
How I threw away a work of art - DanBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41850348
======
tinco
If it's just tiles in a regular pattern, how do you know one is made by
Invader and not a random copycat? Asking seriously, someone paying 200k must
mean they have something unique to hem right?

~~~
fermigier
From [http://www.space-invaders.com/about/](http://www.space-
invaders.com/about/) :

Are your mosaics being removed or stolen?

 _Lately, I have been facing this issue. A large number of the pieces are
removed, damaged or destroyed by individuals who seek to resell them. Given
the type of tiles I use, to steal the work is impossible. These individuals by
removing the mosaics destroy the piece and then have to buy ceramics to repair
or recreate the work. They even try to add a patina to make it look vintage.
They then try to sell these bad replicas! I have hard time believing that
anyone would buy any unauthenticated mosaic tiles as people could simply go to
home depot and do it by themselves …I can only hope that soon enough nobody
will be tempted to buy or steal pieces in the streets and therefore that this
nonsense and painful destruction will stop._

Also insightful:

Is it possible to own a Space Invader? How do people acquire one of your
works?

 _The most economical solution is to buy tiles and to create your own at home.
It is not a very difficult assembly work and it is possible to find similar
types of tiles I use.The second solution is to purchase an "invasion kit". It
is a ready-to-use limited edition of a Space Invader. They are produced at the
studio and sold in the Space Shop. It is at the same time a conceptual and
functional object. Finally, for people who wants a unique art piece, they can
seek for an Alias, which is the exact replica of the unique work in the
street. There is one and only Alias for any past or present works present in
the streets. Every Alias comes with a signed certificate of authenticity. Art
Collectors should contact Over The Influence for any available pieces._

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libeclipse
He fully deserved that.

He had the right to destroy the work since it was his and in his property, but
to then whine about it just because he learned of its monetary value... It's
just wrong.

Pfft, and calling it a "work of modern art" _after_ the fact.

~~~
throwaway2016a
I didn't get from this that he was whining at all. I took it as a fun
cautionary tale.

9 years is a long time. I'm sure he's removed enough from the experience to be
able to laugh about it.

~~~
ISKthrow
Just as I am far enough removed from the experience to laugh about the 2500
bitcoins I "lost"...

~~~
throwaway2016a
I can't tell if you are being sarcastic or serious...

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kjullien
Yeah, no. I think the author is somehow trying to justify his stupidity by
acting as if these mosaics only got popular 9 years after he destroyed it, but
no, just no. Invader was recognized long before that, he even had an
exposition in the Louvre in 1998. The Louvre. The only thing I got out of this
article is that the author is probably an entitled c*nt that has no
sensibility for art. He couldn't even do as much as a simple Google search
after someone told him that it was made by the "french Banksy". I really can't
fathom how dumb this guy is. He deserves the loss, but the world doesn't
deserve the loss of an artwork because of a man's stupidity. Almost feels like
the book burning scene in Fahrenheit 451...

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mbrock
Seems like "How I threw away something that's currently trading for a lot of
money" would be a more relevant title.

That reminds me to bring up art more in the conversation about the "underlying
value" of cryptocurrencies.

Working title of the essay I'm not going to write: "The Store of Value in the
Age of Digital Reproduction in the Age Following the Age of the Work of Art in
the Age of Mechanical Reproduction".

~~~
Double_a_92
What should he have done? It was literally stuck on his wall. Would it stay
art if he ripped the wall out?

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lord_jim
Street art is supposed to be ephemeral and free. The people who put it inside
frames and sell it for $200,000 are the real destroyers

~~~
fermigier
Invader has explained his business model here: [http://www.space-
invaders.com/about/](http://www.space-invaders.com/about/)

"Is it possible to own a Space Invader? How do people acquire one of your
works? -> [...] Finally, for people who wants a unique art piece, they can
seek for an Alias, which is the exact replica of the unique work in the
street. There is one and only Alias for any past or present works present in
the streets. Every Alias comes with a signed certificate of authenticity. Art
Collectors should contact Over The Influence for any available pieces."

