Invader's 'Space Invaders' project in Ravenna (2014-2015), Italy

Invader defines himself as an UFA (‘Undefined Street Artist’). His identity is shrouded in mystery, but we know that he was born in Paris in 1969 and graduated from les Beaux-arts de Paris and La Sorbonne University (Paris, France). Indeed, he started his artistic career in France in 1998 with the project of a lifetime: ‘Space Invaders’. This was inspired by the innovative, popular, and iconic videogame of the same name ‘Space Invaders’ (created by Taito in 1978) with the idea of ‘liberating art from its visual alienators’ (such as museums and institutional organisations), ‘freeing the invaders from the digital space and bringing them into the physical world’. Invader and his studio team literally invade the spaces of numerous cities at a worldwide level with original 8-bit characters derived from videogame iconography and pop-culture imagery.

The main technique Invader uses for his project is the mosaic. The mosaic tradition was extensively popular in the Graeco-Roman world and reached its peak in the Middle Ages as a decoration in places of worship. This technique consisted – and still consists – of attaching small, coloured tiles of different materials on a surface to create a specific design.

In 2014 and 2015, the Italian city of Ravenna has been included amongst the many cities that are honoured as treasurers for Invader’s pieces. The artist realised 40 artworks in total. Even though the ‘Space Invaders’ project was born long before he decided to ‘invade’ Ravenna, the connection between the artist’s artworks and the history of the city is unquestionably strong.

Ravenna has its roots in extremely ancient times. Nonetheless, very little is known about its history before the early IV century B.C., when it gained the status of ‘civita foederata’ (‘allied city’) of the Roman Republic. The city became important in the Roman sphere of influence because of its strategic location that made it a safe strongpoint and many Roman emperors invested in the urban redevelopment of the main services (such as the military port of Classe and the aqueduct). However, Ravenna’s political and artistical heyday began when it was appointed capital city of the Western Roman Empire following the death of the Roman emperor Theodosius (395 A.D.) – that brought to the separation of the Roman Empire in West and East.

Its geography was also crucial for its links with Constantinople (capital city of the Eastern Roman Empire) which highly contributed to the diffusion of Christianity. These aspects were key for the artistic development of the city. In fact, Ravenna is widely known for its mosaic decorations. These have been widely influenced by the Eastern and Byzantine traditions and follow the same main features: the images are highly hieratic, two-dimensional, and frontal; the figures are solid and naturalistic; and the colours are bright, with a predominance of gold.

Taking inspiration from the city’s history and decorative features, Invader re-elaborated his main theme and created unique pieces dedicated to the city’s traditions, incorporating them with the more ‘classic’ alien characters. Some examples of this are RA_04 (2014 – Fig. 1), RA_06 (2014 – Fig. 2), RA_15 (2014 – Fig. 3), RA_32 (2015 – Fig. 4), RA_34 (2015 – Fig. 5), and RA_35 (2015 – Fig. 6).

What is so peculiar about these 'invasions' is the reciprocity between the two artistic styles: contemporaneity and antiquity communicate with each other in a diametrically distant, but at the same time close and near, language in terms of space and time. Moreover, in 2015, the artist developed a mobile application – called FlashInvader – that turns ‘the world into a hyper-reality game board’ and allows enthusiasts to ‘capture’ and ‘own’ his works in a digital way who only need to download the free app and wander through cities worldwide (Fig, 7)!

His modus operandi consists in deeply exploring international, densely populated cities to identify the ‘neuralgic’ spots for his ‘invasion’, at first. This is a very subjective decision. Then, together with a team, he translates the mosaic tiles from the studio to the walls with cement or innovative glues. This operation is secret and conduct discretely. He can do more than one ‘invasion’ in each city over the time and he calls these ‘waves’. Finally, for each city, he produces a virtual map that is available on his website and grades the artworks from 10 to 100 points. The sum of the points results in the final score of each urban area. Again, by ‘capturing’ the artworks through the app FlashInvader one can score points.