Technoviking Archive

‘Memes’ are a relatively new online phenomenon whereby entertaining imitations or ‘mimes’ of famous personalities are uploaded onto YouTube. Like reaction videos (clips that show people’s reaction to horrific online clips often of violent and sexual nature, which themselves remain off screen), the meme is a symptom of a new collective bond amongst online users. Technoviking Archive consists of a collection of raver memes based on an original 4-min clip that gained online momentum producing over 10 million views and 700 memes. Skinny lads with blond wigs, tattooed gym instructors, fat guys with man boobs in college hallways, sunny country sides and on deserted suburban streets, all try (often unsuccessfully) to maintain the infamous serious stare of the ‘real Viking’, a street raver whose dance movements where captured on film during the 2000 Berlin Fuckparade. A recent lawsuit by the mysterious Viking persona, who so far has managed to remain anonymous, requested that Matthias Fritsch removes the image of the original Viking from his clip.