SI’Ì LIUFAU THE RENAISSANCE OF POLYNESIAN TATTOOING
CONVENTIONS
VIVA LAS VEGAS DETROIT NAPLES
PREVIEW 15th year - n° 84 - ISSN 1468-1382
THE 9th INTERNATIONAL
LONDON
TATTOO CONVENTION
by
THIRTY YEARS OF TATTOO ART HISTORY AND TRADITIONS
SEN HO
TO
S
FOR TATTOO LOVERS
T TA
HENNING JØRGENSEN
£ 3.95
Finland 9,00 € Benelux 7,00 € Portugal 7,80 € cont. Norwegen 89,00 NOK Slovakia 8,90 €
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THE SUBTLE DETAILS OF DARK REALISTIC
n° 84
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TATTOO ARTISTS YEARBOOK
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UK & Ireland Yearbook 2013 - 2014
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YEARBOOK 2013-2014 ON SALE WorldMags.net AT YOUR NEWSSTAND IN SEPTEMBER
I Max Tattooing
+390.541.642160 www.imaxshop.com WorldMags.net Dani Martos Demon Tattoo La Seu D'Urgell Spain
Michele Agostini Tribal Tattoo Studio Roma - Italy
Matteo Cascetti Tattoo Artist Studio Fabriano - Italy
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WorldMags.net Vanishing in merchandising
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or some time now we’ve watched how tattoo art has detached from the skin and is living a life of its own thanks to other forms of support. Sometimes it almost feels like the real tattoos, the ones on skin, have just become an excuse to promote and sell various gadgets that sport tattoo images. It’s almost as if skin has become the living and involuntary testimonial of a raging flood of objects, which can push the essence of tattoo-art and its origins into the background. Let me start by saying that we have absolutely nothing against the spread and widespread diffusion of tattoo-merchandising, which is often one of the main ways people first learn about and appreciate tattoo art. That said, for us tattoo art continues to be an experience consisting of needles, skin, art, soul and purpose; the “physical” contact between the tattooist and the person getting the tattoo cannot be left out, because it is a spiritual – and not just recreational - representation. What looks good on a coffee cup or on a pair of shoes is not necessarily what looks best on the skin, which should come first before anything else, as far as we’re concerned. A person’s skin should never be put in second place, behind an object, because skin is not just one more medium; it has a vital and cognitive value which rises above and beyond. Certainly, we are in the forefront when it comes to appreciating and promoting high-quality contaminations between tattoo art and other artistic realities. But the bar must be held very high: we have to be sure that any given expression is the best way to fully appreciate the beauty of tattoo art, we need to become familiar with the various tattoo styles and appreciate their subtleties and differences, and we should never tire of discovering new, important artists. But in order to fully enjoy this beauty, it must remain precisely that: “the art of tattooing”, and not become “the art of merchandising”. True tattoo art cannot exist if it doesn’t start on the skin. On skin, which is just as unique and irreplaceable as our souls. by Miki Vialetto
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Photography: Christian Saint ChristianSaintPhotography.com Cover Model: Hattie Watson Hair & Makeup: Aly Smith
n°84
08 Spy
ARTISTIC CONTAMINATIONS
10 Shopping LIFE IN STYLE
14 Music
FOSTER THE PEOPLE By Susana Victoria
16 New Sounds
ECHOES FROM THE UNDERGROUND
18 Who’s who
Adrian Dominic Apocalyptic mystical vision
24 VIVA LAS VEGAS Pin ups, vintage cars and tattoos By Susana Victoria
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WorldMags.net 60 Agenda girl 32 Cover International appointments with ink
HATTIE WATSON By Simone Sacco
