BME: Body Modification Ezine

A tattooed person suspends from hooks, laying flat, one leg higher than the other. Their head is back, and they seem to be smiling, dark hair dangling like an anime character.

Celebrating body modification culture since 1994.

Author: Rob

  • Black hole sun

    Written by

    Rob

    Update:  Didn’t realize the meaning behind the original image that I used.  I’ve since replaced it with the current image.

    So I’ve had a few Soundgarden songs stuck in my head ever since I’ve heard the band was getting back together.  It got me wondering how a song can be crafted that gives it a timeless quality, like how their songs from 20 years ago still sound fresh today.  While pondering this, I was browsing the scarification galleries, when I cam across this image by Gabor Zagyvai.

    db0508a8446337cfb80d34331e326393_jpg_1024x768_first-0_second-3_watermark_q851

    Which brings me back to Soundgarden.  While you may or may not be a fan of theirs, any songwriter will tell you how difficult it can be to craft a song, let alone one that an audience will enjoy.  So for the purpose of this discussion, just replace Soundgarden with your favorite musician/composer/band.  Like the process in creating a scar, time is meticulously spent over every aspect of the scar.  Width of the lines, depth, getting the design perfect, choosing the right blade, and then the placement on the body.  All of those factors are considered well before the first cut is made.  The same can be said about a piece of music.  The right notes, lyrics, tempo, instruments can make the difference between a horrible piece of music and a beautiful one.  Like scars, these pieces of music will live on well past the time they were created.

    Of course this can be said about any form of art, which is exactly what Gabor has done here with this piece.  This piece is only one of several that were uploaded in the past day. Gabor’s own gallery has the entire collection, where many of them have healed images alongside the fresh ones.  So while this scar may not be your cup of tea, there are a lot of other beautiful scars you can check out.

  • ,

    You need to get to L.A. soon

    Written by

    Rob

    Tomorrow night is the gala opening for The Known Gallery‘s showing of Irezumi Bijin: Works by Kaname Ozuma and Horiyoshi III

    Tattoo Hollywood and Known Gallery are also hosting a once in a lifetime opportunity to view works by Kaname Ozuma and Horiyoshi III, appropriately titled:  Irezumi Bijin.  If you were at the Tattoo Hollywood convention last week you had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the works by these brilliant artists.  Tomorrow night the show begins and will be running until Sept. 18th.  I urge you to do whatever is in your power to get to Los Angeles and see this show before it is gone for good.

    ozumaknowngallery1

    When:
    Opening Reception: Thursday August 26th, 2010 | 8pm-11pm
    Show Runs: August 26th – September 18th

    Where:
    Known Gallery
    441 North Fairfax Avenue
    Los Angeles, CA 90036

    About the artists:

    Kaname Ozuma

    Born in Niigata, Japan in 1939, Ozuma Kaname began studying traditional Japanese painting under his uncle, artist Sakai Soushi, from a young age. Moving to Tokyo at the age of 18, he trained as an art dealer while working at a printing company. Afterwards, he moved on to the publishing industry where he illustrated tattoos. The majority of his work continues to be tattoo-related along with other traditional Japanese themes; and often serves as a source of inspiration for master tattooist Horiyoshi III, whose clients in turn, are often depicted in Ozuma’s paintings.

    Horiyoshi III

    Born Yoshihito Nakano in 1946, Horiyoshi III is the second tattooist to be bestowed the honorific title—the tattooist affixation “Hori” means engrave—in a line started by his master, the legendary tattoo artist Yoshitsugu Muramatsu, or Shodai Horiyoshi of Yokohama (Muramatsu went on to dub his son Horiyoshi II, and later Nakano was named Horiyoshi III).  His images are classical Japanese woodblock print motifs such as the phoenix, dragon, snakes, tigers, samurai warriors, Buddhist gods to name a few as well as background images of waves, clouds and various flowers. Among Horiyoshi III’s published works are 36 Ghosts, 108 Heroes of the Suikoden, 100 Demons, and The Namakubi (severed heads), 100 Dragons and 58 Warriors. Horiyoshi’s artistic genius and generosity of spirit have had a defining impact on the world of tattooing, taking it to new levels in this new century.

