View of Manfred Deix in studio completing the Façade for a pavilion with performers passing wind for Luna Luna park 1987.

Manfred Deix

Manfred Deix’s contribution to the 1987 Luna Luna park was the Façade for a Pavilion with Performers Passing Wind

Manfred Deix designed the façade for a pavilion and performance space where a troupe of specialist performers farted on stage.

Artist

Manfred Deix

Attraction

Façade for a pavilion with performers passing wind

Born

1949, Austria

He was a cartoonist who achieved long-lasting fame in Austria through cartoons he published in Der Spiegel, Pardon, Titanic, Playboy, Profil, Stern, and Trend, among other publications.

Deixfigur, a term derived from Deix’s name, is in the German dictionary

He was a masterful satirist who challenged social taboos

Fairground view: Manfred Deix, Façade for a pavilion with performers passing wind. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, June-July, 1987.
Fairground view: Manfred Deix, Façade for a pavilion with performers passing wind. Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, June-July, 1987.

His work is so central to what several sources have called the “Austrian soul” that the term Deixfigur (“Deix Figure”) was added to the Duden or German dictionary.

Austrian cartoonist Manfred Deix created wonderfully inappropriate caricatures of taboo subjects such as sexuality and politics, including numerous cartoons ridiculing the far-right figure Jörg Haider. His work is so central to what several sources have called the “Austrian soul” that the term Deixfigur (“Deix Figure”) was added to the Duden or German dictionary. Deix’s figures are physically sturdy and, in many cases, the antithesis of conventional beauty standards. They often appear in duos or groups, allowing characters to play off one another in outrageous situations, such as a reclining man holding a knife to the throat of the dental hygienist probing his mouth.

Manfred Deix.
Manfred Deix, Façade for a pavilion with performers passing wind, exhibited 1987.

Deix designed the façade for a concept formulated by André Heller and Walter Navratil. Absurd scenes play out on the exterior archway: a man’s fart sends a woman’s hair flying, the mouthpiece of a saxophone is inserted into a man’s anus, and a woman’s wind threatens to blow out candles on two men’s heads. Inside, a troupe of specialist performers farted music before a live audience. The attraction extends Deix’s inquiry into mixing the banal with the grotesque in order to make visitors laugh with glee and discomfort.

Manfred Deix, Façade for a pavilion with performers passing wind, exhibited 1987.
Presentation of instruments inside pavilion with façade by Manfred Deix. The text above reads, “Farting all through the night and always with a good crack.” Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, June-July, 1987.
Performance of the "Radetzky March" by Johann Strauss I inside pavilion with façade by Manfred Deix. The text above reads, “Farting all through the night and always with a good crack.” Luna Luna, Hamburg, Germany, June-July, 1987.

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In the original Luna Luna book, translated and reissued for the first time since 1987.