------
dgut
Just because it's worth a lot of money doesn't mean shit. The original authors
of the game are the real artists.

~~~
nxsynonym
I agree with the first part of your statement.

The second part - it's not a zero-sum game. Why can't both be "real" artists?

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Cthulhu_
The article woefully goes on about how the artworks are being stolen by
thieves in high-viz jackets, but that's kind of the point of street art - it's
ephemeral, it will get damaged, lost, etc, and in fact it's placed illegally
in the first place. The author probably expects it to happen and doesn't mind.
Of course, when people start spending 200K on the works it becomes a different
matter, but then he should put his work in a museum - you know, something that
has security.

~~~
fermigier
"The author probably expects it to happen and doesn't mind."

-> He does mind: "I can only hope that soon enough nobody will be tempted to buy or steal pieces in the streets and therefore that this nonsense and painful destruction will stop" \- from [http://www.space-invaders.com/about/](http://www.space-invaders.com/about/)

------
fermigier
I'm a huge fan of Invader. When I walk (or ride) in the streets of Paris and
spot an Invader, it bring me a small moment of joy. I've trained my children
to spot then too, and it's even better when it's them who find them first.

See:

\- [http://www.space-invaders.com/about/](http://www.space-
invaders.com/about/) for a FAQ about the artist and his project.

\- [http://www.space-invaders.com/world/](http://www.space-
invaders.com/world/) -> map of all the Invaders over the world (Europe, US,
Asia, a couple of african countries).

\- [http://www.space-invaders.com/world/paris/](http://www.space-
invaders.com/world/paris/) pictures of the ones in Paris.

~~~
fermigier
More pictures:
[https://www.instagram.com/invaderwashere/](https://www.instagram.com/invaderwashere/)

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gambiting
Well, it was just silly to destroy it, even if the author didn't like it.

In my parents house(which was built in the 80s) the original owner had an
entire wall of the living room decorated with an absolutely stunning mosaic of
a peacock, made out of tiny glass squares. He must have commissioned a local
artist to design it and then the artwork must have been created over weeks
with a lot of manual labour. However, try as you might, it would never fit
into a modern house, as beautiful as it was - so what did my parents do? They
put a thin plasterboard over it and just painted that. So the peacock is still
there and we have a plain white wall in the living room. Don't understand why
the author couldn't have done the same.

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dredmorbius
See: Erased de Kooning, by Rauschenberg.

[http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/03/12/148456099/tw...](http://www.npr.org/sections/krulwich/2012/03/12/148456099/two-
ways-to-think-about-nothing)

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anonyx69
The author would never have been able to sell it anyway since it's impossible
to authenticate.

------
dakics
He could always go for some DYI restoration

[http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ruined-jesus-church-
fr...](http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/ruined-jesus-church-fresco-fixed-
article-1.1178142)

------
robocat
Video showing artist making the Space invaders:

[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mCT9qc_djSg](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mCT9qc_djSg)

Skip to one minute in.

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bobthechef
Cute pattern (an homage), nothing wrong with crafty stuff like creating fun
tile patterns like that, but the whole “scene”, the pretentious fluff and the
stupid amounts of money being spent on this stuff is moronic and pompous.

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anotheryou
So once it was worth 200k it became worthy art, lol.

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emsy
It's contemporary art, not modern art.

~~~
nxsynonym
Correct - modern art is an art movement during a specific time period.

Contemporary art is simply "made by living artists, now" \- and will
inevitably be re-name with some -ism to help classify the common themes and
styles.

~~~
tgb
Though the beauty of the English language is such that the word "modern"
refers explicitly to _now_ but the word "contemporary" can refer to any time
period at all, depending on context! With the ultimate fun being that
contemporary can mean exactly its own opposite: "DaVinci's work surpasses all
contemporary art." Does that mean DaVinci's contemporaries or the writer's
contemporaries?