    I’m definitely trying to put plans together to put myself on the road again sometime before the show ends just so I can check it out.  Who knows, maybe I’ll see you there.

  • A modified rebellion

    Written by

    Rob

    There are some stories that as controversial as they may be, do need to be told.  Before I begin, it’s important that you know a few things about the subject matter of the post.  First off, the current Republic of Turkey wasn’t always a democratic nation.  The area known today as Turkey was home to one of the earliest human settlements.  Over the centuries many empires have risen and fallen, with the most notable being the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over 6 centuries until WWI.  Following the first world war, and the defeat of the Ottoman Empire a military commander named Mustafa Kemal Atatürk led the country to become a democratic and secular nation.  The Ottoman Empire had previously ruled under Islamic law, and when Atatürk became the first president of Turkey he moved towards the western style of democracy with the separation of Church and State.  In the years following the foundation of the new Turkey, Atatürk pushed through a great many reforms to every aspect of life in Turkey.  Civic courts replaced Islamic courts, women were grated equal status, and the official language was changed from Arabic to Turkish.

    In the decades following Atatürk’s death, he has been acclaimed time and time again for his contributions towards cultural reforms.  As for the Turkish government, it continued on following in the footsteps of it’s first leader.  Over time the parties in power have changed, and currently the party in power wishes to revert the changes that Atatürk made, and return Turkey to an Islamic republic.  The conservative Justice and Development (AKP) party has presently put forth a motion for a constitutional referendum that would allow them to alter the structure of the government.

    As for which side in the debate is right, it is not my position to judge.

    What I am here for is to share with you the reactions that of some of the Turkish people are having to these proposed changes.

    rebellion

    More and more Turkish people, from all walks of life and socio-economic standings, are emblazoning their appendages with the signature of the controversial Turkish trailblazer Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who made Turkey the secular nation it is today. The tattoo reads simply enough “K.Ataturk” in a scripted text.  The history behind the specific Ataturk signature that is used for the tattoos is as politically charged as the man himself. According to popular belief, it was the same signage that Ataturk used when he signed legislation to annihilate the Ottoman alphabet, which was in classical Arabic, in favor of a Latin alphabet that was in line with secular European nations.

    The resistance to the AKP is so fierce in Turkey, that many tattoo parlors offer discounted prices for the Ataturk tattoo and some offer it entirely for free. Apparently the price for government-supported religious freedom is a price that some people are willing to pay for in blood.

    I think this is the first nation-wide protest that I’ve heard of that is being spread through tattoos.  Whether you agree with the position that the protesters have or not, the key thing to remember is that these people are showing to the world what their beliefs are, in the form of a permanent modification.  As someone who has attended protests in the past, I’ve seen varying levels of commitment to the causes.  From extremists who smash window and light cars on fire, to grandmothers holding up a sign on a lawn.  I honestly can say I don’t think many of the people I have met are so passionate about their causes to have them tattooed on their bodies.

    The thing to remember is that these tattoos are not just being done in protest.  Many of the people getting them feel that Atatürk was the man that brought their country to the place it is now, and for them, their national identity is as much a part of them as their own skin.

    Like I mentioned before, this subject isn’t one I can comment on, but what I can comment on is the level of commitment these people are displaying.  Would you be willing to get a tattoo for similar reasons as these people?

  • The tattooed hurt locker

    Written by

    Rob

    Tattoos can have many different meanings to the wearer.  Sometimes those meanings can even change over time.  For example a tattoo that was done with a friend present may one day become a memorial tattoo if the friend passes away.  Tattoos can mark significant events in a person’s life, the birth of a child, or journey taken.  They can be about something the wearer is passionate about, or has played a major role in that person’s life.

    Whatever the reason a person has for getting a tattoo, most of the time there is a story to be told.  A while back I talked about modified members of the armed services.  Today I found a story about one serviceman that I thought would be nice to share.

