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: Shannon Larratt

  • Look, ma, no hands!

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    As I’m talking about microdermals added to tattoos (like the googly eyes by Joeltron) in ways that actually make sense and add to the preexisting tattoo rather than just making it the laughing stock of your body’s ink neighborhood, I wanted to share a piece that jumped out of James Rajewski’s portfolio at me. James works at Infamous Ink (infamousinknc.com) in Charlotte, NC by the way. When I first saw this little project, I wondered what I was looking at because even though it’s just a normal microdermal with a decorative flat bead, the color choice almost makes it look like a tunnel going down into the body (bringing to mind Lukas Zpira’s inset transdermals). Too bad it’s not, you’d only have to make it about twice that size to create a holder for miniature watch components. Either way, this is another one of those nice but deliriously rare examples of a microdermal-tattoo combo that works well, in my opinion.

    whats-the-time

  • Robby Needs Your Help

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Neil Chakrabarti, whose name you certainly recognize, writes me with this sad note,

    So another one of our beloved members of the suspension community is in need of our help. Robby Seepersad, aka Ribble, is in the custody of the INS and is facing deportation to Trinidad. Robby moved to the US as a child and grew up in Queens where he applied for citizenship. Due to red tape after 9/11, Robby never received citizenship in the US, and in 2009, under extreme mental duress, plead guilty to false charges in NYC and went to jail for eight months. This past winter, Robby was in a car that hit some sleet and slid through an intersection in IL. When the police ran his name, Robby was turned over to the INS due to his previous wrongful imprisonment. Robby Seepersad might as well be my brother. He’s kind, hilarious, passionate about what he does, and is an amazing suspension practitioner and friend. Please help us raise money so his fiancée, Dede Nichols, can marry the love of her life before he is forced out of our country. Please visit http://www.gofundme.com/16qja0 and help save an American Dreamer.

    Over the years I’ve dated a couple people who were so-called “illegal aliens” in Canada — part of Rachel’s current medical dilemma (which is a big part of the reason that BME struggles at times) is my fault for never having properly dealt with her citizenship issues while we were married. I was one myself for a while in Philadephia when I was dating an American. I can not imagine how much more horrific this experience would have been if myself and the people involved didn’t have a home country we knew to go back to. I can’t imagine how much worse it would be if I was facing losing the love of my life rather than just running away from a broken relationship. I can’t imagine how much worse it would be if the country I was being exiled from was the only home I’d ever really known. Well, Robby doesn’t have to imagine any of that. He knows it all too intimately.

    Let me share a few pictures.

    From left to right, (1) Robby, Neil, and other groomsmen at Arwen’s wedding. (2) Robby and his fiancée, Dede Nichols. (3) The first time Neil met Robby, 12/6/09. (4) The back to stomach pull Robby and Neil did after Arwen’s funeral in Long Island on 10/22/11 — his fiancée, Dede, is in the pic as well doing Robby’s bio.

    If there is anything you donate it would help. You can do so at http://www.gofundme.com/16qja0. As always, I would not post something like this, asking you to help if I wasn’t willing to help myself. I don’t just post every request for help people ask me to post. I only post them if I believe in them, and if I believe that donating will actually help.

  • YOU’LL NEVER ESCAPE SAN ANTONIO!

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    WHAT!?!? YOU’RE TELLING ME THIRDEYEPERCEPTION FLESHSUSPENSION USES JOE AMATO RIGS??? NOW I’LL NEVER ESCAPE!!! CAN’T HURT TO TRY THOUGH!

    yikes

  • Googly Eyes FTW

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    I’d say 100% of the time when I see microdermals added to the eyes of a tattoo, it transforms the tattoo from something potentially tough looking into something hilariously goofy. I’d say 99% of the time, that is not at all the intended consequence, and the wearer is blissfully unaware that they’re a little silly looking. The wonderful thing about this example, pierced by old BME friend Joeltron of First Blood (firstblood.com.au) and tattooed by Naepier “Kooky and Spooky” Jenkins (naepier.com), is that for once the whole thing works — and works so well — and is actually supposed to be in that wonderful self-aware 1%.

    Click for the big uncropped version.

    joeltron-vs-tattoo

  • Inverted Forehead Pull

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    I’ve posted some beautiful tripod beach suspensions from the 8th Italian Suscon, but it was such an incredible gathering of talented and inspired individuals that I’m sure you know, even if you haven’t done much gallery browsing, that there were many amazing suspensions that happened.

    One that really stood out to me was Alice Tancredi and a recent but dear friend, Martini Col Bivio, did together. There are two main ways to do a multi-person suspension (not including lifts) — tandem suspension, where one person hangs from another, or a suspended pulling, where people suspend separately, and are then connected by separate flesh hooks and ropes. This is what Alice and her friend did. They both did an inverted seated suspension, already an unusual setup, and then connected to each other with a forehead pull. I’ve done forehead pulls, so I was able to relate to the unique experience they offer — you can really get pulled into the other person’s psyche and even though you’re in public, it can become a very private event.

    invertedforeheadpull-big-2

    invertedforeheadpull-big-1

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