The Space Invaders

2005

3′ 51″, sound
Single channel animated video
DVD or Quicktime

Music: D. Sardy
Cinematography: Toshiaki Ozawa

How do you wage war on an abstract noun?
Terry Jones 

The Space Invaders is a composite of live-action footage and 2D character animation, redolent of vaudeville sketches, early cartoon pranks, and Grand Guignol’s shock theater. 
Conceived as a strand of animated paintings, the concept of Code Orange and other viral promulgators of fear are externalized as a set of characters who gallivant beneath the radar in New York City. 
Rendered as fleshy, capricious agents, these particular “Invaders” personify the nostalgic arcade game of aliens who fall from the sky. The video’s amoral crack-dwellers, hobs, and giants who translucently roam the streets come from inside, and not by spaceship or by airplane. 

The Space Invaders was designed as a site-specific work for public television in New York. It was commissioned for the anniversary season of “Reel New York” on WNET (PBS), and aired in June 2005.

The Space Invaders, 2005