News - Page 25 of 2196 - BME: Body Modification Ezine

September 24, 2004

Lizardman Q&A #8 [The Lizardman]

Written by

Hey Lizardman fans! Theo‘s in Corpus Christi, Texas (5815 Weber Road) is christening its new stage with a Lizardman and Live Music show
on October 16, 2004.

Lizardman Q&A #8

The brief respite from Q & A columns seems to have been a good thing as this time I got lots of fun questions. Hopefully you enjoy reading them with my responses as much I liked getting them.

swirly wanx sinatra

If you were to run for president what would your policies be?

My policies would be enough to make sure I never got elected, or at least ensure my assassination. Rather than address the myriad of issues a presidential candidate must formulate policy on, I will simply put forth one I think is most important to our future and also the one least likely to happen (which is unfortunate since I consider it absolutely necessary):

The abolishment of the legal status of corporations as individuals and/or entities in terms of liability or action. I would demand that all businesses ‘have face(s) put to them’ such that there was direct and obvious culpability for any and all operations.

Perk900

What wouldn’t you do for a truckload of cash? Meaning, is there a moral you won’t break for any amount of money???

I once turned down over $10,000 to eat a football as part of the superbowl halftime show. This was the same one that featured the infamous Janet Jackson nipple. Since no one else did it either I guess they dropped the bit or just couldn’t find anyone — frankly the former seems much more likely. It wasn’t so much a moral decision as it just wasn’t my thing. I’m sure I could do it but I didn’t want to. I don’t have a lot of moral objections but I am very obstinate about only doing what I want or absolutely have to do.

Is there a trick in your act that you’re afraid to do sometimes?

Not on a regular basis but there are times when due to random circumstances I get a little nervous – not so much for my safety but more because I think it’s not going to go right and thus detract from the show. If I have any safety worries I just don’t do it – that’s why I am not in the morgue.

Do you believe the stranglehold corporations have on the youth of today will affect our future?

I don’t believe that corporations do have a stranglehold on the youth. I believe they have an undue amount of access to power and influence, but I also think that their position is fragile and that anyone ‘under their hold’ can break out or be broken out at any time. As for the future, I think we do have to be vigilante and that corporations will play a large role but if it is to be as dark as your question implies is up to us, not them.

glider

If you found yourself with a large burst of cash in the million dollar range from a film or advertising contract, how would you spend it?

I have given this some thought – probably too much thought when weighed against the likelihood of it actually happening. But hope springs eternal, just like my get rich quick schemes…

$250,000 – Pay off mortgage and remaining student loans, sell current home, purchase lot, and construct “dream home”. Dream home is more a matter of custom design than furnishing and this could all likely be done for much less – any excess would be channeled into #3.
$500,000 – Create funds and investments for our future. Start up money for various business ventures. I would continue to work (at highly reduced rates) being far more selective about projects and donating much more time.
$250,000 – Given away to family, friends, and as patronage to the arts and sciences.

What will you do if elements of your transformation backfire? That is, what if your brow implants start to erode the orbit or otherwise damage your face? What if your teeth decay and have to be extracted? It wouldn’t be the first time that modifications believed to be safe went bad.

I have given a lot of thought to this, especially when I started to see some of the first stories on complications with implants. They present the biggest potential worry to me but seem to be doing ok thus far – if they need to come out, they will and it will sadden me since I like them so much. If my teeth decay then I can always get the implants that were part of my original idea but I do prefer having my natural teeth.

I have often said that life is an odds game. I am playing and will continue to play the odds I am comfortable with. If things backfire there is really nothing to do but go on, hopefully a little bit wiser and able to let others know how to better their odds.

What is your backup plan? If the ability to work as a freak totally disappeared and America became highly conservative, what would you do?

The loss of a viable market for work as a freak is one thing. It would mean that I would have to either move or travel regularly to where such a market still existed – and I really think there will always be a market somewhere in the world for what I do. Obviously, I am more than willing to do the traveling and if absolutely necessary I would move.

The loss of the market for reasons of extreme cultural or social backlash represents something else entirely and implies not only a lack of work but also an openly hostile daily existence. In such a situation I am ready and willing to fight (take that as you will) so long as I see a possible victory – but I will not martyr myself or my happiness. If I believe the shit has hit the fan I will not hesitate to extricate myself through any and all means available or necessary.

Superstarlet AD

Does performing ever feel like a chore? Do you have the same dread of going to work that most people have?

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had some days when I was tired or sore and just wasn’t as into it as usual. However, I know the ‘work dread’ from my previous more typical jobs and I have never felt like that about performing. In fact, it is usually thinking about how cool it is to get to perform for a living that gets me over being tired, sore, and cranky.

Where’s the best place you’ve performed (in terms of money, crowd reaction, or any other factor)?

Money: (tie) German & Japanese Television

Crowd Reaction: (tie) The 2nd Annual Sideshow Gathering / Jagermeister Music Tour

Personal Satisfaction: Coney Island

Would you ever give up your freak career for more financial security? If so, how much money would it take?

It would take the proverbial butt load and even then it would depend on the conditions. Do I have to work a new job? Am I somehow banned from performing? There are other jobs I could see doing, but not many, and if I was amply compensated I suppose I could go without publicly performing but I would still be doing the acts on my own in private – these activities are part of who I am.

Why haven’t I seen any Lizardman action figures in toy stores?

Ask the toy manufacturers. I want it to happen (and yes, I have tried and will continue to).

[Editor’s note: BME actually made Lizardman action figures, but we were never happy with the final product and did not release them publicly… but there are about 50 Lizardman action figures in existence!]

Do you ever hear audience members explaining the “tricks” behind your act to others in the audience, and does it bother you when people don’t believe that what you do is real?

Well, I don’t do tricks so there is very little if anything to explain – in fact, I often explain it as I do it. Explaining my acts would be a lot like explaining tightrope walking i.e. ‘He is just putting one foot in front of the other and not falling.’ Sure, I get the occasional wannabe expert who thinks he can explain the bed of nails or some other act via physics but the fact is that I push the physics (like using sixteen nails or less) to a point where most people can’t or won’t ever want to go. Knowing the science behind pole vaulting doesn’t mean you can go break the record and knowing the science behind fire eating doesn’t mean you will pull it off without getting horribly burned. Such people are basically sorrowful killjoys who don’t know how to enjoy a show — I pity them.

As for people thinking my acts aren’t real, I go through a lot in the show to prove the veracity of what I do. In the end though, if you don’t believe it then that’s your thing – try and enjoy the presentation at least. I have heard incredible theories as to how I do some of the acts because people won’t accept what they see… it amuses me that the simple obvious truth is not acceptable to them.

