French mosaic street artist, Space Invader, just finished a mini “tour” of Los Angeles in honor of the Museum of Contemporary Art's new Art in the Streets exhibit, which opened last Sunday. To commemorate the occasion, he installed some new tile creatures, inspired by the 1970s arcade game, around various parts of the city and might have even had a run-in with authorities.

Whether welcomed or not, Invader likely increased the value of a (already overpriced) small home on Sunset Blvd., just a block or two from Dodger Stadium. Coincidently, someone else put up a wheatpaste Atari 2600 joystick down the wall from the blocky icon that reads "Destroy All Design." I appreciate how the red invader looks like it's dropping down on, or even shooting at, the other pieces.

I figured I would turn these pictures into a quick story write-up. Emboldened by the find, I wanted to see if I could track down some of the other video-game visitors. Next stop: Little Tokyo, where, according to a report from the LA Times, someone who sounds an awful lot like Invader was hanging out on a roof he wasn't supposed to.

I found the first work relatively easily. Right off of Alameda St. and Temple is a cute "2011" (year?) accompanied by a navy blue critter on the rear of the MOCA building. I went and asked the museum's crew guys working nearby if that art was part of the exhibit. They confirmed that it was and estimated that Invader had put up about 17 total pieces both inside the show and around the perimeter. One of the guys also pointed out that, obviously, all of the street artists in town for the show likely spent the past weekend redecorating the city as they saw fit.

When I told them that I read Invader had trouble with the police, the fellows seemed concerned and unaware that had happened.

I revealed to them my goal of finding as many of the new installments in the area that I could, and the ever-helpful crew guys then pointed me toward another set of colorful tiles. Daringly, this one sat on the side of a police-car parking structure but a mere block from a L.A.P.D. station. With this additional photo now a part of my collection, things almost began to feel like Pokémon Snap or some kind of fetch-quest mission from a role-playing game.

As I returned toward the MOCA's front door, I found two more Invaders. One was semi-hidden, up in these metal rafters, while the other hovered right outside the museum's front door.

Finding those was almost too easy, but where could the other pieces be? I continued my quest around Little Tokyo, combing the local buildings and businesses, in hopes of discovering more blocky intruders. To my disappointment, I couldn’t locate any more. Maybe I was looking too hard, but aren’t they usually in somewhat obvious places? Realizing that several of the pieces I shot outside were, to a degree, sanctioned also took some of the fun out. Where is the one that got Invader in trouble with the law, and why didn't the crew guys, who seemed quite familiar with the artist and his contributions to and around the MOCA, know about what had happened?

Then, I realized that what I read in the paper was likely a big publicity stunt to promote the show. I mean, obviously it is...right? Or, things could really just be what they seem: A bunch of street artists have their work on display; they -- along with imitators -- get a little carried away while visiting Los Angeles, a graffiti Mecca (by some accounts); and then the cops and local businesses get pissed off.

But something about those L.A. Times articles just seems too, I don't know, cultural, to be an objective story about property damage and vandalism in downtown L.A., as possibly inspired by a new MOCA exhibit. Isn't it convenient that these reports are all happening as the show is just starting up? They certainly create an air of mysteriousness and rebelliousness about the artists and their work that arguably is missing when we put "street" art on display indoors. 

Instead, I would say that these Times articles and blog posts (the latest of which actually name-drops Space Invader and shows an off-site piece that I missed) attempt to give the art some of its street cred back. The more authentic it all seems, the more likely people are to buy into it. Anyone who's a fan of mainstream gangster rap knows that when a rapper starts beefing with someone and getting in trouble with the law, he’s releasing a new album soon. They’re so bad, right? Now go buy tickets to the show.

In the end, I can't really prove anything without doing some hardcore investigative journalism. So for now, I just have my suspicions and my pictures. But hey, if it was a publicity stunt, it certainly worked: The show caught my attention, got me to come out to the area, and inspired me to write about and explore the themes. It’s almost like a simplified, live-action version of the Academy Award-nominated Exit Through the Gift Shop, complete with the with artsy-fartsy discussions I inevitably have with my peers as to what the subtext might or might not be.

Oh, and my advice to the authorities, assuming they're really trying to get Space Invader: Aim for where he's going...not where he's been.