Lustfaust

Lustfaust was a hoax 1970s German electronic music band, whose memorabilia was notably featured in the Beck's Futures exhibition in 2006, [cite web
url = http://comment.independent.co.uk/columnists_a_l/david_lister/article362338.ece
author= Lister, David
title = You couldn't make it up - but they do
publisher = "The Independent"
date = 2006-05-06
accessdate = 2007-07-16] and which deceived Sunday Times cultural commentator Waldemar Januszczak into running an article describing their claimed activities in giving away free copies of their music to fans. Januszczak went so far as to tip the collection for the Beck's Futures prize. [cite web
url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article698383.ece
author= Januszczak, Waldemar
title = Beck’s Futures
publisher = "The Sunday Times"
date = 2006-04-02
accessdate = 2007-07-16]

The exhibit, which was eventually runner up for the prize once it had been exposed, was designed by conceptual artists Jamie Shovlin, Mike Harte and Murray Ward. Shovlin had previously gained notoriety by setting up an exhibition of art that was claimed to have been produced by a 13-year-old missing schoolgirl called Naomi V. Jelish (who, like Lustfaust, never existed — her name was even an anagram of the artist's name). [cite web
url = http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1258210,00.html
title = Forging ahead
publisher = "The Guardian"
date = 2004-07-10
accessdate = 2007-07-16] The work has been praised for the depth of its deception — the artists set up fake web sites about the band and added it to Wikipedia, [cite web
url = http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01EED8173FF932A15754C0A9609C8B63
author= Smith, Roberta
title = Art in Review; Lustfaust -- A Folk Anthology, 1976-1981
publisher = "The New York Times"
date = 2006-07-21
accessdate = 2007-07-16] assembled photographs and chronologies for their tours, recorded an interview with the band's "German-Belgian frontman", and even recorded excerpts of music which were attributed to them. The deception was so deep that some viewers actually boasted of having seen the band live. [cite web
url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article1955829.ece
author=Whitworth, Damian
title = Jamie Shovlin: A Dream Deferred at Haunch of Venison
publisher = "The Times"
date = 2007-06-23
accessdate = 2007-07-16] This was in spite of deliberate clues which had been included in the exhibition, such as notes describing the band as veering "dangerously close to Spinal Tap-isms" and "an obscurantist's dream". [cite web
url = http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article361157.ece
author= Jones, Alice
title = It's only mock 'n' roll but we like it
publisher = "The Independent"
date = 2006-05-01
accessdate = 2007-07-16]

One person who guessed at the exhibition's nature was the Times art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston. Four days before Januszczak's piece was published, she praised the collection, but cautioned "Don’t be surprised if the entire band is a fabrication — down to its references on internet sites." [cite web
url = http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article697935.ece
author= Campbell Johnston, Rachel
title = Beck's Futures
publisher = "The Times"
date = 2006-03-29
accessdate = 2007-07-16]

References

External links

* [http://www.lustfaust.com/ Lustfaust "official" web site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/lustfaust MySpace site]
* [http://www.lustfaust-live.de/ Lustfaust live with Schneider TM]
* [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lustfaust&oldid=90967889 Wikipedia article "Lustfaust" as of 29 November 2006]