62 DOMANTAS PARVAINIS Horror and fantasy from Lithuania By Stefania Perosin
36 HENNING JØRGENSEN Royal Tattoo celebrates thirty years! By Miki Vialetto
46 PREVIEW
The 9th London Tattoo Convention. What’s in store for the most popular three-day event
50 Calendar Girl 2014
72 NAPLES 76 SI’Ì LIUFAU
A report from the convention held in Italy’s legendary city By Anna Rossi
The renaissance of the Polynesian style By Horitaka
Cleo Wattenström: interview with the Tattoo Energy calendar girl 2014
52 Book
Don Ed Hardy: Tattootime The five-issue series of the legendary magazine reprinted in one single volume
54 DETROIT
82
Culture The origins of tattooing in Europe By Luisa Gnecchi Ruscone
18th Annual Motor City Tattoo Expo
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FLASH SAMUELE BRIGANTI
TATTOO
COLLECTION
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Published by Mediafriends Srl Viale Papiniano 49 20123 Milano ITALY www.tattoolife.com Editorial Director Miki Vialetto Art Direction & production Mediafriends Srl Viale Papiniano, 49 20123 Milano Tel. +39 02 8322431 Fax +39 02 89424686
[email protected] Editorial Coordinator Miki Vialetto
[email protected] Editorial Assistants Margherita Baleni Stefania Perosin Simone Sacco
[email protected] Production Coordinators Cristina Marini Graphics Designers Lella Vivace Meera Razza grafi
[email protected] External editorial staff Luisa Gnecchi Ruscone, Debora Marcati, Richard Todd, Christian Saint, Anna Rossi, Susana Victoria e Hotitaka Staff Office
[email protected] Printing Reggiani Spa Via Rovera, 40 - Gavirate (Va), Italy Tel. +39 0332 549533 Distribution UK Comag, West Drayton Middlesex Italy SO.DI.P. S.p.a. Via Bettola 18 20092 Cinisello Balsamo (Mi) Germany DPV, Nordendstraße 2 D-64546 Mörfelden-Walldorf France MLP - 55, Bd De La Noirée St. Quentin Fallavier Australia Network Services 66-68 Goulburn Street, Sydney Canada Disticor Magazine Distribution Services Ajax, Ontario, Canada Spain & Mexico SGEL Avenida Valdelaparra, 29 28108 Alcobendas (Madrid) South America Hispamedia Barcelona, Spain USA Edition published by Five Star Media Inc PO BOX 1071 Pacifica, CA 94044 USA distribution CMG circulation services, Princeton, NJ Brazil Edition published by Editora Amazon www.grupoamazon.com.br
Tattoo Life is a bi-monthly magazine published by Mediafriends. All rights reserved. Even the partial reproduction of texts or images is forbidden without written authorization of the editor. The material sent to Mediafriends will not be returned. The material received can be used by Mediafriends for all their publications both for paper and digital. Any omission of authors’ names, texts, photos or designs solely depends on the fact that it was impossible to do so. Tattoo Life undertakes to comply with these duties.
Tattoo Life is available also in digital version: www.tattoolife.com/digitalversion 5
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WorldMags.net TATTOO SPY WEAR YOUR DREAMS – MY LIFE IN TATTOOS ED HARDY with JOEL SELVIN Thomas Dunne Books
WEAR YOUR DREAMS When he was 10 years old, Ed Hardy was literally swept off his feet by tattoos and over time, he was able to transform his fascination into a successful career. He spent his teenage years in California, got a degree from the San Francisco Art Institute, and in the 60s became a pioneer of an art form which at the time was considered “minor”. In just a short time he became an icon in the tattoo world, with a fortunate brand that stamped his designs onto every kind of imaginable object: t-shirts, perfumes, and even energy drinks. His incredible and fascinating life comes alive in this book, which was written together with Joel Selvin, and includes his early beginnings as a tattooist all the way through to the creation of a real empire.