One guy claimed that the gavage wasn’t real because he claimed all the fluids stayed in the hose – he didn’t deny that it was in my stomach via my nose; instead he claimed that all the fluid in the pump (more than a quarter gallon) stayed in the tube when the handle was depressed and then was sucked back out of just the tubing when the handle was pulled and thus he claimed I wasn’t really pumping my stomach. How crazy is it to think I would stick a tube up my nose and down into my stomach for an illusion? It seems that it is just about as crazy as believing six feet of quarter inch diameter tubing can hold over a quart of liquid volume. Not to mention the extra stuff that comes up with it or when I make blue fluid from the pump mix with yellow fluid I drink and turn green when extracted. The gavage is one of the most obvious ‘what-you-see-is-what-you-get’ acts but still people question it – I can’t let it keep me up at night.

Does it creep you out at all that someone has a tattoo of your face?

Not at all – I think it is incredibly cool. I just hope that down the road they still think it is as cool as I do.

Badine

What human quality do you admire the most?

Humor

What human quality annoys you the most?

Jealousy

Are there any foreign cultures that influence you?

I have been influenced by a lot of cultures. Outside of my own culture I believe I have drawn a lot from the Assyrians, Chinese, Japanese, Ancient Greeks, Ancient Egyptians, Native Americans, and Polynesians to name but a few. I make it a point to expose myself to as many different worldviews as possible and I have yet to find one that has not given me something positive to add to myself.

What body modification do you plan to get next?

The next actual modification will probably be a tattoo session. However, the next thing that I am considering outside of already ongoing processes would be a navel negation. I have been discussing this with plastic surgeons and it seems likely that I will soon have my navel effectively removed (i.e. smoothed over as if never there).

Is there any modification that you would like to get done but they don’t have the technology for it?

Alligator / crocodile tail graft.

Live For Pain

In a society of today’s culture, how do you feel about the banning or prohibiting body modification? Such as tattoos, body piercing, or surgical modification?

Obviously, I would be opposed to it and I believe it would almost certainly fail and eventually come back to bite those behind it on the ass. Parts of my rights and responsibilities column address this further:

September 23, 2004

Features

Non-Compete Agreements for Tattoo and Piercing Studios [Legal Link]

Written by

BME

Non-Compete Agreements
for Tattoo and Piercing Studios

As a new monthly feature to BME, US-licensed attorney Marisa Kakoulas will be answering your legal questions that touch upon the body modification community. These columns should not be relied upon as legal advice, but they may offer some insight into the laws that affect your passion or business. Or they may just provide greater incentive to flame the author. Either way, she enjoys the attention. Marisa’s book, Tattoo Law, will be available whenever she finally finishes it. She is on permanent retainer for Calypso Tattoo in Belgium.

Marisa is also the author of Employment Discrimination: Be Careful What You Sue For and The Tattoo Copyright Controversy, previously published here in BME/News.

QUESTION: I’ve only been tattooing about a year and now have an opportunity to work for a tattoo studio with a great reputation, where I can learn a lot from the owner and principal tattooist. The problem is that before he hires me, I have to sign a non-compete agreement that says I can’t tattoo in the city where the shop is for at least five years if I decide to leave. Is this legal? I really want to work there but I don’t want to get screwed. What do you think?

Non-compete or non-competition agreements are contracts that can be used to protect owners of tattoo shops from unfair competition, particularly in keeping trade secrets and customers. The other way of looking at it is that it restricts artists from tattooing after they have left a studio and puts restraints on making a living. Either way you see it, the bottom line is the bottom line. For studio owners, it can take years of hard work and expense to build up a clientele and strong reputation, and many want to protect that investment. For the artists that work there, it can hold them back from breaking out on their own and being their own boss, or from working and learning from another tattooist. But these non-compete agreements also work in favor for employee artists. If the owners feel protected, then they may be more willing to hire and train others, divulging tricks of the trade to see their employees grow and achieve their own fine reputations. They are less likely to do so if they fear that fine reputation will open shop across the street from them.

The fundamental problem of a non-compete agreement arises when it is drafted in a way that is overly broad and restrictive. In such cases, the agreement may not be enforced. Yet, what is deemed fair and enforceable is different from state to state. For example, California has banned covenants not to compete, and only allows those agreements not to compete when business owners sell their businesses to new owners. Colorado and North Dakota also ban non-compete agreements. As for the other states, there are few straight answers – it’s mostly grey shading.

There are, however, general criteria that courts will use to determine whether a non-compete clause is enforceable.

Is the non-compete agreement reasonably necessary to protect the employer’s legitimate business interest?
Is the agreement unreasonably restrictive of the employee’s rights?
Is the agreement against public policy?

How the courts come down on these criteria largely depends on the facts of each case.

The courts have found a legitimate business interest to exist where the employer taught the employee special knowledge or skills that could be used once the employee left the business and at the employer’s expense. So, say, the owner of tattoo shop showed her employee tattooist how to make special needle bars, mix colors for special effects, or certain signature shading techniques, the courts could find that the owner had a legitimate interest in protecting her trade secrets, especially because many choose a tattooist based on their techniques and skill and not on marketing ploys and free gifts. An owner’s near permanent relationship with clients could also be deemed a legitimate business interest depending on the length of time, investment, and continuity in that client relationship. Think about how often one hears, “I will only be tattooed by that artist [or studio]” and it is easy to make that connection. Some reputations of employee artists can be enhanced by mere affiliation with a Master Tattooist. Should the Master Tattooist then suffer, without compensation, the loss of his or her clients when an employee banks on the studio’s rep and competes against it?

Before you answer, what if you consider that the employee tattooist slaved away for years for the Master Tattooist at a low percentage or salary and then was barred from tattooing in that city for ten years? In deciding whether a non-compete agreement is fair or unreasonably restrictive of an employee’s rights, the main factors for the courts are geographic scope and time. Geographic restrictions must be related to the area where business is being conducted. Yet again, it all depends on what the courts deem a reasonable restriction in light of the facts surrounding the case. One court deemed a limited radius around a business too restrictive while another court upheld a nation-wide restriction. If the agreement prohibits you from tattooing in your city, then the courts may look to whether you work in Manhattan or Back Woods, Wisconsin to determine reasonableness. Reasonableness also factors into time restrictions. One way to determine reasonableness is the amount of time it takes to attract and keep clients. For a machinery maintenance company, a five-year restriction was held to be reasonable but not for an Internet advertising company, where only six months was found to be a fair restriction.

Whether non-compete agreements get enforced all comes down to fairness, and, as in most things in life, it involves finding the right balance. Beyond time and geographic scope, courts have found it unfair that an employer only enforced a non-compete agreement with one employee but not others who left before him. Non-compete agreements have also been invalidated when an employee was fired without cause, that is without doing anything wrong, or was not reasonably compensated in exchange for signing the non-compete agreement. There’s also the issue of illegal conduct, where courts have refused to enforce the agreement when an employer engaged in misconduct, so as not to reward to unethical behavior. Thus, if the owner of the tattoo shop is inking minors or engaging in tax fraud, their restrictions on an employee’s right to work elsewhere may be null. In this case, a threat of bringing up the illegality in court may even avoid a law suit all together. Or get your nose broken.

