Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

Polish artist Janek Simon’s latest installation uses an old Armenian carpet as the backdrop for a game of Space Invaders. The game itself is facilitated by an overhead projector hooked up to a PS2 running what appears to be a version of Space Invaders with custom graphics. Of course the installation is intended to serve as a political statement which I’m not even going to begin to try and condense for you. Here’s a quote;

From its beginnings this classic game dealt with political problems. The initial human figures where swiftly transformed into pixilated, triangular shaped, medusa-like, skull-headed extraterrestrials, so as to hide the body counts and bloody scores.

Bible-belt communities felt terribly insecure after the tender minds of their sons and daughters got hooked on the game, thus loosing their appetite for Sunday school faith games. While coins got inserted, economical effects where to follow, Japan was suffering a countrywide coin shortage and kids in the States where busting the cash machines for small change. Cultural upsurge was to follow.

Yep, that’s exactly what was going through the back of my mind when I used to play Space Invaders. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one.

[Space Invaders Rug] VIA [Kotaku]