Le Regard du dragon All the stories in this book have one common denominator: tattoos. These fantasy tales are a bit unsettling, ironic, and their dark accents recall fascinating and bizarre imaginary worlds. The author challenges readers with a little game, in which they have to recognize the protagonists. In fact, hidden in these pages are Filip Leu, Tin Tin, Mao and many others. All you have to do is recognize their names which are only slightly disguised, and follow their imaginary adventures. The book contains illustrations created by important artists like Titine Leu, Blaise and Wido de Marval. LE REGARD DU DRAGON ROLF KESSELRING b&w illustrations Editions Kappa
TATTOO SHOWCASE
Edited by Lal Hardy, the owner of the legendary New Wave Tattoo in London, Tattoo Showcase is organized according to subjects: animals, famous people, tribal and horror designs, dragons and cartoons. This book, containing over 600 color photos of tattoos in a variety of styles and created by the finest artists in the world, is a precious resource for tattooists and fans alike. Tattoo artists highlighted in this volume include Joe Capobianco, Tim Hendricks, Bob Tyrrell, Hanna Aitchinson and many more. TATTOO SHOWCASE INSPIRATIONAL DESIGNS FROM THE WORLD’S LEADING TATTOO ARTISTS Edited by Lal Hardy
THAI MAGIC TATTOOS Sak-Yant is a form of sacred tattoo which is widespread in Southeast Asia, particularly in Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Thailand. This book is based on an important, 3-year study carried out by the authors in the field, and provides readers with an invaluable photo report, notes and interviews with masters of this art. This volume provides an in-depth look at the world of sacred tattoo and illustrates one of the last examples of this authentic and traditional art. THAI MAGIC TATTOOS THE ART AND INFLUENCE OF SAK YANT ISABEL AZEVEDO DROUYER PHOTOGRAPHY: RENÉ DROUYER RIVER BOOKS
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Tattoos TENTACLES The world of tattoo art meets the soft, fascinating and mysterious body of a sea creature with tentacles in this photographic collection. Julian Murray has immortalized the faces and bodies of lovely women and many tattoo collectors in over 100 breathtaking shots, which all share the unnerving and yet striking presence of animals’ entwining tentacles. TATTOOS TENTACLES PHOTOGRAPHS BY JULIAN MURRAY WWW.JULIANMURRAYPHOTO.COM WWW.TATTOOSANDTENTACLES.COM
An App For Tattoo Artists iTattool is the first application created and developed specifically for tattooists. With this app you can: manage clients by creating an easily accessible database, including photos and contact information; check rates, by activating a kind of taxi meter which calculates the amount of time a tattooist uses to create his or her work; organize, print and re-elaborate images. All the tricks of the trade are registered in the Dashboard section, which can be shared with other tattooists. Available at the AppStore for just 3 dollars. ITATTOOL by Red Lion Ltd Facebook: iTattool
CHAGALL MODERN MASTER
It opened in June, but can be visited until October 5th. We’re talking about the show dedicated to Marc Chagall, one of the greatest artists of the past century. Held at the Tate Liverpool, you can admire more than seventy paintings and a selection of works on paper which hail from all over the world. Chagall: Modern Master is one of the most complete shows dedicated to the Russian artist in the UK over the past 15 years, and explores all of the topics that were most dear to this artist’s heart.
UNTIL OCTOBER 5th TATE LIVERPOOL ALBERT DOCK LIVERPOOL, UK WWW.TATE.ORG.UK
[email protected]
AMERICAN MODERN: Hopper to O’Keeffe
Starting August 17th, American Modern goes onstage at New York’s MoMA. This show explores American art from 1915 to 1950 and takes a critical look at the fast changes which occurred in U.S. society during the first half of the twentieth century. The show achieves this aim by using some of the museum’s most important masterpieces – paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs – of artists such as: George Bellows, Stuart Davis, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, Charles Sheeler, Alfred Stieglitz, Andrew Wyeth and many more. UNTIL JANUARY 27th 2014 MOMA 11 W 53RD ST NY (USA) WWW.MOMA.ORG
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WorldMags.net SHOPPING OUR TIPS FOR THIS NUMBER’S SHOPPING ARE PARTICULARLY AMUSING: THERE ARE SOME PRECIOUS GEMS TO WEAR LIKE HAND PAINTED SILK SCARVES, HOME FURNISHINGS WHICH WILL MAKE YOU SMILE LIKE BIBIB’S STUFFED ANIMAL HUNTING TROPHIES, IPHONE COVERS DECORATED BY THE BLACK 13 TATTOO PARLOR AND MINE’S TATTOOED TEDDY BEARS. YOU’LL ALSO DISCOVER NIGHTMARISH T-SHIRTS PAINTED BY ALDORA AND JOEY, THE LOST APOSTLE’S ROCK AND ROLL JEWELRY, TIM SHUMATE’S SOFT PILLOWS SPORTING PIN-UPS AND, FINALLY, THINKGEEK.COM - A MUST-SEE WEBSITE FOR TRUE NERDS. LOVERS OF TATTOOS, FASHION AND ONLINE SHOPPING…HAVE FUN!
Of all the smartphone covers that exist on the market, there had to be some depicting tattoo subjects and designs: that’s precisely what is proposed by Black 13 Brand, a brand of the Black 13 Tattoo Parlor. This studio has decided to decorate its clients not only with tattoos, but also with original and unique t-shirts and gadgets. BLACK13BRAND.COM
Pin-ups on pillows Tim Shumate is a 29 year-old, Chicago-based artist who works in design and illustrations. His pillows have become a must-have for tattoo lovers…you just might sleep better if you lay your head on the delicious body of a fairytale heroine… in version pin-up!
