encounters

a benign invasion

March 5, 2026

Stealth invasions of a city.

Late at night or very early morning.

The targets: buildings inhabited by civilians.

In Soho, many buildings bear the marks of such an invasion.

The perpetrator is the anonymous French artist Invader, who leaves behind his signature: small, pixelated figures, fixed to walls in one swift motion.

Unlike the invasions that dominate our news feeds today, Invader’s leaves little behind: no rubble, no sirens, no displaced families, no cities reduced to dust.

Just a small 8-bit ceramic alien, quietly watching from its place on the wall.