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.

Tag: Body Piercing

  • Videos and nipples

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    BMEvideo, BME’s ultragonzo superhardcore video site for BME/extreme and BME/HARD enthusiasts launched today, although it’s currently only available to contributors (although there are mail-in subscription options there’s not currently online billing). Click the link for a trailer and more information.

    Anyway, if visiting the body modification video site isn’t your thing, or somehow scars you, you could can look at the picture below instead to swing your sexual barometer back to something safe and mundane and unthreatening… a picture of a friend of mine in the USA.

  • Piercings are teh sexy

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    Congratulations to Danny from Wakantanka here in Mexico (so far the only APP studio in the nation) for having one of his customers (and piercings) featured in PLAYBOY magazine this month. Here’s one of the photos (click for an uncensored version); pick up the (Mexican edition of the) magazine for the rest.


    If you’re ever in Mexico City, Danny’s studio is definitely worth a visit if you’re looking for a safe and experienced place to get work done.

  • Grand Opening: PURE

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    PURE BODY ARTS
    134 Boerum St.
    Brooklyn, NY USA 11206
    718 384 3377

    Brian (iam:xPUREx), body piercer and modification artist extraordinaire, has finally followed the advice of his friends, going solo and opening his own shop in Brooklyn, New York. Brian’s name has become synonymous with quality body modification and impeccable attention to detail. In the years since I first met him (when he was working part-time as a piercer in Connecticut), his skill reputation has grown in leaps and bounds.

    In the opening days it will be only Joy (iam:maat) and Brian.  If everything goes as planned, in the next few weeks a gentleman named Brett (who tattooed the phenomenal leg sleeve of iam:turtle) will moving from Texas to join the crew, along with Monica Henk (iam:MalaSangre). Joy’s work was highlighted in the first entry of ModBlog.

    I am the owner, but far from being a "boss". the shop will be very casually run, at least for now, to where everyone will have a say about anything that goes on. of course, I'll have the final word, but I can be pretty easily pressured.

    How I chose these particular artists is a tough question. Beside Joy, who was originally going to partner with me until that fell through, the other artists just happened to fall into place. I've known monica for years. She's a great artist, and I really like her a lot.

    As a strong drug free advocate, Brian got the word PURE tattooed in large letters across his lower back about eight years ago. When he first logged onto IAM, he decided to use PURE as his IAM username (xPUREx). People familiar with the modification industry began recognizing him by that name — and sometimes only that name — so when it was time to open his own place he couldn’t think of any other name that would be as suitable.

    I asked Brian if there is a direct affiliation between Pure Body Arts and the Rites of Passage suspension group in which both he and Joy are heavily involved.

    Even though Joy and I are both part of ROP, the shop has no affiliation other than all of my close, close friends being part of ROP and helping me out tremendously with the shop as well.

    Because Brian is the professional here, I’ll let him tell you about the jewelry he’ll be using:

    I did a LOT of homework and made orders with a large amount of companies for my jewelry. Namely Anatometal, Liquid Metal, AC Steel, Leroi, a little bit of Titanium from Cold Steel, and step-down external from Blue Mountain Steel. Those are for the basics. Starting display case jewelry from Death Star Organics, Glasswear Studios, and some novelty things from Steel Skin.

    As a bit of a voyeur and as someone who is fond of both Brian and his long-time lady friend Caitlyn (iam:Angie Dickinson), I’ve been following the progress of the preparations for Pure Body Arts. I’ve read their blog entries in which Caitlyn designed the web page, drove Brian wherever he needed to be, and was just an all-around awesome friend to Brian and to his business. I didn’t want to let an opportunity pass by, and asked Brian if he had a few words to say about Caitlyn:

    Caitlyn has helped me tremendously with everything. She did a LOT of driving for me, helped with building when she could, Loaned me things I'd need, gave me others, built my website, started building the shop website, designed my business cards, and loved me very much.

    Pure can be reached via subway, taking the L train on the Montrose stop. Walk west on Montrose off the train, and hang a left onto Graham Avenue. You’ll find them on Boerum Street, on the corner at Graham. Also, the J, M, or Z train will take you to Lorimer where you can walk one block north and 2 blocks east on Boerum Street. Either way, it’s a 3 block walk. They are open from noon until 8:00 p.m. every day except Wednesdays.

    So, there you have it. Pure Body Arts is now open for business. If you are considering piercing and modification or tattooing, do yourself a favor and add Pure to the list of studios you check. (I’d say, “If you’re in the area,” but Brian and Joy are worth a road trip.)

  • Leprosy from body piercing

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    So I guess the latest BS fearmongering about piercing is the claim that anyone who gets a piercing should go get a tetanus shot. Ignoring that these days a majority of people are vaccinated against it, tetanus is a bacterial infection that’s contracted from the Clostridium tetani which lives all over the world in soil, dust, and manure. It’s very rare, with less than 50 cases yearly in the United States and almost all of the serious ones being limited to people over sixty years old.

    It’s pretty crazy what theoretically reputable “medical sites” claim the risks of body piercing are — it’s not even that uncommon for sites to make bizarre claims like linking body piercing to malaria and even leprosy. Yeah, if you get a piercing you might become a leper.

    It’s not as if people get getting piercings in leper colonies and sharing needles with lepers. It’s not as if people are first burying the needle and jewelry for a couple weeks, and then using manure for aftercare. By and large modern body piercing is done using sterilized equipment and the risk of catching long-shot diseases are miniscule to the point where you are literally thousands of times more likely to be struck by lightning than to catch tetanus, malaria, or leprosy via body piercing.

    Anyway, a friend of mine’s mother just watched some TV show that was going on about how kids were at risk of tetanus to the point where if they got piercings, they needed to go right to the hospital afterwards and get themselves a tetanus shot… The following note was stuck to her door in the morning:

    “Mom, it’s not a rusty nail!”

    Seriously though, while it’s important to be aware of the risks of all things that you do, it’s also important to understand that worrying about risks that are million to one long shots is a slippery slope — with that attitude, you’d never leave the house. Or maybe you should leave the house because it could collapse. But if you go outside, you might get hit by a meteorite. But if you go back inside, a swarm of bees might follow you and consume you. But if you stay outside, it’s possible that a tiger that’s escaped from the zoo will eat you. Et cetera…

  • Skin Tag Piercing

    Written by

    Shannon Larratt

    By Sonia at Westside Tattoo & Body Piercing in Brisbane, Australia.

Latest Tattoo, Piercing, and Body Modification News