Celebrating body modification culture since 1994.
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My friend Steve Truitt in Albuquerque wrote me with this photo of an eight-piece microdermal corset he did on a client. The oldest one is about eight months old and the newest about half that, and they’re all doing quite well (although it seems that there was a bottom pair that got removed; I’m assuming due to pants interaction). She’s worn the slave ring ends for over a month now, and as a dancer, occasionally laces them up for work — I wonder if she gets more or less tips those nights?
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Hugh with Hack Suspension Team in Australia (maybe you recognize his bat wing eyebrows) recently did this unusual ten point crucifixion-style suspension with his legs rigged to his back, giving an alternative to dangling limbs. Click through for a second photo.
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Echo says that his tattoo, done by X at Whatever Tattoo on St. Marks Place, Manhattan NY, is symbolically meant to be both simple and vague so that people could pull different things from it.
For me its rooted somewhat from the recycle symbol, but thats only because its moving in a clockwise fashion symbolizing the passage of time, the black and “white” areas represent duality of self and situation.
He tells people a variety of things — that he’s recyclable, that he loves the spin cycle, that he’s a poke’mon master, but his personal phrase that he uses when he’s being serious is,
The black area is when you’re in a shitty place, the white area, a good happy space, and it’s a reminder that when shit sucks eventually over time it gets better, when it’s awesome, don’t take it for granted… it might not always be that way.
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I have to admit that my friend Lane‘s new photoshoot (with Candice — who did the makeup — and Cody) bothers me a little because the whole subject is so sensitive to me. He explains what he was going for,
I wanted to do a shoot showing the viewer what the world may look like today if men had evolved being the home makers, wearing dresses, makeup, and being the submissive ones and women where the dominant figures. Then domestic violence for the most part may have a very different outcome. I may do a series focusing on reversed roles.
For me there are a few subjects that I feel uncomfortable using even in an art context (not that I think other people should shy from using anything — this is just how I feel)… Domestic violence, child abuse, rape, and other crimes of consent really get to me for some reason.
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In April of last year, on her 18th birthday, Alyssa got “Die Welt ist Schön” tattooed on her foot by Sue at Regeneration in Allston, MA. This is the title of Albert Renger-Patzsch‘s second collection of photography which focuses on the beauty found in the ordinary.
I hoped that it would serve as a reminder to myself to continue to see the beauty in the world even when I ceased to be so happy. Two months went by, my life spiraled out of control, and my tattoo faded almost completely away. In early July I had an abortion. The next day I went with a friend to Skin Graff Tattoo in Worcester, MA to sit with her while she got her half sleeve done. The guys at the shop joked about the chicken scratch tattoo on my foot and asked when I’d get it redone and I’d joke back, “oh, I’ll do it when I have money” but I had no real intention of ever fixing it. To me it meant something that the words which I had loved so dearly for years were literally disappearing as I spiraled downward.
Then, Ja Woek called me over to the bench he had set up, which I thought was for someone else, and he completely re-did my tattoo, effectively giving me a cover up. “I didn’t say anything about money,” he smiled.
He reminded me of what I had loved so much about the words. The day after one of the most traumatizing experience of my life came one of the best. Now when I look down, the words have a history that goes beyond what I ever thought they would.
I think this also illustrates just how far a little bit of kindness goes, and how much small, symbolic acts can profoundly affect a person’s life.
