Invader‘s trademark, the so recognisable pixelated alien character from the even more famous arcade game from the 80’s has been seen by a large amount of people on street corners across the world. The monster has now taken a dip in the ocean and can be seen deep down in the water.
Invader teamed up with sculptor Jason Taylor deCaires, known for his underwater sculptures, and stuck his characters of Jason’s works. The result is pretty surreal and I would like to get my scuba diving gear on and have a look at it.
Invader also went high, very high in the space. The artist engineered a device that propelled the alliens to back to where they belong, space. Luckily for us, Invaders thought of equipped the device with a camera so we can enjoy the astonishing pictures below.
Last but not least, we have included a video “Green Invaders” is a light installation by the French artist Yves Caizergues, based on the classic video game Space Invaders. It formed part of the 2012 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, where the streets of Toronto, Canada are given over to a festival of street art. This installation was outside the Sun Life Financial Tower at 150 King Street West.
We are surrounded by coded communications. The artists of This ‘Me’ of Mine present an interesting insight into the difference gender makes to interacting with these coded communications. Curiously, I became aware of this difference by posting snippets, sometimes almost cryptic messages, from some of the artists’ bios on Twitter. A few weeks ago I made these four tweets:
11 Sept 2012
@HarrisonHayley“a lover of objects and stories, not necessarily…historical sense but the bits that are not said. ”
12 Sept 2012
‘a set of anecdotes where meaning is levelled by celebrating the beautiful and grotesque,’ Mel Titmuss on her work
13 Sept 2012
@Captainpye on her work, ‘…a complex mixture of scientific observation and a girlish enthusiasm…’ @ThisMeofMine
14 Sept 2012
‘fascination w/passage of time…contrast between permanence of objects & fragility of human existence’ @katemurdochart
At the time, I remarked that when read together they presented a compelling view of the female point of view in art. Arguably so, yes. But then I realised something more, each of the artists in This ‘Me’ of Mine are working with, perhaps struggling with, this coded communication and there is a fascinating difference between the way the women artists explore this and the way the male artists explore it. The women speak of emptying out of memories, permanence of objects, invisible stories of objects, things left unsaid, equalizing meaning through comparison of opposites, fascination, obsession, fictions and mythologies, voyeurism, vulnerability and body language. The men speak of the limits of communicating meaning, uniforms and meaning, surprise and fear, answers just out of reach, hiding complexities within and stimulus triggering a response.
Before I go further, I want to point out there are many commonalities in the female and male views, such as removing things from context to challenge meaning, the insecurities of home, the influence of space, experience and the passage of time. So while I am not trying to create a gender-biased argument here, I was struck by the differences nonetheless.
Untitled 30-5-11 (c)2011 Darren Nixon
It could be said the struggle to self-identify is the struggle to decipher coded communication. The way we go about that as males and females is indicative in the topics of importance to each group of artists. What does this say about us? Little girls are taught to believe in fairy-tales, romance and dream-come-true scenarios, encouraged to believe in the perfection of a future life, whether that is with Mr Right or more recently that we can do and have it all. Little boys are taught to believe in the importance of belonging to groups and the status which comes with that belonging, hiding their emotions, fears and all visible signs of weakness, encouraged to become providers and bread-winners. Both sexes have been taught to be competitive, in ways suitable to their sex. But if these things are to be challenged, is it really through gender wars? Wouldn’t it be more productive to realize the truth that living is hard no matter what your personal circumstances, there are no guaranteed outcomes and all you can do is the best you can in any given situation. Would prejudice and utopias disappear if we taught those simple realities to our children?
We have come across La Pandilla art and have liked very much the uniqueness of it. The recurrent theme it’d seem is the animal morphology: different species of animals are blended together creating totally unique specimens.
Definitely odd at first, this approach appears powerful and give the viewer plenty to think of what and why we look the way we are. You will find a few examples of their work below.
Make sure to check out the video too about the duo artists.
Living Walls Concepts | Cabbage Town, Atlanta 2012Primer Mural en Wynwood Miami Art Basel 2011
The concept is pretty simple – Art-o-mat machines sell small works of art from retired and converted cigarette vending machines. But each dispenser is also to my view a stunnig work of art.
The recurrent style of these machines is often retro and many artists have got involved a=ver the years and the span of art available would please any art enthusiasts. They are spread mainly across Americas so if you are not around, get yourself over on the website and won yours today and if you are an artist, submit your art for the Art-o-mat machines!
We have included below some of the best machines we came across (images from Art-O-Mat)
If the thought of having to go out there at night, hood on and a few cans in the pockets seems to you just not doable, the new Stencil Republic book, by London-based creative studio Ollystudio’s Oliver Walker and published by Laurence King, may be your alternative.
Pick one of the 20 stencils printed onto perforated card which have been created by international street artists such as Artiste Ouvrier, BS.AS.STNCL, Chris Stain, Dan Innes, Orticanoodles, Ozi, Run Don’t Walk and Stencil King, who has penned the book’s introduction.
Hours of fun and feeling of being a street artist, uh within the safe walls of your living room or bedroom, whatver this is a great toy.
One of the street art pieces you will be able to drop is Orticanoodles skull pictured below so what are you waiting for?
Here is what street artist AIKO has to day about the whole thing, ‘This is something you cannot learn at school. It doesn’t matter whether it is commissioned or unauthorised, painting in the dirty alley, on postal stickers, canvases, store signs, outdoor murals, you have to feel it, jump in, don’t stop and…have fun.’
Stencil Republic by Ollystudio is published by Laurence King Press on 1 October, priced £19.95
