In the past weeks, Brooks’ windows have been invaded by Post-it® note art (see more pictures here). This covert activity unleashed a case of “Whoddunit?” trying to find out who and why these tiled compositions were appearing around the school. Finally we caught up with Mr. Famera, who spearheaded the project in one of his art classes and he answered our questions.

Digital Journalism Club (DJC): Why did you chose this project?
Mr. Famera (F): I choose the project to be done as a 2 person collaborative street art mosaic. We looked at the artist "Invader" and how he creates 8-Bit video game characters using mosaic tiles, mainly from the arcade game "Space Invaders" and "Pac-Man" and applies them around a particular city, he's based in Paris but has "invaded" as many as 66 cities in 30 countries.

(DJC): Most (or all?) of these post-it collages are applied to windows. Why?
F: We wanted the post it tiles applied to the windows for better exposure and so that when the light hits them they would almost glow. The idea was for them to also be seen from outside the building, however the post it notes we used had a white backing.

(DJC): The icons used look like characters from old video games. Why did the students choose them? Is there a special significance for this?
F: The characters are all from 8-bit video games from the late 70s and early 80s. Because the characters are made from 8-bit graphics they lend themselves naturally to mosaics, each post-it note or square representing one pixel of the character.

(DJC): How did students react to this project? Was it difficult to have them generate an image and... post it?
F: The students enjoyed the project very much, they had the freedom to choose their partner, the character, the colors, and which area of the school they wanted to "invade". This is a preliminary project for the larger Street Art unit the Mixed Media class is currently working on. The next portion to this project is having each student generate their own original 8-bit character/image and creating a mosaic using magazines and cardboard. Some other street artists we will be looking at for this unit will be Shepard Fairey and Banksy, so look for more street art around the school in the coming weeks.

Ironically, the images have been slowly coming apart, as students walk by and, in need of something to write on... take a Post-it® note to do that. Vandalism? No, Functional Art!