The public policy criterion may not be a big issue for tattooists as opposed to, say, doctors. But you may get a progressive judge who will refuse to enforce a non-compete agreement in an effort to stimulate competition in an area and give the public a greater range of artists to chose from, especially so that one does not hold a monopoly over an area. [And finding a progressive judge for your district can just take a trip to the polls for local elections – but that’s a topic for a different article.]

After all the criteria have been weighed and it is found that a non-compete agreement is enforceable and that the employee has violated it, what does the employer get? In some cases, lots. The employer tattooist can seek money damages and seek an injunction to stop the ex-employee’s machines from buzzing. If the former employee is working for another studio, that studio may be forced to fire their new tattooist. If the studio does not comply, it may have to pay damages as well.

The loss can be great to the employee tattooist who violates a non-compete clause, and because of it, some unscrupulous owners of tattoo studios may try to hold their employees to unreasonable and overly broad agreements even when they know the agreements would not hold up in court. In such cases, particularly when the employers knew the contracts were unfair, the courts have made the employers pay the attorney fees of the wronged employee. [I consider awarding attorney fees to be the judicial equivalent of Karma.]

In tattoo Nirvana, there would be no need for lawyers and their hefty fees. The community feeling would persist throughout the ages and all would reap the rewards. If employers did draft contracts they would be fair, and employees would stick to their word and follow them. But true enlightenment is not so difficult, especially if you keep the following things in mind:

Negotiate fairly. If owners of tattoo shops wish to protect their businesses from unfair competition from former employees, then those employees should be properly compensated for giving up their rights, whether it be in cash or training.
Remember to keep time and geographic limitations short and reasonable.
Decide on how to best handle working the same tattoo conventions. For many tattooists, this is not a big issue, but if it is, set out a fair agreement, such as working alternate years.

Most importantly, in any instance where you are going to draft or sign an agreement that can substantially affect your livelihood, contact a lawyer first. If you cannot afford one, at least do some research and talk to your state labor office (http://www.dol.gov/esa/contacts/state_of.htm) for free. If not, there’s always California.

Marisa Kakoulas

This article was not intended as legal advice. It is intended for only general information purposes. This article does not create any attorney-client relationship.

Marisa Kakoulas is a New York lawyer, writer, and muse of Daniel DiMattia of Calypso Tattoo, living in Liege, Belgium. She works undercover — or just covered up — as a corporate consultant: proof that tattoos and suits are not mutually exclusive. Her book “Tattoo Law”, an overview of US laws affecting the body modification community, is under way. IAM members can visit Marisa at iam:FREE.

Copyright © 2004 Marisa Kakoulas. Online presentation copyright © 2004 BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published online September 23, 2004 by BMEzine.com LLC in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

September 22, 2004

Features

Dear Abby, Fearmonger Much? [The Publisher’s Ring]

Written by

Shannon Larratt

Dear Abby,
Fearmonger Much?

“A word to the wise ain’t necessary, it’s the stupid ones who need the advice.”

– Bill Cosby

In one of her most recent Dear Abby letters, Jeanne Philips (aka “Abby”) received a letter from a certified operating-room nurse regarding the risks of tongue piercing. Philips, adding a better safe than sorry response posted the letter to her column which ran with a large headline proclaiming “tongue rings can lead to heart surgery”.

Dear Abby is syndicated in over 1,200 papers and has a readership of approximately 95 million people, who all just got collectively stupider because of her largely unquestioning parroting of this misleading nurse’s claims.

According to the nurse, Karen Murphy from Morten Plant Hospital in Florida, “tongue studs can lead to endocarditis” in “otherwise healthy young people”. Saying that tongue piercing can lead to heart disease is like saying that having a dog can lead to fatal allergic response — yes, it’s true, but you have to have a pre-existing medical condition. In my example, you have to have a pet dander-type allergy, and in Murphy’s tongue piercing example, you have to have already have a valvular heart disease. It is extremely rare for endocarditis to affect someone who doesn’t already suffer from heart disease, and those that are tend to be older with already failing health.

Endocarditis is usually caused by a staph or strep infection, which admittedly are the types of bacteria common with body piercing infections. If an infection from a piercing has these bacteria enter the bloodstream (which is certainly possible from tongue piercing), those bacteria can lodge in the heart’s lining or valves. If the person has congenital heart defects, problems with the heart musculature such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, valve damage from diseases such as rhematic fever, or artificial heart valves, they are at risk of these infections. Anything that can cause oral injury — even teeth cleaning — requires the individual to first take a course of antibiotics to reduce their risk level. Other injuries (even papercuts) can lead to endocarditis in these individuals. Luckily, according to the American Heart Association (americanheart.org), endocarditis is extremely rare in people who do not suffer from the heart conditions I’ve just mentioned.

To be very clear, telling normal people that they shouldn’t get tongue piercings because of the risk of heart surgery is like telling them they should stop going to the dentist for the same reason! While it is important to point out that the Dear Abby column did disclaim in their response that they’d been informed by the AHA that only “certain individuals, people with a medical history of rheumatic fever or rheumatic valve disease — or any heart valve disease” are at risk, Jeanne still concluded that all her readers are “better to be safe than sorry”. Given the screaming headline and the page real-estate given to the misleading nurse, it is safe to assume that this will be yet another thing that will make educators, legislators, and parents behave even more ignorantly toward body piercing.

Estimating from body jewelry sales (straight ¾” and ½” barbells are almost all used for tongue piercing), there are millions of people with tongue piercings, and only a handful of those have had this complication, whereas the rate of infective endocarditis in the general public is between 1.7 and 4 per 100,000 — meaning there is no statistical evidence that tongue piercing leads to health complications in any meaningful numbers.

I have a letter I think I need to mail in.

Dear Abby,
Should I go outside? Every year, approximately one thousand people in the United States are struck by lightning, and about a hundred of them are actually killed! You recently said that “otherwise healthy” people might be “better safe than sorry” and should avoid tongue piercing because of the risk. Given that going outdoors — or using the telephone while it’s raining out — is far, far, far more dangerous, surely you must agree that it would be best if I didn’t go to work today. Frank O’Derby PS. I’m a little concerned that three hundred people have died from bee stings over the past couple decades. Do you think it would be a good idea to ask my Senator to ban honey?

There’s one thing the world desperately needs more of, and that’s common sense. It’s one thing to expect without fulfillment that Ms. Dear Abby had the “uncommon common sense and youthful perspective” she claims to have, but entirely another thing to wish that the OR nurses had it as well. If they can’t think clearly about tongue piercing, can we really trust nurses like Karen Murphy to think clearly about our emergency health care?

Note to self: don’t get hurt in Clearwater, Florida.

