Invader

In 1998 an invasion began on the streets of Paris as waves of Invaders began appearing on the street. Invaders were soon to spread to the streets of over 40 other cities throughout the world. The street artist responsible for this street art is known only as Invader, born in 1969 and working in anonymity, nearly nothing else is known about him.

Most of these Invaders are literally that – homages to the classic Space Invaders arcade game of the 1980s. Each piece is made up of tiles which represent the blocky pixel graphics of the original arcade game. No two Invaders are the same and many are infused with other cultural references, such as a swipe at today’s CCTV society. Invader has also played with other iconic video games characters such as Super Mario.

The installed Invaders become counterculture surveillance drones, reminding people that government and monolithic corporations aren’t the only ones watching

— Swindle Magazine, Issue 3, Shepard Faireyz

London has not been spared this Invasion and Invaders may be found throughout the street of London if one knows where to look.  Since Invader’s street art is “suspended between visibility and anonymity” you must be attuned to the correct frequency to see Invaders on the streets. Once you are on this frequency however, you will encounter Invaders all over the streets of London

Invaders come in different sizes but are usually very small, often found lurking in low down corners or high up on wall above street signs.  They are not all small however and much larger Invaders have been reported across London.

Invader has become a worldwide phenomenon and there is even an Invader on the Hollywood Sign.  Each wave of invasion in a city lasts two to three weeks and during this period Invaders pop up all over the cirty.  The mosiacs are built in advance by Invader and then installed rapidly.