    Sgt. Matthew Jackson of the 1st EOD Company.

    Sergeant Matthew Jackson, a bomb disposal expert from the 1st EOD Company, likes to quote Charles Manson in relation to his job – “total paranoia is total awareness.”  It helps to keep his mind focused when he and his explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) team are working on one of the countless IEDs they have come across during their deployment in southern Afghanistan.

    Jackson, on first meeting, looks just a tad eccentric. An English major at college, he is a big Hemingway fan. He wears thick black-rimmed glasses, and along the length of his left arm are a series of tattoos of the molecular structures of different types of explosives. Some call it his crib sheet, but he regards it as a portrait gallery of close friends, whom he refers to fondly as he lists their explosive properties and relative levels of oxygen content. In the center of his forearm is TNT – “the base of all explosives,” by his wrist are blasting cap explosives, nitroglycerin is further up his arm, but his personal favorite, he says with the enthusiasm of a professional collector, is RDX – the main component of C4 – “it’s just neat, it’s sensitive, it’s powerful…”

    While Sergeant Jackson goes on to describe how the life of an EOD tech isn’t anything like it is in the film “The Hurt Locker”, he still is responsible daily for the lives of his company, and everyone else serving in Afghanistan.  So while the sergeant’s tattoos are jokingly called a “crib sheet”, those chemical compounds are responsible every day for injuries and possibly death for any number of troops or civilians.

    Sergeant Jackson’s arms tell a story.  The story of a man who puts his life on the line every day to make sure people get home safely.  I know that there are ModBlog readers who have served, and I can think of a specific IAM member that ended up coming home after being wounded by an IED.  The stories that Matthew has are his own to share.  So while we can see part of the story on the surface, it is what is underneath that carries the full tale.

    This story is just like everyone else’s.  Not everyone with a tattoo has a story that is tied to life or death, but we all have a story to tell.  The ink is just the surface, the outer shell of the person inside.  The tattoos are the story from inside being reflected on the outside.  They are as much a part of ourselves as the stories that make up our life are.

  • Be still my beating heart

    Written by

    Rob

    Sometimes the daily grind can be overwhelming.  Work, family, friends, bills, kids, and more can all be a joy at times and a curse at others.  While we’re all flying through space on this spinning top we call home, sometimes it can feel great just to stop everything and be still.

    To everyone the act of being still can mean many things.  To some it is a form of release, allowing the stresses of the world flow out of their bodies.  For others stillness can evoke feelings of anxiety, the calm before the storm as it were, the moment where everything just seems too good to be true.  Even in nature stillness can have many meanings.  Those early moments at dawn when a lake is perfectly still, just existing waiting for the world to begin again and reflect itself in its surface, the stillness of the night before still echoing across the glassy surface in the form of the mists.  Then there are the predator and prey.  The predator stalks its prey until it finds the perfect position to mount its attack, holding everything in and becoming a rock, immovable yet capable of motion.  The waiting, the thinking, becoming so still with focus that the rest of the world falls away.  While the predator waits, the prey becomes still as well, not with calm or focus, but with fear.  Knowing there is danger around and that the slightest movement will set in motion a cascade of events that could be the end of its existence.

    The stillness of the world cannot exist without the movement.  The time after the world has stopped.  The first fish leaping from the water to eat an insect, causing the first waves to break the surface, waves that will continue to move until the next morning when the cycle begins again.  The moment where the stillness has fulfilled its purpose and the time to act is present, releasing all the energy locked within in one swift and sudden movement.  When the fear changes from the overwhelming power to be still, to the realization that by remaining still will be the end, and movement is what is necessary to survive.

    Looking at this photo of IAM: Radical Kiba, you can see the stillness in her.  Lost within herself she is looking out on the world.  There’s no way to know how she is feeling, but you can feel the stillness.

    kiba

    What is stillness to you?  Is it the calm of the water at dawn, the anticipation of the predator waiting to strike, or is it the fear of the prey?  Or is it something else, something that only you can feel?

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