Imagine War (2014) is a 30 min long concert performed by a solo singer or by a band. It's a compilation of 10 songs, a selection of known hits. The musical interpretation leaves the melodies recognizable, but the recognizability of the texts is delusive. The lyrics are transcriptions with minimal formal intervention, however, the interchanges of a few significant words in them, result in a complete transformation in their content.

The first solo version of the performance was played by Izzy Linber at Galerie Patrick Ebensperger in Berlin, the version designed for a band was interpreted by Halfblind Henry & His Instabilities at A Window in Berlin.

The exhibition at acb Attachment presents a video of the solo version of the performance, an installation of objects with the transcribed lyrics, a modified LP cover (John Lennon – Imagine, 1971), and an inverted reproduction of the poster from the original LP (Lennon at the white piano).

Repertoire of Izzy Linber's performance: "Here Comes The Gun, I’ll Be Your Terror, I Slave, Unity In The A.K., Who Knows?, Lie Alphabet, Ending On My Mind, Meme Fatale, Imagine War, Crime Is On My Side".

The originals are from: The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, The Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Amanda Lear, and John Lennon.

In April 2015 Imagine War will be presented at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.

A part of the performance is available online at: http://hajnalnemeth.com/works/2014/imagine-war-1/

Hajnal Németh (1972) is a media- and performance artist living in Berlin. In the 1990’s she worked with photo, digital technologies, and video. Since the 2000’s she has turned gradually towards the performative mediums: she applies the toolbar of the traditional theatrical genres – such as the opera and the drama –, but she often uses pop music as a source too. Hajnal Németh was nominated for the Nam June Paik Award and the Aviva Award in 2010, she represented Hungary at the Venice Biennial in 2011.