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FACEBOOK: TIM SHUMATE ILLUSTRATIONS WWW.ARTOFWHERE.COM
(&* Aldora and Joey have transformed their hobby into a career and since 2008 they’ve been selling their hand-painted t-shirts online. In Japanese, ‘Akumu’ means nightmare: this brand and all of its creations are inspired by Japanese horror films and all the fun pop icons which come from Japan. Other influences include fairytales like Alice in Wonderland, and Tim Burton films like Edward Scissorhands. They’ll ship anywhere!
Extreme Nerd Lifestyle The Batman or Star Wars bathrobes, the USB keys shaped like Superman or Wonder Woman, the lens-shaped cup and the backpack decorated like a Nintendo joystick...fans of cinema, games and TV series will find everything they’ve always dreamed of on: thinkgeek.com THINKGEEK.COM
WWW.AKUMUINK.COM
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WorldMags.net SHOPPING
Teddy-bear for adults
Sugar skulls, Maneki-neko, sparrows and roses in traditional style, as well as other subjects, are hand painted onto lovely silk scarves and headscarves by an American artist who skillfully and whimsically paints memories of her trips onto precious accessories to wear. For those who don’t give up on their passions and want to wear them with style. WWW.DREAMLUXE.COM
Teddy bears are an all-time favorite toy, loved and cuddled by children all over the world, and collector items for adults. Teddy bears meet tattoos for the first time – thanks to this Italian project. The Mine bears are unique pieces made from cotton, eco-friendly leather and viscose, stuffed with cotton and carefully hand stitched and painted with acrylics and watercolors. Each piece is handmade and recalls the iconographic history of modern body art, starting with the 50s and moving through to today. Each owner can decide how to decorate their Teddy: you choose the color, material, tattoo and piercing you want, or you can choose from their one-of-a-kind pieces. WWW.MI-NE.IT
Hunting trophies...stuffed-animal style
If you’re looking for unique, original, handmade objects, don’t let the Lost Apostle’s bronze jewelry get away! For him and for her, for the young and the less young, for tattoo fans and rock and roll lovers: check out this collection offering earrings, pendants, bracelets and rings which can be personalized. Everything is designed and created by James and Nadya. Bibib’s idea is simply fantastic! If you prefer animals alive rather than dead, but you still want a trophy to display in your home, then here’s the solution for you: topquality stuffed animals resembling deer, rhinoceroses, tigers and mouflon sheep to decorate the walls of your home and make you smile every time you pass by them. WWW.BIBIB.NL
WWW.LOSTAPOSTLE.ETSY.COM
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MUSIC
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FROM COAST TO COAST IN THE USA, IN AUSTRALIA AND JAPAN AS WELL AS THROUGHOUT LATIN AMERICA AND EUROPE, FOSTER THE PEOPLE HAS TAKEN THE WORLD BY STORM IN A VERY SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME. YOU MIGHT RECOGNIZE THEM BY THEIR INSANELY POPULAR SONG, “PUMPED UP KICKS” AND BY THE CRAZY LOOK IN FRONT-MAN MARK FOSTER’S EYES, BUT THERE’S SO MUCH MORE TO COME, AS DRUMMER MARK PONTIUS TELLS US. MARK’S INTEREST IN LYRIC AND SYMBOLISM ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN WHAT HE’S CHOSEN AS BODY ART, AND ALTHOUGH HE DIDN’T SHARE THE MEANING BEHIND THE AMBIGUOUS “FREE MAGO” TATTOO ON HIS ARM, HE DID TELL US ABOUT HIS DEEP RESPECT FOR JAMES BROWN AND HIS GRANDMOTHER. SO STAY TUNED TO THIS ELECTRONIC-INFUSED DANCE ROCK, AND CHECK THEM OUT THE NEXT TIME THEY HIT YOUR CITY. INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS BY: SUSANA VICTORIA, VESTIGE PHOTOGRAPHY PRESS PHOTO E ALBUM ART BY: SONY RECORDS ASSISTANT: KAHLEY KEEFER
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HANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING WITH US TODAY, MARK. CAN YOU TELL US WHAT HAS INFLUENCED YOU IN CHOOSING YOUR TATTOOS? For me, tattoos are a reflection of yourself, your style, and what you like. It’s that freedom of self-expression that I like. All my tattoos are pretty random, and they don’t really have anything to do with music. I only planned one of my tattoos, and the rest I had done on a whim at tattoo parties thrown once or twice a month by my good friend’s brother. A lot of my tattoos are text; I love them to look like stamps. But the most meaningful one is on my ribs - it’s an apple with ears. I used to call my grandma ‘Granny Smith’ (her last name was Smith), like the apple variety. As a kid I remember asking her to wiggle her ears, and since one’s ears never stop growing, she 14
had huge ears. I was shocked by the way she wiggled them, and asked her to teach me how to do it. She said that I had to eat Granny Smith apples, and that if I ate enough of them I would eventually be able to wiggle my ears too! That memory is so vivid in my mind. She was a pretty heroic woman in our family, so getting that tattoo was a special tribute to her.
