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

  • Bronze Age Ragnarok

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Following up on some of the great work from Peter Madsen at Meatshop (meatshoptattoo.com) has done that Rob’s posted here in the past, I wanted to point out this gem recently added to his portfolio. It is based on the Ragnarok saga, so the two ships are Naglfar and Skibladner, and of course that’s Yggdrasil (the tree of life) in the centre, with the whole thing being done in a Bronze-age style (even though, as Peter points out, the myth is not from the Bronze age, but it’s what the client wanted). This is one of those tattoos that makes a person look like the university professor you wish you had, or otherwise hip-academic when they disrobe at the beach.

    tat2

  • Two-Page Spread

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Here’s a recent hand-poked (and I tend to agree that on difficult parts of hands like fingers and palms, this is the way to go) double palm tattoo by Boff Konkerz (click here for my interview with him) that he did much earlier today in Prague. I always like tattoos that spread across multiple body parts (or even multiple bodies), so that increases my like of this piece.

    boffhands

  • The Jingler Piercing

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    I’ve seen a lot of nice work coming out of Ace’s Piercing and Modification by Ronnie and Gage in San Diego, and this double industrial is no exception. If it’s not obvious, the one is very traditional, but the vertical one comes down, does a little hop, the pulls in over the “rook ridge”, does a spin/coil, and then exits out the back of the inner conch. Olympic dive or what? But what gets me is that there’s a CBR trapped in it. That would drive me NUTS with all the jingling and jangling right inside my ear!!! But I showed it to Caitlin and she laughed at me and said I was the most irritable person in the world that goes crazy at the slightest little noise, and that no normal person would be bothered.

    jingler

  • Flesh pulls with little girls

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Ah, the fun the little girl is having, sitting on her little platform floating in the air held up by ropes attached to flesh hooks. What a world she’s growing up in. And the amazing thing is, with this being the 12th annual South California BBQ (which just took place on August 4th), these BBQs have being held significantly longer than she has existed!!! Whenever you’re feeling down about not being accepted or feeling like an outsider, remember this little girl and all those growing up in her generation. All we have to do is wait long enough, and the majority of the population won’t be able to imagine a world where body rituals and body modification aren’t the norm.

    But seriously, my hat’s off with congratulations to the BME family down in So Cal that’s pulled together for a dozen years to make these little family reunions, sometimes with new relatives, sometimes old, some coming every year, some coming only one… but all family. It makes me very happy that this sort of grass roots enthusiasm is still adding their blood to parks around the world.

    12thannual1

    12thannual2

  • A Magical Implant

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Oh here is an implant that I must remember to show my daughter in the morning… What can I say about this implant? It’s real, and dangerous, and a lure for fools. And Francesca was such a fool when she went to Brian Decker (purebodyarts.com) to have him install this wonderful Deathly Hallows implant on top of her hand. For those of you who are either not Harry Potter fans, or who are and can’t get enough, I’ll repeat Xenophillius Lovegood’s explanation of the symbol,

    “The Elder Wand,” he said, and he drew a straight vertical line on the parchment. “The Resurrection Stone,” he said, and he added a circle on top of the line. “The Cloak of Invisibility,” he finished, enclosing both line and circle in a triangle, to make the symbol that so intrigued Hermione. “Together,” he said, “the Deathly Hallows.”

    I’ll always have a special place in my heart for this book, because it’s the first major piece of literature I read to my daughter, spending a huge amount of hours reading all seven books. Anyway, the implant is looking very nice at a year old.

    deathlyhallowsimplant

  • Floral Arrangement

    Written by

    Rob

    We’ve all seen temporary/play piercings used for corsets, especially when they’re meant to be worn for more than an hour or so.  However temporary piercings can be used as a way to create other accessories, such as this floral necklace put together by MrHardKor.

  • Eye-Nigma!

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    You may think that Kevin looks quite nonchalant and unthrilled at the fact that his soul is most likely about to be eaten. Apparently The Engima has not yet noticed his hair though, which gives him solid protection against soul-devouring, for obvious reasons. But seriously, I just love the black eyes that Enigma has had tattooed — they are unbelievably solid and really suit him. Anyway, I’m going out to the museum for the afternoon but I will return later to make some more posts.

    PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEVIN!

    eyenigma

  • Wedding Smiles

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    This joy-filled photograph of Muffe Vulnuz and Crow Rising gives me opportunity again to congratulate them on their wedding. Would that they carry this bliss with them forever. And I have high hopes for them, because of this little fact — for some reason I can’t explain, of all the heavily modified folks that my daughter met when she was very young, Muffe somehow stuck in her memory. He has a special charm about him, and is not just a talented body artist, but a wonderful person. I wish them them many happy adventures together.

    muffe-and-crow

  • Guess What?

    Written by

    Rob

    It’s been a few weeks since the last guess what post, and as it stands I’m on a losing streak when it comes to predicting if people will be able to guess what it is or not.  I am feeling lucky today, so I think my losing streak will be over.  You know how the game works, I show you a cropped image, and you tell me what you think the photo is of.

    Keep in mind there may be more than one thing happening here.  Once you think you have an idea, read ahead to see if you’re right.

    Well unless you’ve been paying attention to the BME Hard bonus galleries, the likelihood you were able to guess that this was a foreskin stretching is pretty low.  And no, simply guessing “something to do with genitals” doesn’t count as a right answer.

    And here’s a side angle to give you a better idea of what you’re seeing.

    For those that don’t know, the BME Hard Bonus Galleries are comprised of photos sent in by BME Hard subscribers.  Anyone with a BME Hard membership can create a bonus gallery where they can showcase their own modifications and rituals.  This gallery in particular belongs to Scorpio, a gentleman who has a knack for inventing interesting devices to play with.  Keep an eye here as we’ll be seeing more of his creations later in the week.

  • The Amazing Ondrash: Watercolour Tattoos

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Of all the artists out there mimicking the flow of paint, perhaps the greatest is Czech artist Ondrash, who can be found at http://www.facebook.com/ondrashtattoo or http://www.ondrash.com/ (which appears to be a work-in-progress so the FB galleries are your better bet for now).

    ondrash-top

    I would go so far as to say that there is no one working today as capable at making tattoo ink appear like the subtle movement of watercolor pigment as Ondrash is. It’s quite remarkable, really. Whether the skin will allow these subtle nuances to hold up in the long term is of course still to be proven, but that is worry is true of a great many modern color artists, and only time will tell whether modern tattoo techniques and inks will allow for new expression in the art form that was not previously possible. Here is a small gallery of Ondrash’s remarkable work:

    ondrash-1 ondrash-2 ondrash-3

    ondrash-4 ondrash-5 ondrash-6

    Finally, I want to emphasize how hard this is to achieve. The tattoo on the left is an original by Ondrash. The tattoo on the right is a rather callously and uncreatively stolen copy, and while the artist is obviously not incapable at his craft, it falls leagues short. If the wearer has any sort of eye, I am sure that every time they are congratulated on their tattoo by friends, that they not only feel a sting of shame, but also disappointment at how inferior their copy turned out.

    ondrash-copy