Shannon Larratt
BME.com
September 1, 2004

Features

Learning to Smile [Guest Column]

Written by

BME



Learning to Smile
by Samantha K.

“We do have a zeal for laughter in most situations, give or take a dentist.”
- Joseph Heller

I got my teeth whitened for the same reasons I’ve gotten my piercings and tattoos: I like how it looks, I am able to do it, and it’s one step closer to perfection. I strive for excellence in all areas of my life and my body is no exception. I eat well, I make sure to get enough exercise and I adorn myself in ways that I think are attractive and flattering. Being able is about acknowledging and exerting my control and ownership over my body. Whereas my suspensions have been about what it can do, external adornment is about what I can do to it. When people ask “Why can’t you be happy the way you are?” I say “Why should I have to be? Why should I settle when I’m capable of more? Why not control my own body’s destiny?”



Before

After

Two Days Later

Six Days Later

When I was in elementary school, I, like many others my age, had to get braces. Or rather, looked forward to the idea of braces up until they started to go on, at which point I started what would become five years of sheer torture and misery. My orthodontist was a liar who promised that I would have braces for a couple years and then wear a retainer for a bit and all would be fine. In actuality, I had big ugly silver braces for a couple years, then a retainer, after which I was told that my teeth hadn’t actually finished settling because they put the braces on too early and I’d need them again. The braces went back on for a few years. I felt betrayed by the dentist whom I’d trusted and questioned her every visit as to when I’d finally be free of the metal shackles. She stopped giving me even vague dates, so I started throwing tantrums and begging the braces to be taken off. Eventually, my parents gave in, signed paperwork saying that we understood they were coming off early and that my teeth would suffer as a result and that the orthodontist was no longer liable for anything. At that time, I didn’t care about what my smile would look like and was just glad to be done with the whole thing.

As soon as the braces were off and I got a good look at my teeth, I became self conscious. They were big and slightly crooked and I still had a definite overbite. In addition to all that, there were big white spots where some of the braces had been glued. Many of my pictures from that time show me with a close lipped smile or one that had been carefully controlled to show only a certain amount of my teeth. Whenever I smiled freely, I looked back later and cringed at how awful I looked.

Even though I’d never had any cavities and dutifully brushed twice a day, my teeth were never very white. Maybe it was from all the chocolate I ate, or the iced mochas which became a staple of my diet, but over the years they’ve developed an increasingly yellowish tinge. I tried the Whitestrips one can buy at the drugstore, but they only magnified the problem. They go over the front few teeth, so while those teeth became fairly white, the sides only looked worse in comparison.

I’d heard about something called Britesmile a few times, but didn’t know anyone who’d done it. It’s a one hour procedure that can be done at either the Britesmile spas or in a dentist’s office. They apply a special gel to your teeth and shine a UV light on it, taking off the gel and reapplying every twenty minutes. It’s supposed to whiten your teeth nine shades, on average. When I checked into both, the cost seemed to be about the same for that and the custom bleaching trays that you get at the dentist.

During a recent dental checkup, my hygienist commented on the disparity in color between my front and side teeth. Hearing about it while lying on my back in that chair was pretty embarrassing and made me wonder why I hadn’t done anything about it yet. I was ashamed that I had been letting my teeth control me instead of doing something about it. The hygienist showed me a simulation of what my teeth would look like after Britesmile and I immediately decided I’d do it as soon as possible. I was immediately excited, thinking about the blindingly white smile I’d soon have.

I called up for an appointment and could have gotten one the same day, but decided to wait till that Friday when I would have nothing to do after in case I was in pain. I chose to do it at the Britesmile spa rather than at the dentist’s office because it was cheaper and they did it all do so I figured they’d be less likely to make mistakes. It also ended up being a much more relaxing environment; with a very modern décor and flat screen TVs mounted above all the chairs.

The first thing I did was fill out a form with various dental and medical history information and names of my emergency contacts. After that and reading through the fine print of all worst case scenarios, my excitement turned into a little bit of fear and wondering if I’d made the right choice. I looked up, saw the white teeth of all the receptionists and realized that I wanted it much more than I was afraid of it, which is what it always comes down to for me. I gave them the form and was led into a small room by the resident dentist. She went over my forms, saw that I had an average sensitivity to hot and cold, and gave me some Tylenol to take before we started. I asked for clarification about aftercare and the dentist made it clear that I did indeed have to eat only white and clear foods for the next 24 hours. After the whitening the normal coating on your teeth isn’t there, so if you have anything colored during that time, it will stain your teeth. I got a little more nervous when she mentioned the possibility of something she called “zingers” — extreme sensitivity in some teeth leading nerves to fire randomly and sharply for the next day or so — and said that I would be more prone to that because of my age. All that aside, I was still eager to get started.

First I went and brushed my teeth and then one of the assistants came in to take a before picture. After that, she placed a dental retractor in my mouth to keep it open and some padding behind it so it wouldn’t hurt my gums. Then she applied a gel to my gums to protect them from the laser. I suddenly felt wet above and below my lips and realized that there was some kind of goop there which was used to keep the paper around my mouth in place (without that I would have ended up with a really strange looking tan from the light). That ended up being the most unpleasant part of the whole experience. It only took a few minutes before I’d adjusted to all the stuff in my mouth and felt pretty relaxed.

The dentist then came back in to finish setting things up. She gave me glasses to protect my eyes and attached a call button to the waistband of my pants. Since I was lying down and completely unable to speak, this was really comforting. I had my ipod on, but decided I might also want to flip through some TV, so she gave me the remote and headphones for that too just in case. She then painted the gel onto my teeth, put the light in place, and said she’d be back in twenty minutes. The time went pretty quickly and I didn’t feel any tingling or sensitivity. I relaxed and listened to some disco while watching cheesy soap operas. After two more sets of twenty minutes, the dentist said that she was going to do a 4th run, since my teeth had started off so dark. Twenty minutes later, all the stuff was out of my mouth and I was once again brushing (and wiping goop off my face). I was in shock when I saw how white my teeth were. They’d gone from shade D1 to A2 (one shade below the whitest on the chart, and whiter than they’d labeled it in my after photo). An “after” photo was taken and soon I was back in the waiting room buying some mouthwash and toothpaste.

I left the office beaming and I continued to smile throughout the two mile walk back to my apartment. I couldn’t believe how wonderful I looked and felt. Friends and family who saw me later said that it was a larger change than they’d expected, and that it made more of a difference when they looked at me than they’d expected. It was one of the best things I’ve ever done for myself and the feelings I had were similar to the feelings after a suspension: elation, supreme confidence in my body, and joy that I had the experience.

It’s been six days now and I’m still immensely pleased with my decision. I smile more than I have in years and am no longer hesitant to take pictures; I simply smile without wondering how my teeth will look in the picture. I finished the experience with a new school ID card featuring a big happy grin. While no ID pictures are ever great, at least this one matches my mental image of myself.

