Techno Viking

A man offers an inverted bottle of water to the Techno Viking.

Techno Viking is an internet phenomenon or meme based on a video from the 2000 Fuckparade in Berlin, Germany.

The 4-minute video shot by experimental video artist Matthias Fritsch at the Fuckparade on 8 July 2000[1] begins with the title "Kneecam No. 1" and shows a bare-chested man wearing a Thor's hammer pendant grabbing the arms of and pointing his finger at another man who has just shoved a woman, drinking from a bottle of water offered to him inverted by another man, then dancing down Rosenthaler Straße (52°31′33.8″N 13°24′13.2″E / 52.526056°N 13.403667°E / 52.526056; 13.403667 (filming location)) to techno music.[2] Fritsch intended it to raise questions of whether the action was real or staged.[1]

Fritsch uploaded the video to the internet in 2001.[3] In 2006 he uploaded it to YouTube, and it went viral in 2007. According to Fritsch, its popularity began on a Central American pornography site.[4] After being posted on Break.com, it peaked on 28 September at more than 1 million views per day and was watched by over 10 million people over 6 months. More than 700 responses and remixed versions were posted.[1][5][6][7] It was the #1 clip on Rude Tube's series-three episode Drink and Drugs.[8] Mathew Cullen and Weezer wanted to include Techno Viking in their compilation of Internet memes for the "Pork and Beans" music video but were unable to.[9] Techno Viking was also rendered in oils as part of a series on internet memes.[10] By mid-2010, the video had generated over 20 million hits on YouTube alone;[3] as of January 2013, the original version had more than 16 million views.[4] Techno Viking has a Know Your Meme page, which documents aspects of the meme including derived images such as Techno Viking with his finger raised and the word "Obey",[11] and an Encyclopedia Dramatica page.

Fritsch mounted an installation and the online Techno Viking Archive "to research the strategies of participatory practice in digital social networks"[12] and presented lectures on the reception of the video. His Music from the Masses project was suggested by the Techno Viking experience: it explores web collaboration by providing silent films for artists to provide soundtracks.[1][3][6][12] In response to legal action by the man featured in the video, access to the Techno Viking video itself has been restricted and annotations on YouTube blocked since late 2009.[1]

Fritsch did not know the man's name at the time of filming.[4][6][13] There was speculation about his identity, for example on Encyclopedia Dramatica. A man who appeared in the 2009 "Bodybuilding" broadcast of the German television show segment Raab in Gefahr[14] was taken to be Techno Viking in a YouTube upload.[15] In 2008, fans claimed MMA fighter Keith Jardine was Techno Viking.[16]

The unnamed man's court case against Fritsch concerning infringement of personality rights opened in Berlin on 17 January 2013.[4][17][18] In June, a decision was reached for the plaintiff and Fritsch was ordered to pay the man €13,000 in damages, almost all he had made from YouTube ads and sales of Techno Viking merchandise, plus €10,000 in court costs, and to cease publication of his image.[13][19][20][21][22]

The legal decision put Fritsch into debt.[20] He raised money with a crowdfunding campaign to make a documentary film about the case, The Story of Technoviking,[21] which was released in 2015.[23]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Matthias Fritsch, The Technoviking Archive, Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe.
  2. ↑ The two tracks are "Navigator" by Can-D-Music and "Save Changes And Exit" by Winstan vs. Noia; Fritsch, The Technoviking Archive.
  3. 1 2 3 Astrid Herbold, "Youtube: 20 Millionen Klicks für den 'Techno-Wikinger'", Tagesspiegel 23 July 2010 (German) This includes an embedded version of the video.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kevin Morris, German court to decide the future of Technoviking", The Daily Dot, 17 January 2013.
  5. ↑ KNEECAM No.1 at The Technoviking Archive
  6. 1 2 3 Carmela Thiele, "Das Musik-Video Technoviking", Corso, DLF Cologne, 5 May 2009, interviewing Matthias Fritsch (mp3) (German)
  7. ↑ We,TechnoViking at WorldNews.com.
  8. ↑ Clip 16, position #1; E4 transmission 17 December 2008.
  9. ↑ "Weezer's 'Pork & Beans' Director on the Band's Viral Hit, Plus Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Video", Rolling Stone June 16, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Techno Viking in Oil – Painting Internet Memes", Crackunit.com 11 March 2008.
  11. ↑ TechnoViking Images at KnowYourMeme.com.
  12. 1 2 Judith Staines with Ghislaine Boddington, Interview with Matthias Fritsch, Excited Atoms: an exploration of virtual mobility in the contemporary performing arts, On the Move April 2010, p. 43 (pdf)
  13. 1 2 Leonhard Dobusch, "Interview zum erstinstanzlichen Urteil im Technoviking-Prozess [Update"], Netzpolitik.org, 20 June 2013, retrieved 1 July 2013 (German)
  14. ↑ "Bodybuilding" (Sendung 8888), Raab im Gefahr 20 February 2009, TV Total, Brainpool, 2011, retrieved 7 February 2011 (German); the man calls himself "Harry the old Teuton".
  15. ↑ Technoviking on "Raab in Gefahr", uploaded to YouTube 1 October 2007, removed 25 December 2009; documented at YouTomb with screenshots; YouTomb presents him as being Techno Viking and says he calls himself "Harry the old Viking".
  16. ↑ Keith Jardine Talks Thiago Silva Fight, Brock Lesnar, and Techno Viking", MMA Fighting, 25 August 2008, retrieved 1 February 2011.
  17. ↑ "All Heil Technoviking! Der Technoviking verklagt seinen Schöpfer", Zeitjung.de, 18 January 2013 (German)
  18. ↑ Leonhard Dobusch, "Der Technoviking-Prozess: Urheberrecht und Internet-Memes", Netzpolitik.org, 21 January 2013 (German)
  19. ↑ Ana Samways, "Pronunciation Sought", Sideswipe, New Zealand Herald, 1 July 2013.
  20. 1 2 Olivia Solon, "Filmmaker gagged by the Technoviking, bankrupted by legal bills", Wired, 27 June 2013, retrieved 1 July 2013.
  21. 1 2 Kevin Morris, "Technoviking prevails in court, still can't erase Internet fame", Daily Dot, 26 June 2013.
  22. ↑ Henry Steinhau and Till Kreutzer, "Technoviking: Ein Internet-Mem vor dem Berliner Landgericht", iRights.info, 25 June 2013, retrieved 1 July 2013 (German), with link to verdict (pdf) (German)
  23. ↑ Attila Nagy, "Here is the Crowdfunded Film about Technoviking, One of the most Popular Memes", Gizmodo, 20 October 2015, retrieved 23 October 2015.

External links

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