Alias:
Moi AKA's:
art vandelay (when I first started) Alter Ego:
Brad Pitt
Nationality: European Home Town: Up North Born: 1982
Faking Style:
SC Stylish Started Faking: 2004 Number of Fakes: 175
Home Site:
NFC Place in the faking world:
Admin at NFC
LOGO
None
ACHIEVEMENTS
-- Took part in Strip cups 7 & 10
-- Most Improved Player Award in
cup 7
-- And I did win a scottss fake-off
once.
-- But most notably, I was
Underworld Man of the Year some years ago.
THE
INTERVIEW
CelebFakirs.com: Why the Faking Alias?
I wish I knew. At first I signed my fakes art vandelay (kudos if you get
the reference), which enabled all sorts of bad puns such as the gallery
title "Women are works of art"...
My forum nick was always moi (which came into being accidentally but is
delightful in french-speaking forums). So I soon started to sign my
fakes with it to avoid confusion (confusion is a terrible thing!). In
one cup I went with the additional extension of moi, "master of
illusions". Grandiose, no?
CelebFakirs.com: How did you find out celebrity
faking existed?
I honestly can't remember where I first came across it on the web, but
soon after I got my first 28.8-speed modem, a great pic of Gillian
Anderson (who else?) ended up on my comp. It was an authentic lingerie
pic from FHM or something, and I CO'd it. Badly. This was sometime back
in the nineties when X-Files was still big. I had no idea that someone
else had similar interests, nor that other types of fakes than CO's were
possible because I didn't know about layers.
CelebFakirs.com: What was the first fake you ever
saw and who faked it?
Like I said I can't remember, but it must've been by fredd or yovo. God
knows where I found it, fakes were really hard to come by at the time. I
probably came across the faking news group and then some page that had
pics by a ring or guild. (JustImagine?)
Back then the word 'fake' must've been impossible to use as a search
word due to so many false hits, so I think I just searched for the celeb
name + 'pic' or 'gallery' until I found a fake. I think fakes were so
rare then that they sometimes appeared in normal celeb galleries
alongside authentic pics.
CelebFakirs.com: What made you get into faking?
For the longest time I thought there was no way I could do what these
guys on the web were doing. I mean literally, I didn't think I could
even do it badly. It's cause I'd never seen a tut. Then one day I wanted
to see a rare local celeb nude and I started to practise with Vince's
basic tut that I came across at the Strip. Pretty soon I realised that
anyone can do it if they can be bothered to spend some time on it. Being
good is another thing.
CelebFakirs.com: Who was the lucky celeb who was
first faked by yourself?
As I said, the botched Gillian Anderson CO was the first fake. I'm not a
100% sure who was the subject of the first finished head paste. (I never
managed to finish one of the rare celeb I mentioned above.) I think it
was Charlotte Ross of NYPD Blue fame. Which is interesting cause she's
not that famous. Maybe that's why I did it. Unfortunately I don't have
it on my comp. Maybe on an old backup cd somewhere, impossible to find.
CelebFakirs.com: When did you do your first fake?
Let's see... if the Strip started March 2003, it must've been February
or March 2004.
CelebFakirs.com: Who has been the biggest
influence in your faking career to date?
There hasn't been any single fakir, nor have I ever thought "I'm gonna
copy this guy!". When I began frequenting the Strip, I saw a whole bunch
of people repeatedly pull off convincing fakes. At the same time, more
mediocre fakirs began to emerge as the scene grew. So it was more about
trying to stand out from the masses.
CelebFakirs.com: Who would you consider to be the
best fakir around at the moment?
I don't follow the scene as intensely as I once did (when I tried to
check every single fake...), so I could be missing some great talent.
Plus I couldn't name any one guy anyway. But in terms of guys whose
every fake I want to see? Proto, hypo, Owl. I don't really think
perfection can be achieved in creative expression, it's more about doing
things your own way that appeals to me.
CelebFakirs.com: Who would you consider to be the
best fakir of all time?
Again, I don't think it'd be realistic to name one who'd supposedly be
above all others. Even naming a "favourite" is impossible for me. I can
say that it would have to be someone who's still around, because the
techniques and their availability are better than ever. Of retirees I
could mention Doc & Vince as favourites, tho not necessarily "best".
CelebFakirs.com: And for the future, do you see
any fresh faces that you think will go on to be the best one day?
It'd be counter-productive, not to mention impossible, to guess a future
"best". I like a lot of the work of people who have made Hustler at NFC
fairly recently, it's nice to see people up their game and bring some
variation to the established names.
CelebFakirs.com: What do you consider to be your
best fake to date?
You know, I have a dozen or so fakes that I really like, and not one of
them is perfect. They may simply have enough qualities or memories in
them that makes me like them. So out of those I'd pick this Kirsten
Dunst I did for the last Strip cup. It came together quite nicely
considering that the mats were a bit tricky.
CelebFakirs.com: What has been the highlight of
your career so far?
Aside from meeting some great people (I have especially fond memories of
my time at the Strip) and every now and then making some sort of minor
personal breakthrough in a fake, I'm pleased that my fakes have a
certain unifying look to them that to me is somewhat distinctive, even
tho I'm far from great technique-wise. And I am quite happy that I was
elected Most improved player back in cup 7, but even that was more due
to fortunate timing.
CelebFakirs.com: Why the alter-ego choice?
CiC offered to make my first celeb av back in the day. I suggested that
guy from the Fast Show who was always "very, very drunk", but there was
only one hi-res pic of him around. So just to take a friendly piss out
of CiC I came up with Pitt. That, and he's hella good-looking.
CelebFakirs.com: If you could marry any celeb who
would it be?
I'm not the marrying type... I do think Jolie and Hayek are criminally
gorgeous. Maybe some kind of polygamy thing?
CelebFakirs.com: And who would be your bit on the
side?
The boring answer would be Alba. Then again, she's responsible for Honey
which I was once forced to watch with a French overdub. There are so
many gorgeous women out there, I don't think I could choose just one.
Even looking at my fakes, I fake someone new most of the time.
CelebFakirs.com: Do you have funny stories to tell us?
Nothing side-splitting... I do sometimes chuckle at the time I showed a
friend a fake of mine for the first time. I think I said something like,
"look what I've been up to." He stared at the naked Gwen Stefani for a
while (a SC pose complete with album background), trying to figure out
what was so special about the pic. Finally he made a polite attempt:
"Oh, you're making desktop wallpapers now?"
CelebFakirs.com: Where do you see yourself in 5, 10 years time?
Basically retired from faking, but if the scene's still there I'll
probably be making the odd fake every now and then. Hopefully I'll come
across some familiar faces from time to time.
CelebFakirs.com: Where do you see the faking world
being in 5, 10 years time?
Depends on whether celebs' lawyers brainwash them into thinking fakes
are bad for their careers (when it's in fact the exact opposite).
Undoubtedly people will still fake, but it could go "underground" or
disperse to an extent.
CelebFakirs.com: Is there anything that you would
like to add?
A few things. First, to aspiring fakirs: making an OK fake is pretty
easy if you can be bothered to read a few tutorials and ask questions.
Also, always remember that a convincing fake starts from convincing
anatomy and no amount of color matching or filtering will hide bad
anatomy.
Never think like you've learnt enough or be thin-skinned about
criticism. I've seen this happen with some people and it really is quite
disheartening. You'll get nowhere without criticism.
CelebFakirs.com: Finally.... Celebrity fakes, art
or porn?
I think anyone who honestly regards fakes as art should go to a museum
for the first time in his/her life...
Having said that, at its best faking is a form of creative expression
and thus more enjoyable than porn.
