My new friend, Anthony, is a young body piercer and talented guitar player from Pittsburgh, PA. When I asked him what inspired him to get pretty extensive facial work at such a young age (19) this was his response:
I decided to take the step of tattooing my face after a lot of thought. It ended with the result that no job, person, parent, or social stigma should be allowed to have higher authority over my own body then I do. The everyday battle for control over your own body is unimaginable. It seems to be able to modify yourself in any way you must first endure a showering of opinions, discouragement and pressure. So to break free from that is something to be said for anybody who modifies themselves.
Before getting it done I looked deep inside myself and meditated on the decision for a long while before iI knew that it was right. Since the day it was done I have felt like it should have been there all along, and I have never felt more spiritually in tune with myself.
Its a liberating experience, I recommend it to anyone!
Facial work by Neil Reitan in Spring Lake Park, MN.
For 2 more pics of Anthony’s facial work including what could very well be Modblog’s goofiest facial expression of 2010, keep on keeping on.
Comments
84 responses to “Liberation”
I think facial tattoos are great I have some myself…but doesn’t anybody think that 19 is a lil too young to get such extensive work? Like I am 26 and I have full sleeves and my hands as well as my face…but it is very limiting for work. I am also a piercer and while I love piercing it doesn’t always last forever but that ultra cool hardcore face tattoo will.
I just think this young man is setting himself up for a life of job hunting and difficult situations.
Does anyone not agree with that?
I think facial tattoos are great I have some myself…but doesn’t anybody think that 19 is a lil too young to get such extensive work? Like I am 26 and I have full sleeves and my hands as well as my face…but it is very limiting for work. I am also a piercer and while I love piercing it doesn’t always last forever but that ultra cool hardcore face tattoo will.
I just think this young man is setting himself up for a life of job hunting and difficult situations.
Does anyone not agree with that?
Brass – That is the general argument anytime that someone young gets a visible mod. Obviously it does limit the work you can do but it completely depends on the person. There are some people who wouldn’t be able to get any job even if they didn’t have any work done and then there are the strong and smart people who find their niche in the world and succeed despite the set backs.
” succeed despite the set backs.”
maybe the real lesson isn’t to succeed despite them, but to not make ones for you to have to overcome?
” succeed despite the set backs.”
maybe the real lesson isn’t to succeed despite them, but to not make ones for you to have to overcome?
” succeed despite the set backs.”
maybe the real lesson isn’t to succeed despite them, but to not make ones for you to have to overcome?
yes and no. it’s more of a scenario where he’s probably going to be happier searching for work than being stuck in an office without the tattoo.
love the tattoo as well.
I really like this guys tattoos, but I’m certainly wondering about his age. I got extensive tattoo work done from the ages of 18 and 22 that at the time seemed really well thought out and planned that now I completly regret. The best of luck to him though!
I think it’s fantastic that he feels more in touch with himself after making this decision. Wouldn’t it be great if we could all find our own path? Especially when he’s so young.
Great!
🙂
Anthonydoom!!! My favorite iam:bodies creator 😛 These tattoos look fantastic!
now to me thats good reasoning behind getting facial ink!
Joder , la mejor puta razon que he leido en años y hoy mismo he estado pensando en lo mismo, quien tiene mas poder sobre nuestro propio cuerpo??? dios?? los padres?? la sociedad?? la novia??? Nuestro cuerpo es solo nuestro, siempre.
I like that decision
#40, i don’t think that putting this mantra on yoru body is disrespectful. this mantra and many others are very often written as well as vocalized (using the body). these syllables’ very existence is a product of samsara. although this realm is impure, there exists within it (and as a product of it) means towards “purifying” your consciousness and escaping it.
