Invader Space Station - Paris

[kerouac2]

While Banksy is the most famous street artist in Great Britain, Invader probably competes for the title with JR in France.  But one thing about Invader is that a lot of his work lasts for years and years unlike the others.  I've been taking pictures of traces of his work from time to time for the last 15 years.  You can even find my report right here --> Space invaders in Paris!  But now it's been taken u a notch with the current exhibition called Invader Space Station.

It is being held in the former headquarters of the Paris daily Libération, right next to Place de la République.  The building itself is quite unusual, because it is a former parking garage with ramp after ramp, and the conversion must have been a nightmare, but the newspaper stayed there from 1987 to 2015.  It was founded as a far left newspaper but has become much more mainstream in recent years.  It was even owned by a member of the Rothschild family for a time and later by a Franco-Israeli telecoms magnate. He actually wiped away their debts and allowed it to become an independent publication totally managed by its staff.  It should also be mentioned that Libération housed Charlie Hebdo both after an arson attack and then again after the massacre in 2015.  Anyway, I'm just mentioning this because it has always had close ties with Invader, so it is no accident that the exhibition is being held here before the building is converted to a hotel in the coming years.

It is not a show for disabled people (clearly mentioned in the documentation) because you have to climb five flights of stairs before you even enter the first part of the exhibition.  And then you wind your way up to the 9th floor to see everything.  There is no lift, at least not one for visitors.

You can tell that it's a temporary setup right from the entrance.

Tickets are timed with the epectatation the you will spend an hour and a half.  And that is exactly how long I spent.

There are signs in the stairwell to encourage people as they climb.

And then the invasion begins.

[kerouac2]

Okay, I think that my camera is dying. I must not have used it enough. So there are some dark bands on a lot of my photos.

A map of Paris shows every single invader mosaic that has been installed in the city.

There are just two where I live -- my building at lower left and another one two blocks away next to the Chinese supermarket.



There were photos of many of the mosaics.







You can also see the file with all of the 1500 locations in Paris and the date of installation.

[kerouac2]

Time to take the ramp to the next level.



There is a world map showing all of the other locations in the world.





Not much in North America -- New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego and Cancun.





Some locations are quite unusual.



You cannot get this close to the Hollywood sign legally, but a lot of what Invader does is illegal.





This underwater sculpture is in Cancun







Miami



Sao Paulo

[kerouac2]

The Mannekin Pis in Brussels has a space invader peeing above it.





There is a space invader in decal form in the ISS.







Serge Gainsbourg smokes on his street in Clermont Ferrand.



under NYC



on the Eiffel Tower



special editions for special streets

[kerouac2]

Invader went to Potosi in Peru to place his 4000th mosaic at an altitude of 4000 metres. This is another one that he left there at the silver mine.





Next was a video zone showing little clips of installations and preparations around the world.

[kerouac2]

Then there was a new zone to show what Invader does when he is not skulking around in the dead of night.



He makes completely different pixel art using Rubik's Cubes. Thousands and thousands of them.







When you look at the edge of these pieces, you can see that they really are Rubik's Cubes.





Invader also collects the toys inside Kinder eggs. Does he eat all of the chocolate?

[kerouac2]

I have a bit of difficulty imagining how they will put a hotel here with all of the ramps.






There was a section devoted to Invader's works just using paper and pen, often while designing future projects.







An Invader Jack



"Do not enter" Invader zones?



Obviously most of the windows had been blacked out, but we finally had the right to take a look at the view.







But when you are in a gravity zone, it is possible to fall and be injured.

[kerouac2]

Invader did many things in Rome and wanted the population to be aware of it.



And he revisited some famous art, which makes more sense now.









There was an auditorium with some very interesting videos. Obviously, you cannot tell that from this.







A view of Invader's studio.

[kerouac2]

Arriving at the top floor there was a telescope so we could see the 1500th Invader installed on the Centre Pompidou.



Did you know that you can actually take a picture through a telescope?





Did the rest of the crowd poop out before getting up here?



Yes, you can see the Eiffel Tower if you look hard.



The final level was devoted to the Libération newspaper.



Invader installed a mosaic on their rooftop terrace.



It is the only Invader mosaic that you can see on Google Earth.



For one special issue, the letter A was replaced by Invader on all headlines and sub headlines.



INVADER INVADES LiBE







Okay, it was time to go down the ten floors of stairs.







There was a shop at the bottom to buy no fewer than 10 different books about Invader.



You could also buy Invader stickers from vending machines for one euro.



And so here is my final view of my visit.

[whatagain]

I loved your report.
You have a special talent to capture ambiance and to immerse us with you during the visit.
Thanks.

[htmb]

Very true, whatagain. I feel like I now have a little bit better understanding of invader’s work. I’m wondering, when he places his art on out of the way places, like near the top of the Pompidou, how does he accomplish the task. Seems pretty difficult, without inside assistance.

[fumobici]

This is fantastic! I love both the subject and the report.

[kerouac2]

Mar 15, 2024 13:36:51 GMT htmb said:

 I’m wondering, when he places his art on out of the way places, like near the top of the Pompidou, how does he accomplish the task. Seems pretty difficult, without inside assistance.

Since he is a world famous artist now often he has permission to place a lot of his work. However, one of the videos that I found the most interesting was a trip through Paris all night to place about 15 mosaics here and there all through the night until dawn. He seemed to have a crew of three -- himself, a guy who helps to hold the ladder and such and the person filming. I was hoping to see my building because one of the installations show was of the place next to my Chinese supermarket, so maybe mine was next? Well, it wasn't in the video...



Anyway, thanks to those of you who commented above.