Samantha K.

Samantha K. (iam:joy) is a student of physics, art, and life. When she’s not publishing undergraduate science research, she is busy knitting. Samantha can usually be found on the streets of New York with her very ferocious little dog. If you enjoyed this article, reward her with a book.

Online presentation copyright © 2004 Samantha K., and BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published online September 1st, 2004 by BMEzine.com LLC in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

August 28, 2004

Features

Fighting For Freedom In Iraq One Screaming Eagle At A Time [The Publisher’s Ring]

Written by

Shannon Larratt

Fighting For Freedom In Iraq
One Screaming Eagle At A Time

“The only part of the conduct of any one, for which he is amenable to society, is that which concerns others. In the part which merely concerns himself, his independence is, of right, absolute. Over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign.”

– John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” (1859)

I have hope for any culture that allows a tattoo studio to exist. Any culture that permits its people to choose their own tattoos has made a very important statement that is all too rare in this world: the citizens, not the government, own their bodies and have full sovereignty to decide what will become of them. This is the most base and important right that a person could have — and one that people in the US state of Oklahoma still don’t enjoy… unlike Iraqis.

It is true that tribal tattooing has been popular in Iraq for thousands of years — even Saddam Hussein had protective glyphs tattooed on him, and in her book NPR correspondent Anne Garrels describes seeing heavily tattooed Shiite mothers in the overflowing hospitals created by the wars. In addition, after the first Gulf War left so many Iraqis without hands, arms, feet, and legs, Sharia courts which often amputate these parts as punishment started to add tattoos to the foreheads of criminals so that war amputees wouldn’t face the stigma of people assuming they were criminals. But all of this tattooing is very different than what happens in a Western-style tattoo studio. Until recently, all tattooing in Iraq was legally limited to permanent marking designed to uphold social order — that is, the tattoos were for communities, not for individuals. Similarly, Oklahoma permits cosmetic tattooing — that is, tattooing which allies an individual to the group aesthetic.

Reuters is currently reporting on Sarmad Shamael, a quiet 29-year old who has a small basement tattoo studio in one of Baghdad’s many rough neighborhoods. Instead of using breast milk and ashes to scratch traditional designs, he uses architect’s ink and a homemade tattoo machine to render the same sorts of images you might see anywhere in America — “Celtic crosses, screaming eagles, and death’s heads” as well as plenty of dragons from a beat-up book of tattoo flash he managed to import.

Sarmad Shamael at work in his tattoo studio
Photo: REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz

The new Iraqi government is certainly no more liberal than Saddam was, but thanks to an almost total collapse of government since the occupation started, Iraqis are operating in a lawless environment — it’s not so much that tattooing has been made legal, it’s more that there’s no one enforcing the laws. As Sarmad puts it, “now people have a choice about what they do, there are no laws to restrict them.”

This is true across Iraq as formerly banned industries and subcultures ranging from pornography to heavy metal to pharmacological vices flourish. The mainstream of Iraq — like the mainstream in the West — likes to call them “the bad side of freedom” and debate whether it’s an American conspiracy to corrupt their culture. At first after Saddam’s fall, Iraqi police continued to enact the vice laws, but American MPs, seeing overflowing prisons, forced the Iraqis to release people who committed these crimes and the official raids stopped.

The main risk comes from religious vigilantes who have been bombing businesses that they don’t agree with. Al Khayam theatre, near Sarmad’s tattoo studio, has recently began showing adult movies — “In Saddam’s time I had one old night watchman. Now I have three young people armed with Kalashnikovs,” said the manager. Sarmad’s customers as well face resistance to their tattoos, with one 19 year old — tattooed with a scorpion and an American Indian head — describing his father trying to burn his tattoos off with acid. Luckily his mother convinced his father that “the damage was already done,” and now young Mohammed Jasim, presumably having saved up another $15, is back in the rusty metal tattoo chair.

Photo: REUTERS/Ceerwan Aziz

Business is still slow, with Sarmad doing a tattoo only every few days since he opened last April, but he’s improving, and doing his best to control contamination inside his studio. He doesn’t advertise, promoting himself only by word of mouth and the large lion and dragon he’s tattooed on his own forearm underneath the text, in English, “I want to kiss you.”

Salman Rushdie recently argued that the level of freedom in a culture can be gauged by its willingness to accept pornography. “Pornography exists everywhere,” he wrote. “But when it comes into societies in which it’s difficult for young men and women to get together and do what young men and women often like doing, it satisfies a more general need. While doing so, it sometimes becomes a kind of standard-bearer for freedom, even civilization.”

While I certainly agree with Rushdie, I think at an even more base level, it is tattooing of the individual that is the best indicator of how free a culture is. A culture that tolerates people tattooing themselves as they see fit — not as the law, the tribe (or even the family), or their social stature dictates — is a culture that tolerates the idea that people own themselves. The belief in self ownership, rather than ownership by the tribe, is the first and most important step toward true personal liberty and all that comes with it. Pornography is the second stage of freedom, as it enacts the right to use one’s body as a form of communication with others in any way one sees fit. But both of these freedoms boil down to the same thing — being allowed to do whatever you want, no matter how odd it may seem to others, as long as you’re not hurting anyone else.

“A lot of people ask me, why are you so strange,” says Sarmad Shamael, sitting in his little tattoo studio in Baghdad. “I tell them: because I like it.”

Shannon Larratt
BME.com

August 26, 2004

Features

What About When You’re Eighty?

Written by

BME

What About When You’re Eighty?

“Age is something that doesn’t matter, unless you are cheese.”

– Billie Burke

The Lizardman Q&A columns have been a lot of fun but also a little repetitious of late. So, I have been trying to think of things and ways to make them a bit more fun and new again. Quite frankly, I was at a loss and not sure I was going to do one at all this month. Fortunately, inspiration struck in the form of a comment in one of my journal entry forums by IAM:saram.

The entry (IAM members click here to read it) had been about doing things (body modification or not) on the basis of true personal individual motivation rather than as a result of wanting to fit in or not fit in as the case may be. Sara posted to the effect that she thought these arguments were silly, as I did, and then wrote:

I find other repetitive questions to be far more interesting, like, “How will you feel about [a mod] when you’re eighty?” It’s a silly question, but at least it’s more thought-provoking.

As a result, I then and there promised an article on that very question and realized something that would, at least to me, be a fun potential series of columns. As already stated, the following will be a discussion of that often related query, “what about when you are eighty?” In future months I will be posting other repetitive questions on my IAM page and letting people vote on the next one that I should address. And for fans of the old freestyle Q&A, I am sure it will make a return sometime soon as well.

So, what about when I am, or you are, or anyone else is eighty?

Will women still swoon over an aging Lizardman in 50 years?