HAVE YOU EVER RUN INTO PEOPLE WHO HAVE ‘FOSTER THE PEOPLE’ TATTOOS? It’s pretty awesome, because it happens quite often. Usually I’ll see either a lyric or artwork. Our artwork is kind of tattooesque, and as tattoos they turn out pretty cool. I’ve liked a lot of them, even though it’s a little weird when someone comes up to me and says, “check out my tattoo!”
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But jokes aside…South America’s hunger for new music was so evident. The energy was so strong there. We were down there for a month touring… Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. We had fun during every show there.
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT SO FAR? Personally, being on Saturday Night Live has been the best achievement so far. It seems kind of small in the grand scheme of everything else that has happened to our band, but it’s not music-based, like the Grammy Awards. It’s a great mix of comedy, acting, and all that. Just being amongst people who aren’t in your industry and being accepted by them was amazing. We only rehearsed for one day and then the day after we did the show, but during those two days we got to know everyone, and they accepted us into their family. We had Kenny G as our guest. We had called him up a month before to set it up, but a Kenny G revival was something we’d been talking about for a year and had mentioned during interviews. But then Katy Perry stole the idea from us.
WHO DO YOU LOOK UP TO THE MOST, MUSICALLY SPEAKING? James Brown. Just the way he controlled the music and his band, along with the energy and the vibe of performing live - no one’s ever done it that way. If any of his band members ever messed up, James Brown would turn around and point at him during the show, and afterwards that person would have to pay a fine. His band was always so in line, because nobody wanted to pay a fine! Just running that tight of a ship is an awesome thing; he made some amazing music because of that.
YOU WERE IN A KIND OF SOUL BAND BEFORE FOSTER THE PEOPLE, RIGHT? I was in a hip hop band that was kind of soulful, with some funk elements. A lot of my favorite drummers, such as James Gadson, and the old funk drummers, have really influenced me.
and I think, “wow, that’s our band!” It’s an amazing feeling.
WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT IN THE STUDIO OR ON TOUR? I surf a lot, and shape boards. We’ve linked up with a great place down in San Diego named Shaper Studios. We’ve been focusing a lot on making our own boards and getting into the craftsmanship of it. During my time off from work, I read a lot. I just got two dogs, so I’ve been reading a book by Cesar Milan on how to train your own dog.
IN TERMS OF MUSIC, WHAT DIRECTION WILL YOUR NEXT ALBUM TAKE? We’re not quite sure; we’re still fleshing out some ideas. We want to take a new direction, while maintaining some similarities with the old record. We don’t want to make another “Pumped Up Kicks”; we’re always trying to push beyond boundaries with our music.
WHAT IS THE BEST SHOW YOU’VE EVER PLAYED? A bat mitzvah we played back in December. It was our first and, probably last, bat mitzvah.
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WorldMags.net NEWSOUNDS BY SIMONE SACCO
A.A.V.V.
BLACK SABBATH
‘The Amazing World Of Prog’ (Immaginifica/Aereostella)
‘13’ (Vertigo/ Universal)
Do you adore the one and only Progressive D’Antan? Then you’ve got to go out right now and get ‘The Amazing World Of Prog’, a truly interesting collection of recording gems which is perfect for fans of this timeless music, which first took hold in Europe and then went off to conquer the rest of the world. Divided into two CDs recorded live at the famous festival Prog Exhibition in Rome, this album offers a legendary and outstanding duo - ‘Bourèe’ - between PFM and Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson. And then there’s Steve Hackett (ex Genesis) who joins hands with New Goblin in its famous ‘Watcher of the Skyes’ and Balletto Di Bronzo, who is accompanied on this album by Richard Sinclair, the bass player and vocals for Caravan/ Camel. Mel Collins (past band member of King Crimson) offers an intriguing performance with his elegant sax in Arti & Mestieri style in the tune ‘Valzer per Domani’, while Martin Barre reinterprets ‘Aqualung’ with Biglietto Per L’Inferno.Folk. A grand total of 19 creatively joyous tunes. Tunes which manage to be joyous – also, and especially - in 2013.
