A British academic is reliving the life of David Bowie in the space of a year for “research”

British academic Will Brooker has taken it upon himself to become David Bowie and live his fascinating life in the space of a year.

Brooker is a professor of film and cultural studies at London’s Kingston University. He aims to “inhabit Bowie’s head space at points in his life and career to understand his work from an original angle, while retaining a critical and objective perspective at the same time – a kind of split persona perhaps,” he tells the Guardian.

His aim is to live through a 40-year career, undergoing the various alter-egos that have defined Bowie’s musical life, from Ziggy Stardust to the Thin White Duke.

Starting from the post-1965 era, he’s sought out specifically tailored clothes and he’s going to the landmark locations of Bowie’s career, from Brixton to Berlin.

The one thing he is avoiding is the drugs. “The levels of cocaine Bowie was consuming is not just illegal for a professor like myself, but it’s much too expensive – as well as unhealthy. So at the weekend I had a six-pack of energy drinks to try and simulate the experience of illegal substances. It made me very jumpy.”

Brooker’s journey has so far prevented him from lecturing at Kingston. He is currently entering the 1974 Philadelphia soul phase. Watch him discuss the transformation below.