BME: Body Modification Ezine

A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Tattoo, Piercing, and Body Modification News, Events, and Culture

  • ModBlog News of the Week: September 30th, 2011

    Written by

    Rob

    Today’s news post will probably be the shortest one I’ve ever written.  This week has been completely dead for modification related news stories.  It’s so short it’ll all be on the front page with no click through, which I don’t think has ever happened.

    Parents often threaten children contemplating tattoos with the adage “It’ll ruin your life“.  Well to one Florida teen, it really did ruin someone’s life… her father’s.

    Although Floridian father Michael Turner has decorated his body with several tattoos, he didn’t want his daughter to get any body art of her own. Tattoos are played out, and also nerdy. Apparently his daughter did not care, however, and convinced her brother to drive her to the tattoo parlor. Felony charges resulted!

    Not for the disobedient kids, but for Father Turner—who allegedly got in his car and twice tried to run over his son, 17-year-old Jourdyn Turner: once by accelerating forward, and once by putting the car in reverse. When that didn’t produce the desired result (injury? death?), Turner pulled a crowbar out of the trunk and reportedly tried to attack Jourdyn with it. Turner’s wife/the kids’ mother witnessed the melee and separated her loved ones before law enforcement officers arrived. Turner was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and now faces a future of prison and more (prison) tattoos.

    In Arizona another man joined the “Don’t commit a crime if you have a distinctive tattoo club”.

    Thanks the suspect’s unique facial tattoos and lengthy criminal record — including a conviction for aggravated assault against a police officer with a deadly weapon — law enforcement officials in the Arizona jurisdiction say they had no trouble recognizing the 31-year-old when he allegedly fled from a Sept. 27 traffic stop in Casa Grande.

    “The deputy, just by looking at his face, knew who he was,” Sheriff’s Office spokesman Elias Johnson told The Huffington Post. “He’s been in our custody so many times we knew exactly who it was even before we ran his [information through a database].”

    BBC News put out an article this week about tattoo regret, and getting temporary tattoos to “test drive” before getting a real one.

    And finally the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an interview with Mark Perrott regarding his photography exhibition, “Tattoo Witness”.

    The photographs are so beautiful, the sitters so intensely present, that a visitor’s first response is to lock eyes with the individual staring out. While each sports a tattooed body, that fact is surprisingly secondary to the overall persona, which wears the markings as easily as another subject may wear pearls or a fedora.

    Capturing that holistic quality is characteristic of a master portraitist, and it animates “Tattoo Witness — Photographs by Mark Perrott,” an exhibition at Westmoreland Museum of American Art that comprises 25 large prints selected from thousands of photographs taken by the noted Pittsburgh photographer between 1979 and 2004. Another 50 are projected in an adjacent gallery.

    And that’s it for this week.  As always, if you find a story you think should be included in the weekly news post, just send me an e-mail.

  • Love is in the Ear

    Written by

    Rob

    I really don’t know what it is about ears and hearts that lend themselves so well to horrible puns.  In any case, this cartilage removal was done by Gabor Zagyvai, and was his first time doing it.  Hopefully he’ll send in some healed shots so we can see how it looks down the line.

  • Hidden Buddha

    Written by

    Rob

    There’s so much going on here and all of it works together beautifully.

    Tattoo by Sonja, Punktum Tattoo, Germany.

  • Connect Four

    Written by

    Rob

    4 simple steps to creating a 4-way tandem suspension:

    Step 1:  Hook up the top person using 6 Gilson hooks just above his knees, and then another 4 in his torso to hold the rigging plate below him.

    Step 2:  Repeat step one

    Step 3: Add the last 2 people using a 2 point suicide for both of them, with knee hooks to join them together.

    Step 4: Step back and watch the four people enjoy an amazing suspension.

    Remember to only attempt something like this in the presence of skilled practitioners and the difficulty level for something like this is astronomical.  One thing to note is that the top person has a secondary harnesses attached as a backup in case of hook or skin failure.

    Congratulations to Moscow’s Sinner Team for pulling this off safely.

  • The Friday Follow-up

    Written by

    Rob

    Once again Friday is upon us, which means it’s time for another scarification follow-up post.  Today’s scar is about 7 months old and was done by Anders on Chade‘s hand.  You may recall seeing it back in January when I first posted it. Here’s how it looked when it was fresh:

    And here’s how it looks 7 months later.

  • Guess What?

    Written by

    Rob

    The second I saw this photo I knew it would make for an excellent Guess What post.  No hints this time.  You’re on your own, so good luck.

    Once you’ve made your guess, read on to see if you’re right.

    Even when I first saw the whole image it took me a moment to realize that it was a frenulum pulled through a PA.

    Here’s a look from the other side which should give you a better idea of how this works.

    I’m going to be shocked if anyone managed to get this right without checking the galleries first.

  • Spiral Nebula

    Written by

    Rob

    Here’s another dotwork tattoo by Sonja.  This one was inspired by crop circles, and you can really see how precise she can be when she does geometric designs.  I think what stands out most for me is that it isn’t about the dots, but rather the negative spaces that make up the core of the tattoo.

  • Nerdgasm

    Written by

    Rob

    Lolben knocks it out of the park with his combination Zelda/Dark Crystal torso.  Not only is this probably one of the biggest geek pieces I’ve seen, but it’s also really well done.  Hats off to Aaron Cooper from Staircase Tattoo in Santa Cruz, CA for this epic masterpiece.

  • Spiritual scarification

    Written by

    Rob

    It’s no secret that body modification can be a spiritual experience for people.  So it shouldn’t come as a shock to see spiritual symbols appearing in every form of modification.  Take this lotus/Om scarification by Jesse Villarreal.  To some people getting cut for a scarification piece is a way for them to feel a sense of transcendence.  The fact that this experience is coupled with a very spiritual image just makes it all the more significant.

  • Laying down roots

    Written by

    Rob

    I’ve got a couple of pieces from Sonja to share with you today.  Sonja’s distinctive dotwork style consistently results in amazing artwork.  Up until now we’ve mostly seen her art in geometric form.  Well to start things off here’s something a little more organic.