The birth of this album has been complicated (in the true sense of the word) for the legendary Black Sabbath. Complicated due to a series of reasons that are well-known: producer Rick Rubin has been announcing it for over a decade, Ozzy had set it aside so that he could concentrate on his solo career (with amazing results), Bill Ward plays the part of the loudly missing member (even if Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine puts his soul into hammering those drums) and, last but not least, ‘13’ coincided with Tony Iommi’s serious illness, which slowed down its release even more. So are we ready to ring the death toll? No way. Rock always triumphs when it exists in the DNA of whoever is playing it. The Sabs prefer to inhabit their own dimension, so that the platter seems to have been produced in 1971, max, with everything from proto-metal, vicious blues and a few hints at the progressive to come. The tunes – just eight in the standard edition – roll out magnificently and ‘End of the Beginning’, ‘God is Dead’ (which comes close to nine minutes!), ‘Damaged Soul’ and the suffocating ‘Loner’ sound like pure magic. Ok, if this is the last work of the three from Birmingham then there could be no better ending. But it’s been pretty scary waiting to listen to it…
DOPE D.O.D.
KITTY IN A CASKET
‘Da Roach’ (3S/ Rough Trade)
‘Bittersweet’ (Better Than Hell Records)
Just where is contemporary hip hop headed? Well, that’s a million euro question given that, for some time now, YouTube and various social networks have been unleashing a wave of pseudo-creativity which absorbs everything - but not always with satisfying results. Maybe there’s a lack of real crews, along with ideas or a focus on a project… so that’s why we can do nothing but rejoice over the return of the Dutch Dope D.O.D. (friends of Korn and Limp Bizkit who often took them on tour) and their horror-rap made even more agonizing in this, their second work, entitled ‘Da Roach’. The cover is fantastic, the group is proudly and closely knit (while the type of music has nothing to do with it, they seem a little like Cypress Hill of the third millennium in terms of their mentality), and the album’s length is substantial (it’s a double album with 18 tracks), representing a top-quality study in foundations and flow. And then there are a couple of splendid feature guests (Kool Keith in ‘Brainworms’ and new-guy-on-the-block Redman in the explosive ‘Groove’) which show us that tonight, rap and rhymes can easily go to bed together…to dream of post-atomic nightmares and a buzz that will break the speakers…
The “kitty” has grown up. That’s the first impression you get when you listen to the third album of Kitty in a Casket, an explosive psychobilly group originally from Austria, who is ready to hit the States soon. The band (guided by the original team of vocalist Kitty Casket, guitarist Billy Batt and drummer Mike Machine) has put out its third album and, thanks to a mix of iron, has produced a work which is strong because of its variety. Bass player Tom Mooner (who joined the group just one year ago, but has the experience of a veteran) certainly pushes the limit and makes fans of this style happy, but the songwriting has become stronger (‘In Blood We Trust’), more varied (the nighttime atmosphere which envelopes ‘Kreepsville’), suavely native (what a great idea to sing two tracks in German - ‘Die Geister Die Ich Rief’ and ‘Bis Der Worhang Fallt’) and even funny (‘The Cheesy Song’ could have been on any Californian emo-punk album at the end of the 90s). In short, this album is mature. With a maturity whose nails are still wellsharpened so that they can scratch at the right moment!
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WorldMags.net WHO'S WHO TATTOOIST AND PAINTER WITH A CHICANO HERITAGE, AND A SIGNIFICANT BACKGROUND IN GRAFFITI, ADRIAN DOMINIC HAS CHARACTERIZED HIS LIFE WITH AN ALL-PERVASIVE APPROACH TO ARTISTIC RESEARCH. HIS EVOLUTION DOESN’T SIMPLY HAVE TO DO WITH EXPERIMENTATION AND IMPROVING HIS TECHNIQUE, BUT INVOLVES A COMPELLING AND SPIRITUAL PATH…AND THE IMAGES HE CREATES REVEAL THE INDELIBLE TRACKS OF THIS PATH. WE INTERVIEWED HIM ABOUT HIS PROJECT - APOKALUPSIS – A SERIES OF PAINTINGS INSPIRED BY A BOOK FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT, AND WE DISCOVERED THAT DOMINIC HAS A TRULY CHARISMATIC PERSONALITY AND VERY UNIQUE TALENT.
