Critical Review
This signed artwork from 2011 is a limited edition of 100 from Invader’s Space collection. Perhaps one of Invader’s most extravagant and curious works, the artwork is a vacuumed waffle representing one of the artist’s typical Space Invader characters, standing on a silver aluminium background on plexiglass.
Like his other Space One (pink) and Art4Space again Invader expresses his love for and fascination with outer space and sci-fi universes. Even though the artist never confirmed it, it may not be a stretch to claim that the title, other than referencing the clear subject matter and medium of the piece, also refers to the popular sci-fi movie Star Wars. In the film universe created by George Lucas, so-called ‘space waffles’ are mentioned repeatedly as a type of food that could be found on the planet Lothal.
Undoubtedly the artwork plays on and adds to Invader’s artistic variations on the theme of the Japanese video game, retaining the mischievous and witty character of his experiments. However, precisely because of the defiant nature of most of Invader’s projects, as well as his acknowledged engagement with cultural icons (see Aladdin Sane) it is not absurd to hypothesise that this artwork might also conceal cultural references to be detected only by those who, like the artist, are true sci-fi lovers.
