This was never the plan. There was no plan. It just kept happening.
I was invited to participate in my first Space Invaders exhibition in 2014, this was not the project’s first year, but the second, and Anna Jensen and Eliisa Suvanto had chosen the Autotalo building in Pori, Finland for the exhibition. A building due to be demolished and which funnily enough, last time I saw the building in 2019 it was still there.
I went to see the space, this empty building that was once used for artist’s studios, and probably, as its name would suggest, something to do with cars. I walked around, saw the rooms, and then, there was a chair, a chair next to a window. I’m not sure how it really went, but throughout that window, all I could imagine was buildings going down around the place, demolitions, debris, dust, and a quiet calm. These demolitions had no disastrous element in them, on the contrary, it all was dreamy in my head. And so, I took a photo of the window and decided to do what I saw in that moment. To make what I saw when I stood in the middle of that room and looked at the window.
The stardust of tomorrow will hunt us on the yesterday
Space Invaders II – Revolution / Pori, Finland, 2014.
What is left from the dwelling? How does the architecture of he lived works towards the desired outcomes of the urban planning? A space is left as an image until is dwelt. And the dwelt is left into the memory while is taken away. A new system for the dwelling, and an overthrowing of the experience.
That is, more or less, how the first video was made. At that time, I did not know that video was to be the first of six that I have made until now. And, who knows, maybe there will be more, perhaps the last will be the last.
What is Space Invaders?
In their Anna’s and Eliisa’s words:
“Space Invaders is an ongoing project that takes over a chosen location and brings visual art, performance, music, research and urban planning together. It uses location itself as a starting point to make something special, temporal and site-specific; something which can never reappear exactly the same. Each year’ Space Invaders’ has a new theme and theoretical starting point related to space and time and their narratives at hand. “
http://porinkulttuurisaato.org/
Each year, a place is chosen, a group of artists is selected, a theme is reflected upon, and something happens.
And so, each year a window is, each space has a window, a window that allows me to show something. Something that happens beyond the place. Something that takes me to stare at the window and see something else:
It’s already tomorrow
Space Invaders III – Aesthetically Tolerable / Otaniemi, Finland, 2015.
The self-conscious state of deceit
Space Invaders IV – Heterotopia / Espoo, Finland, 2016.
Move,
stay,
go,
come back,
do,
stay,
come back,
wait,
go,
come back.
The future is not a reality, but a promise disguised as a possibility
Space Invaders V – Tolerance / Hiedanranta, Lielahti mansion, Tampere. Finland, 2017.
Somewhere in there, the doubt relies on the unseen
Space Invaders VI – Living Together / Kyläsaarenkatu 8 J, Helsinki. Finland, 2018.
andreacoyotziborja.com 