Bomb squad sent in to investigate new artwork by Russian Banksy
Last night in Moscow, a bomb squad was called out to ascertain the threat surrounding a ‘suspicious object’. In the event, it turned out not to be a bomb, but two-metre wide rendition of an alien from the pioneering arcade game ‘Space Invaders.
This was the latest artwork by street artist P183, who is affectionately known to the rest of the world as ‘Russian Banksy’. It comprised a two-dimensional model of iconic blocky ‘alien’, attached to a motorised cable running across the street so that the figurine could move robotically back and forth over the road, mimicking the original game play. To add that extra bit of authenticity, the model shot fake red lasers at passing cars.
When the artwork came to the attention of the Moscow police force, they immediately suspected the worst and cordoned off the area, and sent in the bomb squad to diffuse the situation.
P183/Russian Banksy has issued a statement of amusement that things got so out of hand. ‘I’m shocked at the police reaction’, he said: ‘Who could have possibly mistaken a two-meter-wide Space Invader for a bomb?’
‘What astonished me the most’, he added, ‘is that when media reported this, they had a picture of actual grenade next to the text.’ The street artist claims that the police alone found his UFO threatening, with ordinary people instead enjoying the joke: ‘it made them laugh! No one was suspicious about this!’
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