What would it be like if the world were invaded by the characters who populate the beloved video games of our past? Pretty ugly for us, the French video artist Patrick Jean projects in his short film Pixels.

The two-minute clip depicts New York City being consumed by figures from 8-bit classics like Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and many others. The arachnid-like invaders rain destructive blips as they descend to the streets; Pac-Man swallows down a Subway train; Tetris blocks level the Empire State Building

But why do we care about a French visual artist’s work that depicts New York? Pixels was presented last night at the Phillips Collection and is also part of a lineup of experimental films May 10 at the Artisphere, where it will compete for a $750 prize for experimental media.