Invader May Be Planning New Participatory Game for 2024 Paris Olympics
“He will doubtless invade the Games in a different way. I am almost certain.”
Above corner shops, overlaid against chimneys and nestled under bridges, small (and sometimes massive) mosaic figures of various pop cultural icons are reimagined as retro-inspired artworks reminiscent of Tomohiro Nishikado’s Space Invaders (1978) arcade game. This is of course the work of elusive French artist Invader, and over the past 20 years, his imprint has touched down on more than just his home country. There is an estimated 4,000 such invasions all across the world. Over time, Invader’s signature mosaics have become almost as synonymous with the city of Paris, as the French capital’s Haussmann-style architecture.
Per an AP report, there are rumors that Invader is gearing up to add a new series of invasions to coincide with the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Much like his popular Flash Invaders downloadable app, users are encouraged to take a photo of new and exiting invasions to score points and rank on a leaderboard of over 360,000 players.
Invader, whose real name is Franck Slama, recently marked a milestone in his career, installing his 1,500th invasion in Paris atop a blue pipe at the Centre Pompidou. While there hasn’t been an official announcement regarding the Olympics by the artist himself, fans such as Beaux Arts Magazine editor Fabrice Bousteau believes, “He [Invader] will doubtless invade the Games in a different way. I am almost certain.”
The Paris Summer Olympic Games will commence from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
