Candice Breitz | King (a portrait of Michael Jackson) 2005 | 16-channel video installation: colour, sound, 42:20 minutes, colour, sound ed. 3/6 | 1200 x 500cm (installed, variable) | Purchased 2008 with funds from Tim Fairfax, AM, through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation | Collection: Queensland Art Gallery
King (a portrait of Michael Jackson) is a multiple-screen video installation in which 16 of Jackson’s most ardent fans each present their interpretation of his 1982 chart-topping album, Thriller. Breitz recruited participants via advertisements on Michael Jackson online fan sites and in newspapers and magazines. After a rigorous process designed simply to find the most authentic and fanatical respondents (without any consideration given to their ability to sing or dance), 16 fans were given the opportunity to perform the entire Thriller album in a professional recording studio. In the resulting work, we are presented with an extraordinary a cappella version of the record presented by the 16 fans in unison.