I do get asked this question a lot. Most often the motivating factor behind it seems to be a concern or allegation that I have not really considered the consequences and rushed into things. Of course, this is very far from the truth. I spent nearly four years developing, designing, and considering what I was getting into before ever getting tattooed. Even once I had started I broke my overall project up into sections that would allow me reasonable ‘exit points’ if I changed my mind for some unforeseen reason. This means that I spent more time considering this than some people spend together before getting married or having kids. Ask yourself seriously if you think it is more foolhardy to publicly tattoo yourself or to bring a life into the world without forethought?

Explaining all of this and adding that last bit for perspective is often more than enough to satisfy the inquisitor, but if I look at it carefully it does not really answer the question asked — it simply dissolves it by addressing the concerns that motivated the question. Philosophically, being of a Wittgensteinian bent, I love this. But, let’s try actually answering the question itself.

When I am eighty, or however old I live to be since eighty is just an arbitrary age which most people would throw out as a point of getting reflective, being potentially on the way out (which is rather pessimistic since I fully plan on living well past a century), what will it be like to have been tattooed, pierced, and otherwise altered? Obviously, there will be some physical degeneration — that is part of aging despite the best efforts of technology, medicine, and lifestyle. I actually look forward to aging, to living through the process. My modifications may have some unforeseen implications but that’s half the fun (some wrinkling could potentially make scales look that much cooler) and not a deterrent unless they are seriously debilitating. In a somewhat analogous way, I would point to people getting their ears pierced and wearing the very common French hook style jewelry — would putting up pictures of old women’s ears who have been slowly ‘cheese cut’ over decades of wearing these earrings put an end to mall piercing stands? Hardly. The doctor who split my tongue mentioned doing a brisk business of re-working the ears of people who had worn so called ‘normal’ earrings throughout their lives — a nice thing to point out since many of the inquisitors have just such piercings.

The more I think about it, I just don’t believe that people asking the question are at all concerned with a direct answer such as the above. They are more thinking about what type of life you will be leading as you age and what you will be doing to support yourself or such when you reach that ripe age. Even more so, I am all but convinced that the vast majority of people who pose this question are simply looking to play out a superiority trip and accuse people with body modifications of throwing away their lives in some way — especially when it is asked with the implication of future regret.

So what about regrets and quality of life for the modified? Well, it seems like quality of life need not be a problem at all if people would simply be polite and open minded enough to accept that a modified appearance is not necessarily an indicator of much more than personal aesthetic preference. The problem is not my modifications, but your ignorance and prejudice. Given a moment of rational clarity I would hope most people would prefer the eradication of close minded ignorance (on all subjects) to that of something as potentially positive and affirming as body modification. Most regrets will likely fall from the same tree.

Now given that I am not entirely naïve to the world, despite my best efforts to be, and I hope you aren’t either I will discuss regret a bit more pragmatically — regardless of body modification. Wondering ‘what if’ seems to be a wholly natural and likely universal activity for people and is not the same as regret. Often when wondering ‘what if’ you may imagine a scenario much grander than your current reality but this should not necessarily lead to regret. I can honestly say that I have absolutely no regrets at this point in my life because even in those situations where I can ‘what if’ myself into much nicer scenarios for myself and others I still made the best decision I could given my knowledge and options at the time. Just because I look back now at what I know to be bad decisions, I do not regret them since being the exact same situation at that same time again I would do the same thing. Hindsight is 20/20 but unless you intentionally acted in a way you knew to be wrong I do not see cause for regret.

I cannot guarantee that you or I will be happy when we are older but if we act in the best manner we have known and available to us I have very high hopes.

Erik Sprague

because the world NEEDS freaks…

Former doctoral candidate and philosophy degree holder Erik Sprague, the Lizardman (iam), is known around the world for his amazing transformation from man to lizard as well as his modern sideshow performance art. Need I say more?

Copyright © 2004 BMEZINE.COM. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published August 26th, 2004 by BMEZINE.COM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

August 26, 2004

Features

Bena Video Interview [Guest Column]

Written by

BME

Bena

Video interview by Allen Falkner

Over the past few years, my path has crossed with Bena’s several times. However, it was not until the Oslo suscon that I really got a chance to get to know him. Although quiet at first, I soon found Bena to be a witty, intelligent and an extremely articulate individual. From his spirit to his drive to his dedication, I would have to credit Bena as being one of the bigger assets our community has to date.

Bena is a Swedish body modification enthusiast and suspension practitioner that’s works by day as a caregiver for the handicapped. Visit bena on IAM.

The interview below was shot, edited, and conducted by Allen Falkner with additional (not very good) editing by Shannon Larratt.

Choose your format (video is just over four minutes long):
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Allen Falkner (iam:Allen Falkner) is a body piercer with well over a decade of experience and is the owner of Obscurities in Dallas, TX. He is one of the founders of the modern body suspension movement as the progenitor of TSD (and now suspension.org). Allen is credited with the invention — and naming — of much of what people take for granted in modern suspension (including the knee suspension, his signature piece). He’s also a talented photographer and is married to his muse Masuimi Max.

Online presentation copyright © 2004 Allen Falkner and BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published online August 26th, 2004 by BMEzine.com LLC in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Interview took place in Oslo, Norway in August 2004.

August 19, 2004

ModBlog

Being A Modified Jew

Written by

BME

“See, I have engraved You on the palms of my hands”
– Isaiah 49:16

“One shall say, ‘I am the Lord’s,’ and another shall use the name of Jacob, and another shall mark his arm ‘of the Lord’ and adopt the name of Israel.”
– Isaiah 44:5

“I decked you out in finery… I put a ring in your nose, and earrings in your ears…”
– Ezekiel 16:11
See also Exodus 35:22, Numbers 31:50, Judges 8:24, Isaiah 3:21

I fell in love with the art of the tattoo in my early twenties. The choice that I was able to consciously make to beautify my own body was exhilarating. Choosing the placement, selecting the artist and design took research and thought. Seeing the colors and designs come alive on my flesh is intoxicating.

But I am a Jew. How does body modification fit into my life?

The answer is: Beautifully.

Judaism has a long history of distaste for tattoos and piercings. It is my understanding that this stems from the Jewish concept that we are created b’tzelem Elokim (in the image of God) and that our bodies are to be viewed as a precious gift on loan from God, entrusted into our care, but not our personal property to do with as we choose. This distaste grew stronger with the Holocaust and the tattooing that was forced upon the Jews in the prison camps.

Let’s discuss a common misconception:

Can you be buried in a Jewish cemetery and participate in Jewish ritual if you are tattooed or pierced?

It is not prohibited to bury someone who has tattoos or body piercings in a Jewish cemetery. Although the Torah is interpreted by some to prohibit making a permanent tattoo on one’s body, those who violate this prohibition may still be buried in a Jewish cemetery and participate fully in all synagogue ritual.

