ART GAME

Game Art: Janek Simon's “Carpet Invaders” (2002)

Matteo

Matteo

— 1 min read

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Last June GameScenes wrote about Jose Olivares graduating work at Tisch School of Art, New York. “Ancient Pixel” was a merge of lo-resolution videogame graphics and Andean textile art into a multi-channel interactive video work. Mixing ancient carpets and 8-bit videogames is not a new idea in Game Art. In 2002, Polish artist Janek Simon created Carpet Invaders, a simple computer game whose board was an image of a carpet projected on he floor. Within the limits marked by the edging in the style of Eastern carpets, a spaceship controlled by the viewer shoots at elements of the oriental ornament. Carpet Invaders debuted at the collective festival Novart.pl in Cracow, Poland and was subsequently exhibited  in 2004 at the 2020 Home Gallery in Bucharest, Romania. The artwork merged geometric designs of Caucasian and Armenian carpets with the low-resolution abstractness of the Space Invaders. Curator Maria Anna Potacka wrote:

“Carpet Invaders is an interactive installation. A computer game is projected onto the floor. The game’s graphic is taken from a 19th century Caucasians prayer rug. The game is a clone of an early arcade classic - Space Invaders. Ornaments found on the rug turned out to be almost identical as the original graphics of the game. The game can be played with a gamepad hanging next to the projection The sound resembles that of early consoles and eight bit computers. “ (Maria Anna Potock)Text by Mathias Jansson.
Link: Carpet Invaders (2004)

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