PS #41, the phrase is “The love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). money is not inherently evil it’s just paper
>>>”#40, i don’t think that putting this mantra on yoru body is disrespectful. this mantra and many others are very often written as well as vocalized (using the body). these syllables’ very existence is a product of samsara. although this realm is impure, there exists within it (and as a product of it) means towards “purifying” your consciousness and escaping it.”
if you were a practicing Buddhist, you’d know more than you “think” you do. Think all you want.. These symbols aren’t decoration you simply find on your yoga mats, and any practicing Buddhist knows this.
@anthony… how can you possibly compare tattoos and touch ups to noses and rhinoplasty? what a horribly ineffective argument.
some of my tattoos “make me happy” but still need to be touched up or fixed.
#58 Good sense.
I haven’t come across these ideas in the sect of Buddhism I practice (Soto Zen). I don’t believe it is inherently disrespectful to get any sacred symbol tattooed upon oneself and I find my “flawed and dirty” body to be quite useful for practising Buddhism in this life: “what is form is pure and what is pure is form” (from the Scripture of Great Wisdom).
Wonderful tattoo – looks beautiful 🙂
ayour tattoo looks great. I have been thinkng of getting some facial ink. Sideburns and chin.
Best wishes for 2010. InkManLarry
I love Anthony and all that he does. Splendid! I’m proud of you, little guy! ;p Oh, and kbi has got it right; your second picture is just delightful!
Gorgeous!
What i think I like better than the tattoo is the words and reasoning behind it. Well said and well thought upon!!!
Yinz jag’s talking trash about Anthony being to young don’t know shit.
emma- even getting a tattoo is an act of self-cherishing… one of the great distractions. if you knew anything at all about buddhism, other than the books you bought at Barnes and Noble, you’d know that what you wrote is bullshit.
strive to get rid of your attachments, first and foremost your self-cherishing to your self and identity.
What’s Barnes and Noble??
Wow, I actually met this kid I few months ago in Best Buy (i live in Minnesota), it was weird, I walked into the store, and Wolfmother was playing an acoustic set for the Grand Re-Opening of that Best Buy. Anyways, he was a super cool dude, I remember he recognized my Body Art Forms hoodie, and he struck up a conversation with me. I really like this new facial work, it’s really beautiful. It sounds like he’s gonna get to do some traveling (NYC), so I hope that goes well for him.
I got my first facial tattoo when i was 23 and it was the most LIBERATING feeling I have ever felt. Now i have one more at 25 and life is only getting better. When you decide to make that choice, you know you will never settle for anything less then whats right for you. My jobs are only getting better and life rules.
Hells yes I love face ink!
And this is what a i call i nice facial tattoo 🙂
any think you do in term of existing in samsara is attachmetn including eating but you can’t just stop. buddhism is often called the middle path
Exactly – one may potentially become overly attached to getting tattoos of sacred symbols or on the other hand, overly attached to the idea that no Buddhists must ever get tattoos of sacred symbols. I haven’t come across many shoulds or absolutes in my experience of Buddhism so far. But that’s just my experience and opinion among many!
we’re all missing the point: it makes him look like an east-meets-west rockstar
if you follow a path, or a tradition, there are absolutes, if you’re just picking up books, taking a few classes or talking it over with friends, you aren’t even a practicing Buddhist. Buddhists take vows, many of them, along their path. there ARE rules, and absolutes. It’s not some sort of hippie ideal..its a TRADITION.
it’s amazing how people with such shallow knowledge of a subject can seem to think they have such a strong grasp of it.
get a clue
Jim, That’s awesome that you remembered that! That was only a couple months ago but so much has changed since then its unreal. I hope you’re doing well man!
I just watched a documentary about a group of Buddhist monks in Thailand who tattoo themselves and others with sacred symbols as a means of protection. I surely don’t claim to know anything about Buddhism but I gather that, just like any other religion, there are different forms with their own set of beliefs.
damn ian, you’re really an expert, huh? you seem to know exactly what everybody should do. i only wish you had been around in the time of gautama buddha, you could have set him straight as well. he wasn’t even a practicing buddhist.
People bickering on the internet about Buddhism warms the cockles of my heart.
cheers and future regrets