[HN Gopher] Map of Space Invader Mosaics in Paris
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Map of Space Invader Mosaics in Paris
Author : przem8k
Score : 236 points
Date : 2023-11-12 09:11 UTC (13 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (pnote.eu)
(TXT) w3m dump (pnote.eu)
| WilTimSon wrote:
| Is there a particular reason behind Space Invaders being the
| theme of choice here? I read the "About" page and it suggests the
| mosaics are also some kind of little ARG, it seems.
| mft_ wrote:
| They're all (or mostly?) from a single (graffiti?) artist:
| https://www.space-invaders.com/about/
| boudin wrote:
| Having put space invaders in space is quite a feat!
| https://www.space-invaders.com/post/Space2ISS/
| WilTimSon wrote:
| Ah, interesting, he mentions it started with him trying to
| represent pixels through ceramic tiles. That's a neat concept
| and he's apparently been at it for 25+ years now, that is
| dedication.
| gokhan wrote:
| There were similar, but Mario themed, mosaic art pieces in Lyon
| streets this summer.
| mft_ wrote:
| Also see: https://www.space-invaders.com/world/
|
| (There are a pleasing number to spot in Basel, Switzerland -
| which surprised me a little when I was there, but I guess why
| not?)
| NietTim wrote:
| Interestingly the one here in Utrecht isn't on the list, it's
| been up for as long as streetview has images available, since
| 2009, and gets repaired ocasionally. Now I wonder if it's legit
| a_bonobo wrote:
| I don't think the list for each location is complete, perhaps
| to not spoil the fun.
|
| Perth has 26 invaders but there are only 3 pictures on the
| map, https://www.space-invaders.com/world/perth/, I've
| personally seen some that are not in those pictures.
| adr1an wrote:
| It's also a map of links to Instagram. Such a pity!
| jehb wrote:
| I'm guessing this is to avoid running into licensing issues
| with the photos? Or just trying to make it easier for people to
| not have to use a different app to upload their shots? Or maybe
| just to make the associated bandwidth someone else's problem? I
| don't know, but I agree, "real" images would be a lot nicer.
| wheybags wrote:
| Because it's not super obvious from the map link: there is an app
| distributed by the artist, with which you can "collect" each of
| the pieces by taking a picture of them
|
| https://space-invaders.com/flashinvaders/
|
| It's fun :p
| doomlaser wrote:
| The mosaics look really nice!
| alas44 wrote:
| Avid player here, I can only recommand :), especially if you
| leave in Europe you find them everywhere in big cities once you
| look around
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| Did you mean "live" in Europe? There doesn't seem to be
| instances of them too far fom Europe.
| drexlspivey wrote:
| I've seen quite a few of these in Milan but they're not listed
| in the website so maybe there are copycats around too
| brookst wrote:
| iOS app seems to be dead, at least for "new account" :(
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| Just installed it, asks for username and email, no password.
| Ready to start, now I just need to go to Europe.
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| The posts's map is very outdated, according to this site's map.
| Maybe it's a local map for Paris.
|
| https://space-invaders.com/world/
| Angostura wrote:
| Interesting. There's only one shown in London. I've certainly
| seen another near Borough Market - and according to this
| article from 2007, there were 75 in London back then.
| https://londonist.com/2007/01/random_graffiti_17
| ArnoVW wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invader_(artist)
| Agingcoder wrote:
| I personally think such maps remove the fun part of the game, esp
| in cities like Paris. I've walked countless hours with my kids
| searching for them, it was great. They re not randomly placed so
| you eventually get a feel for where they are going to be. Now, I
| also understand that I don't have to use it.
|
| It's worth noting that in some cities ( Montpellier in
| particular) the space invaders draw a space invader on the map
| itself ! The map therefore becomes part of the art.
| divbzero wrote:
| > _not randomly placed_
|
| What sort of patterns have you discovered?
| kkwteh wrote:
| For one they tend to be located at certain places:
| intersections, tourist attractions, entrances to the metro,
| and bridges, among others.
| Agingcoder wrote:
| Ring road entrances ! We went around the city in the tram,
| getting off at each stop
| agumonkey wrote:
| the paradox of the internet era
| NelsonMinar wrote:
| I did a Space Invader hunt in Paris about 7 year ago and used
| Invader's map (an early paper version). It was still fun! It
| was nice to have an idea which neighborhood to go to then take
| my time and look. It wouldn't be fun if it were too specific
| though, like an AR app guiding you to the exact spot.
|
| The most fun for me is seeing them as a surprise. Most recent
| example was in Bilbao, a beautiful site on the river near the
| gorgeous old train station. Enjoying all the scenery and then
| bam, there's an Invader, placed just perfectly to be visible
| but unobtrusive.
| ASalazarMX wrote:
| > placed just perfectly to be visible but unobtrusive.
|
| I love how true this is, they're visible if you're looking
| for them, otherwise they gracefully blend with the random
| graffiti all over the city.
| NelsonMinar wrote:
| PA 143 in Chatelet was particularly remarkable for blending
| in. One of his earlier ones not using the usual plasticy
| tile. And a very bold placement. https://murmuresdemurs.fil
| es.wordpress.com/2012/11/1-143-pla...
| fermigier wrote:
| I have mixed feelings about this.
|
| The "Flash Invaders" app fosters a (friendly) competition among
| Invaders fans (often, families), so publishing a map is a way of
| distorting the competition (i.e. "cheating") and so, a bit
| unfortunate, IMHO.
|
| OTOH, I can appreciate that some people could prefer to enjoy
| Invader's art in a more systematic way (i.e. planning a stroll
| with this as an explicit goal).