I asked IAM member RachelG about her experiences with this and she replied with a personal story regarding being buried in a Jewish cemetery with body modifications:

“After an unfortunate tragedy where a close modified friend of mine committed suicide, his family was allowed to bury him in an orthodox Jewish cemetery. He was practically fully suited in tattoos and wore three earrings in each earlobe. At the funeral service I spoke at length with the orthodox rabbi who was performing the service about Jews and body modification. He told me that these misconceptions were not only outdated, but any Jew who believed in them was not following the ways of God. Jews are a very accepting and understanding people. Who are we to judge one for intentionally changing one’s body to fulfill their own desires?”

Deliberate, permanent disfigurement of the body would be prohibited. But such practices as ear piercing and cosmetic surgery (such as elective rhinoplasty) are not prohibited. The purpose of cosmetic surgery is to make the body more beautiful, not to disfigure it. (from torah.org)

Being modified does not prohibit you from participating in Jewish ritual. The fact that someone may have violated the laws of kashrut at some point in his or her life or violated the laws of Shabbat would not merit such sanctions. The widely believed prohibition against tattooing is certainly no worse.

What puzzles and disturbs me is the quote from a rabbi stating that such practices as ear piercing and plastic surgery(1) are not prohibited because they are meant to beautify and not to disfigure. Who is to say that the purpose of my body modifications are not to make the body more beautiful? Is this for a rabbi to decide? I believe that the decision of what makes my body more beautiful is my own. Why is plastic surgery regarded as acceptable and other forms of body modification are not? What about circumcision which is a permanent modification? Who makes those decisions?

Circumcision is also becoming a challenged ritual within Judaism as more and more Jews regard this practice as a social choice. This is a major body modification and disfigurement to a small child that is not given the choice to modify. It is also common practice among non-Jews to circumcise a male newborn penis, and this practice is not specifically Jewish, though it is common practice among Jews specifically. For more information on the complex issue regarding facts and myths of Jewish ritual circumcision, I invite you to visit jewishcircumcision.org. There are many modern changing views concerning the modification of infants without their consent.

For many people, conscious modification has become a way for them to take ownership of the beauty of their own bodies. For a very long time I felt uncomfortable in my own body. I was too fat, too short, my breasts were droopy — I could come up with a list a mile long. I discovered through modification that I loved my own body more when I got to choose what was happening to it. I would not knowingly disfigure my body. I intend to beautify it at my discretion. I am not the only one and I am far from the only modified Jew. By choosing to tattoo my body, I also feel that I am reclaiming this ritual for beauty rather than the hate and disrespect that was the intent of the Nazis forcibly tattooing the Jews during the holocaust.

My Judaism and my body modification go hand in hand for me. They are both part of who I am and how I represent myself. I am a tattooed Jew. I am proud of both of these facets of my life. I am not ashamed to go to Shul and I am not afraid of the questions. What I dislike is the assumption that I am not as good a Jew because of my modifications. I completely disagree. What I dislike is the prejudice my own Jewish people bestow upon me, and others, for choosing to reclaim the ancient art of body modification. This in itself does not convey the Judaism of acceptance that has always been expressed to me in Shul. I believe this inter-judaic prejudice stems from a sociological prejudice thinly veiled by a misunderstood religious excuse.

How did my family react?

My family ignores it. Don’t ask, don’t tell — sound familiar? — but still love and respect me as who I am. My family’s beliefs are those of conservative Jews and I respect them for that. However, I follow more of a Reconstructionist view. Reconstructionists define Judaism as the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people and most Jewish people, including Reconstructionists, no longer accept its binding authority. While Reconstructionists are lovers of tradition and support community celebration of the Jewish sacred year and life-cycle events, we also believe that the face of the Jewish community is changing and that individuals have the right to adapt Jewish tradition to new circumstances. That doesn’t make us any less Jewish than those who live by Conservative or Orthodox law (although there would be plenty of argument within Judaism about this).

I think that the belief that body modification is prohibited by the Torah is antiquated, just as other Biblical laws are (and have thus been adjusted to fit modern times). Judaism is evolving in some sects; no longer do we have to hide what may be seen as “against the Torah” to practice our faith. It is quite a relief to do so. If you choose to practice your faith, there are many ways to do so. When you are dealing with Orthodox, Reform, Reconstructionist and Conservative movements, we will not agree on each others interpretation of the Torah.

Body Modification is just as much a part of my life as my faith in Judaism. I believe that my modifications beautify my body and bring joy to my life. They do not take away from my faith in God. My personal practice allows me to be who I am, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Liz Polay-Wettengel

¹ Editor’s note: It should be added that rhinoplasty has been historically a “Jewish” procedure with the goal of masking — publicly destroying — the Jewish identity in the face of bigotry. One could make the argument that tattoos that uplift the Jewish identity are a far better way to serve God than rhinoplasty ever could be.

Liz Polay-Wettengel (iam:TattooedRedhead) is an executive general manager in Boston Massachusetts where she lives with her husband and two cats. She has a professional background in the music business and writes for several online blogs. Liz has been an active member of the IAM BME community since 2000 and currently runs the membership sponsorship forum and the Jew Crew community forum.

Online presentation copyright © 2004 Shannon Larratt, Liz Polay-Wettengel, and BMEzine.com. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published online August 19th, 2004 by BMEZINE.COM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

August 18, 2004

Features

Muffe Vulnuz Video Interview [Guest Column]

Written by

BME

Muffe Vulnuz

COPENHAGEN BODY EXTREMES
Video interview by Allen Falkner

“The traveler has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and he has to wonder through all the outer worlds to reach the innermost shrine at the end.”

– Rabindranath
Tagore

I just returned from the Wings of Desire suspension convention in Oslo, Norway. Attendees from eight countries — Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Belgium, England, USA, and Russia — (and almost as many languages) met for lectures, performances, and suspensions.

Muffe Vulnuz, a self-proclaimed “crusty punk” from Denmark, is definitely one of the most interesting people I met while attending the Oslo Suscon. Muffe is the owner and piercer of Copenhagen’s Body Extremes as well as a suspension practitioner and performance artist. Honestly, there were too many wonderful people from convention to list them all, but if I had to narrow it down, I would say that Muffe was one of my favorite people I met that weekend.

Thanks as well to my hosts Håvve (iam:bleeding) and Christiane (iam:christiane).

The interview below was shot, edited, and conducted by Allen Falkner with additional editing by Shannon Larratt. Performance video footage (the intro and pip footage) is c/o Muffe — you can download it on its own and see other pictures at his website bodyextremes.com… or visit him in Copenhagen!

Choose your format (video is seven and a half minutes long):
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Online presentation copyright © 2004 Shannon Larratt, Allen Falkner, and BMEzine.com LLC. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published online August 18th, 2004 by BMEzine.com LLC in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Interview took place in Oslo, Norway in August 2004.

