"The imaginary was the alibi of the real, in a world dominated by the reality principle. And, paradoxically, it is the real that has become our true utopia – but a utopia that is no longer in the realm of the possible, that can only be dreamt of as one would dream of a lost object."
– Jean Baudrillard Simulacra and Simulations
Following from previous animation work, in a similar vein to Candice Breitz's Re-animations,this work reconstructs and continues a comic book narrative based around A-ha's 1986 music video Take On Me, in which the fictional realm of the iconic 1980s music video is conflated with events that are contemporary to 2008.
Recent images of the band are being redrawn in the same style of drawing as Michael Patterson's animation, as part of an installation that explores the series of coincidences that make an A-ha fan’s world part of a virtual and real collaboration with the band themselves, a relationship that transcends the boundaries of celebrity idolatry.
