 2005

Hmm, could be a wealthy eccentric but I'm guessing not:
- the whole thing has a starving artist feel
- the maps look like public transit
- the chances against someone making this kind of sustained effort to produce art for arts sake, and at the same time being independently wealthy seems high; neither condition is extremely common

Of course it could be someone who was originally a starving artist, then came into money unexpectedly by inheritance or a lottery...

btw, how do we know it's a 'he'?
posted by scheptech at 10:32 AM on February 10, 2005

Hmm...there's one of these (I think) in Beverly Hills--on a decorative wall/median on La Cienega Boulevard (you can see it heading northbound, just south of Wilshire, IIRC). Sorry, no pic.

Also, this reminds me of the homemade Space Invaders shirts I used to hand-stencil, circa 1995--people really dug 'em; I even had a guy put in an order for a custom-made Asteroids shirt (vector graphics, not quite as simple to hand-paint as a block raster stencil!).

makes me want to start it up again.
posted by retronic at 10:55 AM on February 10, 2005

Meta-Invaders!

For the one in Montepellier, France (here and here) connect the dots for each installation on a map and you get the outline of an invader!

Pretty cool.
posted by fubar at 12:15 PM on February 10, 2005

Giant Robot had a cover story on the Space Invader guy a while back. I love public art, whether murals, graffiti, sculptures or "other." If you're in San Francisco, the equivalent to Cows is Hearts.
posted by jcruelty at 2:58 PM on February 10, 2005

This one has the cool factor of not being language specific...

what about andre the giant?

I also remember the "I AM THE BEST ARTIST -Rene" murals from when I was a kid in SoHo.
posted by mdn at 3:23 PM on February 10, 2005

One of our invaders is missing.
posted by dhartung at 8:26 PM on February 10, 2005

I also remember the "I AM THE BEST ARTIST -Rene" murals from when I was a kid in SoHo.

These?

That Rene guy was a hoot. I remember he also tried to do some guerilla art opening at the New York MOMA, where he put together a little (unofficial) party to announce his new work, which was just one of the air conditioning units in the museum. I think they got thrown out, but not before he put a plaque up under the air conditioner with the title and his name.
posted by majcher at 2:10 AM on February 15, 2005