August 13, 2004

Features

Stelarc Video Interview: TransVision 2004 [The Publisher’s Ring]

Written by

Shannon Larratt

Stelarc Video Interview
TRANSVISION 2004 COVERAGE: PART TWO

“We mostly operate as Absent Bodies. That’s because a body is designed to interface with its environment — its sensors are open-to-the-world (compared to its inadequate internal surveillance system). The body’s mobility and navigation in the world require this outward orientation. Its absence is augmented by the fact that the body functions habitually and automatically. Awareness is often that which occurs when the body malfunctions.”

– Stelarc

Australian performance artist Stelarc has been doing public suspensions since the 1970s. He is literally the first face many people who are now “elders” in the suspension movement came in contact with, although his use of suspension is very different than the standard we seem to have settled on more recently.

In 1987, two years before RE/search released Modern Primitives, Adam Parfrey’s Apocalypse Culture hit the shelves. My father bought me a copy, highlighted the opening quote — “There is nothing more terrifying than stupidity – Werner Herzog” — and that now beat up copy still rests on my bookshelf. Amid articles on eugenics, nuclear war, modern fascist movments, schizophrenia, and child molestation, was an interview with Fakir Musafar somewhat derisively discussing Stelarc.

While they’d later find a common ground for discussion, at the time Fakir was none-too-kind, writing,

“He has a tremendous amount of guts, but I think his civilization varnish has not been scrubbed enough. He is capable of enduring things longer than he does. If he hung for a longer length of time, he’d have a mystical experience. I can’t help to think that he may have had one or been on the border and it scared the hell out of him. So he limits the length and calls it art. What he’s dabbling in is magic technology.”

But it was enough to get a generation desperate to find literature on something that was calling to them seeking out Stelarc. A few years earlier (1984) Stelarc had released Obsolete Body: Suspensions, a book of writing and photos on flesh hook suspension, using the body as a sculptural installation in various art spaces (and public spaces as well). As much as Fakir expressed dismay at Stelarc’s refusal to embrace the spiritual application of suspension, Stelarc had become — without even knowing it at the time — one of the modern suspension movement’s godfathers. Back then, only he and Fakir were out there doing it publicly and sharing their experiences.

TOKYO – 11 MAY 1980. PHOTO: KENJI NOZAWA

“The insertions were done with the body laying on the floor, below a halo of rocks which had been suspended from eye-bolts in the ceiling with slip-knots. When everything was connected the cords were tugged, releasing the rocks. As the rocks came down, the body went up. The body started to gently sway from side to side, triggering random oscillations of the ring of rocks. Everything was in motion, balanced and buoyant. Everything was connected and and contained. Thoughts of obsolescence flickering in and out of the silence. The telephone rings. Murmurs. Distractions. Sitting, suspended and anxious.”

MUNICH – 8 AUGUST 1977
PHOTO: HAROLD RUMPF

TOKYO – 12 MARCH 1978
PHOTO: TONY FIGALLO

TOKYO – 2 MARCH 1980
PHOTO: NINA KUO

MIURA – 30 MAY 1981

PHOTO: ICHIRO YAMANA

YOKOHAMA – 29 MAY 1988
PHOTO: SIMON HUNTER
STELARC’S FINAL SUSPENSION

I finally had a chance to meet with Stelarc in person at TransVision 2004 in Toronto (click here for part one of our TransVision coverage) where he was giving a presentation on his work. Stelarc is friendly and approachable, and most of all down to earth with an easy boisterous laugh. At his talk he covered everything from his early suspension work (which ended in 1988, a decade before the suspension mainstream would boom) and “third hand” experiments (a fully functional third hand, controlled by nerves in other parts of his body).

TOKYO – 8 MAY 1981
PHOTO: JUN MORIOKA

TOKYO – 22 MAY 1982
PHOTO: AKIRO OKADA

“Whilst the body activates its extra manipulator, the real left arm is remote-controlled and jerked into action by two muscle stimulators. Electrodes positioned on the flexor muscles and biceps curl the fingers inwards, bend the wrist and thrust the arm upwards. The triggerings of the arm motions pace the performance and the stimulator signals are used as sound sources, as is the motor sound of the Third Hand mechanism itself.”

Stelarc also discussed his exoskeletons and robot appendages, and his work with electric muscle stimulation, including pulling “volunteers” out of the audience, wiring them to his control box, and forcing them to dance — any attempt to resist his commands were met with pain, increased voltage, and eventually failure as they involuntarily moved exactly as he choreographed. In previous performances Stelarc has wired himself with these devices and been controlled by both audiences and other factors like Internet ping times.

“During the Ping Body performances, what is being considered is a body moving not to the promptings of another body in another place, but rather to Internet activity itself — the body’s proprioception and musculature stimulated not by its internal nervous system but by the external ebb and flow of data. Ping values from 0-2000 milliseconds (indicative of both distance and density levels of Internet activity) are used to activate a multiple muscle stimulator directing 0-60 volts to the body. Thus ping values that indicate spatial and time parameters of the Internet choreograph and compose the performances. A graphical interface of limb motions simulates and initiates the physical body’s movements. This, in turn, generates sounds mapped to proximity, positioning and bending of the arms and legs.”

Stelarc also showed some of the work he’s been doing on his “third ear” project, in which a replica of his own ear will be implanted into another part of his body — instead of listening though, this ear may talk instead. Helped by Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr of Tissue Culture & Art, Stelarc has been “growing” these replica ears inside biotumblers as his own cells permeate a polymer latice. Finally, Stelarc also showed his avatar projects (an Alice-based communication system coupled with a very creepy animation of his head), allowing computers to speak on his behalf as him.

After TransVision, Stelarc and I were able to sit down for an interview to talk both about his suspension work and his other art. I’d like to present that video now. It’s 45 minutes long so the file sizes are quite large. Please save it to your computer, rather than trying to view it in your browser!

	Choose your format:
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Low quality:	320×240	37 meg	Apple Quicktime	DOWNLOAD
High quality:	480×360	132 meg	Windows Media	DOWNLOAD
High quality:	480×360	124 meg	Apple Quicktime	DOWNLOAD

That’s actually the first real video I’ve edited using Avid, so I apologize for any errors. While you’re waiting for it to download, I’d like to strongly urge you to go and browse Stelarc’s website at www.stelarc.va.com.au, as the interview assumes a basic knowledge of his work. Not only is Stelarc one of the seeds of the suspension movement, but he’s also an important seed in cyborg culture, distributed intelligence, technoethics, and other fields he likely never knew he was even performing for.

Edit/Update (October 2012) – I’ve posted this to YouTube here:

Thanks to Stelarc of course, and to Philip Barbosa for videotaping the interview and presentation, and thanks to Bo De Duyen for allowing us to film there. Thank you as well to everyone from BetterHumans and the WTA for inviting us in the first place.

Shannon Larratt
BME.com