Aliens 'Invade' Culver City Through Public Art Project

In preparation for the International Festival of Independent Games (), Jason Torchinsky is putting the finishing touches on Invaded!, the 8-foot tall public art installation that will debut this weekend in downtown Culver City. Those familiar with the late 1970s video game Space Invaders will recognize the oversized sprites that will land downtown on Oct. 1—the result of a Culver City Cultural Affairs Commission grant that Torchinsky snagged to build a public-friendly art piece in conjunction with the gaming festival that starts Oct. 8. Torchinsky took time out of hammering and building, teaching classes and playing with his 11-month-old to chat with Patch about his artwork and passion for the gaming world.

Culver City Patch: What is your personal connection with video games? 

Jason Torchinsky: Nothing necessarily. I grew up in the '70s and '80s; I have always been drawn to the aesthetic of the early computer era because of how limited it is. When you have really severe limitations, it forces you to be really creative. The early computers were really limited on what you could display with colors and pixels. It forces people to have a lot of creativity on the part of the developer and the player—for example, a player would have to believe this little blob is an alien or a spaceship.

Technology matured so quickly that even when you had an Atari, and then you had it for a few years, the new ones would make yours look like crap. With games today, the difference between movie graphics and video games is getting very thin. Back then, there were still so many limitations, it was still two-dimensional.

Patch: Why did Space Invaders capture your attention for this public art piece? 

Torchinsky: Partially because they’re such a icon for video games. And I always liked the way they look.

Patch: What was the experience like working with the Culver City Cultural Arts Commission?

Torchinsky: It was a competition for the grant. I submitted this project and another one where I made the same alien invaders out of lanterns. I think what they liked was how dumb and simple they are. They can take weather and abuse well, people can jump on them, kick them. The minus is that working with the city it has been very slow. I didn’t get the money to start building this until this month.

Patch: Do you have a team that works with you to build these projects?

Torchinsky: Not really. The first [sprite] I built entirely on my own. However, I got myself into this precarious position where I would have either let them fall, or they would have fallen on me. I was yelling for my wife for a half hour before she came outside to ask me what was going on. I have an intern that helps out as well, and the person who normally does my gardening helps me out with some things as well. He’s very good about sanding. That extra pair of hands is what you need.

Patch: Where else can we see your work?

Torchinsky: The two pieces I worked on with the artist Kerry Tribe—called the Last Soviet and Milton Torres Sees a Ghost—are at a gallery in the U.K. called the Modern Art Oxford. The giant joystick is behind the I Am 8 Bit in Echo Park and is disassembled. I will probably have something going on at the Machine Project. A lot of my things are interactive and are therefore not permanent. Anytime you have something that people interact with, they tend to beat the crap out of it. 

Patch: What do you do when you’re not building something?

Torchinsky: We have a relatively new baby that is 11 months old that takes a hefty chunk of time. I tend kind to have some project going on. I do talks at Machine Project. If I have time and no major projects, I have an old British car that desperately needs my attention. I also promised my wife that I would fix up the bathroom, so I guess I should do that too.

The International Festival of Independent Games begins Oct. 8 in Culver City. For more information and how to buy tickets, click here. Be sure to upload your pictures from the festival on Culver City Patch's Facebook page, and become a Twitter follower.