|
| But for me, discovery and serendipity are part of the game.
| przem8k wrote:
| Author here, I agree with this sentiment! Just wanted to note
| that it's not the first map: there is an unofficial iOS app
| with a full Paris map and another web map easily findable on
| Google. I just didn't like any of the existing maps:). More
| context and making-of of this map ->
| https://newsletter.pnote.eu/p/mapping-space-invader-mosaics-...
| prawn wrote:
| Also: _" To accompany his citywide installations, or
| "Invasions", Invader publishes books and maps as guides to
| the locations of his mosaics."_
| Agingcoder wrote:
| AFAIK, they're extremely difficult to find ( and
| expensive).
| Agingcoder wrote:
| Agreed. My son and I have settled on a hybrid version : prepare
| the hunt, but don't use ready made maps.
|
| We use Flickr,Google, Invader spotter, and slowly build a map
| of a specific area. Some of them we will then find from said
| map, others we will find while walking around randomly.
| Preparing properly can take several hours, so it feels like
| playing.
|
| This, and if I'm honest, my son loves the anticipation that
| comes with the prep ('that one's beautiful, I want to see it
| for real'), and so do I.
| tdebroc wrote:
| The game of chasing/flashing space invaders is a whole incredible
| world.
|
| There are persons called "re-activateur" who rebuild the mosaics
| if they are damaged !
|
| With friends we made an online escape game to praise the game:
| https://grooptown-tech.gitlab.io/escape-game-space-invaders/ Hope
| you enjoy :-)
|
| And for those interested, there is a whole community on discord:
| https://discord.gg/UNpGhQED
| BolexNOLA wrote:
| I was excited to join the discord, but it looks like everything
| is in French!
| tromp wrote:
| At first, PA_1234 seems really out there, east of Paris. Until
| you zoom out further, and notice the two in Northern France...
| przem8k wrote:
| The 2 in Northern France were a mistake, fixed. Thanks!
| DonHopkins wrote:
| I used to have a pair of vintage Space Invaders sneakers that I
| ordered from the artist's web site that left footprints of Space
| Invaders with "01 POINT" for each footstep.
|
| Damn, they're now going for EUR950,00 a pair in their original
| box, but I scored enough points by invading Amsterdam and Paris,
| sneaking around hunting for Space Invaders mosaics with them,
| that it was totally worth it!
|
| https://www.vinted.nl/items/939392288-space-invader-sneakers
|
| https://web.archive.org/web/20070224133121/http://coolhuntin...
|
| >It's hard to find anyone who hasn't ever played and appreciated
| the game Space Invaders before. Some kooky French guy loved the
| game so much he started spreading his fascination by finding ways
| to invade the world, city by city, with the little aliens. He has
| already invaded Paris, and has frighteningly good maps for all
| the other invasions he plans. He travels around putting up small
| mosaics of the old-school space alien logo. He's already tagged
| six of the nine letters of the infamous Hollywood sign in LA,
| although he wouldn't consider what he does graffiti. He designed
| this shoe as a small part of his invasion. On the sole of each
| shoe are an alien and the words "01 point" in relief so that
| every time you walk on wet cement, sand, or whatever you leave
| your invasion mark! Each shoebox is signed, and only 1500 were
| produced. --Josh Spear
|
| The first time I invaded Paris (before I got the sneakers), I
| walked from the train station and almost immediately saw my first
| Space Invader on the side of a building!
|
| Then I walked around some more, and checked into the first cheap
| hotel I could find near the train station, dumped my luggage, and
| went out for an exploratory walk looking for more, without
| bothering to remember which hotel I'd checked into, or write down
| the address...
|
| It turned into a VERY LONG epic meandering wander all around the
| city, discovering many Space Invaders and other interesting
| sights along the way, and I finally went back to the train
| station and attempted to retrace my steps to the first cheap
| hotel I could find again.
|
| Many hours and kilometers and much exercise and lots of space
| invaders later, I was relieved to finally find my cheap hotel
| again. But it was a wonderful experience, that kept me looking up
| at the architecture, trying to find my cheap hotel again while
| taking photos of all the Space Invaders I encountered, instead
| looking at my feet or my phone like a tourist.
| qwertox wrote:
| Site is performing a GET request every 2 seconds to get the most
| up-to-date stats, each time downloading the full list of 126kB.
| That hurts.
| przem8k wrote:
| Can you tell me more, which GET requests, which URLs? I only
| see requests for the map tiles as the page is scrolling. (Try
| in incognito window with extensions disabled to make sure you
| don't have an extension interfering with the page.)
| trollerator23 wrote:
| I remember noticing them all over Paris and some in Italy about a
| year ago when I visited. I was very amused!
| RoboticsNut wrote:
| Pixelated space invaders imagined as generative fractal:
|
| http://www.complexification.net/gallery/machines/invaderfrac...
| iancmceachern wrote:
| I finally know!
|
| I've seek these guys around for years randomly and thought they
| were part of something big, thanks for posting!
| sillywalk wrote:
| I wonder if this was the inspiration for the Monkey Mosaics[0] in
| GTA V?
|
| [0]
| kelseyfrog wrote:
| 0. https://gta.fandom.com/wiki/Monkey_Mosaics
| colinrand wrote:
| We were there over the summer and this was such a fantastic
| activity for my kids. It got them looking up at the buildings and
| really helped draw their attention to architecture and build a
| better mental map in their heads of the city. Not going to
| comment on if having a map is good or not, but the project is
| amazing.
| beebeepka wrote:
| Good time as any to remind folks of the good old rtx space
| invaders [0]
|
| https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/ive-been-invaded-by-ali...
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(page generated 2023-11-12 23:00 UTC)