Invasion

Shezad Dawood

11 View the Map

About the Artwork

Invasion is a part of Shezad Dawood’s Encroachments, a series that takes an oblique look at the relations between Pakistan and the US since partition in 1947. The work explores video games as Cold War propaganda, building on an earlier use of science fiction films to fulfil the same function. An invading monster emerges from the arcade into the public realm and takes the form of a neon sculpture, reminiscent of characters in video games fighting off the ‘other’, represented as a kind of boogeyman. The neon addresses the space that exists at the corner of our eyes, where images – from moments in childhood video games to wartime scenes – blend into each other, flickering between reality and fiction.

Year: 2019


Copyright the artist. Photo: © Nick Turpin

Material

Neon

Dimensions

198 x 186 cm

Artist Biography

Shezad Dawood

Shezad Dawood works across the disciplines of painting, film, neon, sculpture, performance, virtual reality and other digital media to ask key questions of narrative, history and embodiment. Using the editing process as a method to explore both meanings and forms, his practice often involves collaboration and knowledge exchange, mapping across multiple audiences and communities. Through a fascination with the esoteric, otherness, the environment and architectures both material and virtual, he interweaves stories, realities and symbolism to create richly layered artworks. Dawood was born in London in 1974 and trained at Central St Martin’s and the Royal College of Art before undertaking a PhD at Leeds Metropolitan University. He lives and works in London.