-<2*796272, www.adriandominic.com
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HEN DID YOUR ARTISTIC CAREER BEGIN? I was 15, and a few years after I started making graffiti I started to do so seriously. I was very blue collar about my approach to graffiti, and me and my crew were very disciplined and behaved like our graffiti was work that needed to be done. This attitude helped us maintain a standard in what we were doing as writers. Of course, I wasn’t getting paid to do it, but that work ethic had been established before I even began art commercially. COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR PROJECT APOKALUPSIS - A CONTEMPORARY VIEW FROM THE REVELATION OF JOHN THE DIVINE, WHICH WAS RECENTLY PRESENTED AT THE SACRED GALLERY OF NEW YORK, AMONG OTHERS? “Apokalupsis” is a series of paintings. I just finished illustrating a few characters from the Book of Revelation at the end of the New Testament. It describes the revelation John had when he was exiled to the island of Patmos by the emperor, because he had followed Christ. While there, he was inspired to write a coded message in the form of a very elaborate and engaging story with a cast of many characters. I chose some of these characters. The choices I made about perspective and the placement of characters in the composition were made because I wanted viewers to relate to them in an immediate way. I tried to make it so that the frame and the wall were the only things that separated viewers from another reality. It’s been by far not only the most ambitious project story-wise that I’ve ever done, but also the first time I’ve ever achieved a series of such large paintings. I did this so that the paintings would have a presence that is foreboding and a reverence that cannot be ignored.
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WHAT ARE YOU AIMING FOR IN YOUR INTERPRETATION OF RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS WHICH ARE SO DEEPLY ENTRENCHED IN OUR COLLECTIVE IMAGINATION? What I’m aiming for is very complex, but very simple at its core, I suppose. I want to inspire positive interactions. I want to inspire love. I want to bring glory to God. It’s kind of always been this way, but I’ve always been much more cryptic about it in my art. In this series I was more direct in referencing actual biblical text, and tried to stay faithful to those descriptions. I put a lot of faith into the idea that these particular images, the ones I was about to work on for nearly 2 years, were somehow more potent than anything I could make on my own. I always prayed before painting, and sometimes prayed while I worked. I don’t feel I was worthy enough to try and illustrate what I consider to be the strongest symbolic characters or scenarios in this book. And even with the choices I did make, I was only mildly satisfied with the results. I think I could do much better. But I also think that, regardless of the technical flaws, people were able to relate to the characters because, somehow, they’d seen them before.
WHAT KIND OF REFLECTIONS LED YOU TO UNDERTAKE THIS KIND OF ANALYSIS AND HOW DID YOU CARRY OUT YOUR RESEARCH ON THESE SACRED TOPICS? There are many reflections that I have, regarding my faith and my behavior. My closest friends know how important my spiritual “journey” is to me. It has an impact on almost all of my actions. I want to be the best person that I can, and I reflect on past mistakes, some of which I’ve repeated many times. I often thought of quitting while I was doing this series because I was painting with a method I wasn’t familiar with. I couldn’t handle it on my own. A lot happened during that time. I was dealing with a ton of family issues, health concerns, financial strife, the end of a long-term relationship, and I even had to move to another state two weeks before my show in New York. I saw these situations as tests, hurdles, and challenges which gave me the chance to prove how much I wanted to create these images. Faith is a big deal to me. So I prayed a lot, asking for the strength and wisdom to get this work done. I read the Bible and studied a ton of old master works. I looked at how some of the characters had been illustrated before, and what symbols were supposed to be where. I thought that
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staying faithful to the biblical interpretations of the images would be a testament, even just to myself, of the reverence I have for the idea and mystery of faith. And while a lot got in my way, the winds still pushed me to complete these images. It has been quite a ride. WHAT RELATIONSHIP DO YOU HAVE WITH RELIGION AND WITH SACRED ICONOGRAPHY? I am Christian, in the rawest form of the word. I subscribe to the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. I’ve always had the faith, but my faith has interfered with my relationship with the church. I stopped going when I was 12. Recently I returned, with new perspectives, and I don’t intend to let my negative emotions towards certain acts of man ever interfere with my choice again. I don’t go to church every Sunday, sometimes I don’t go for a while. But the word of God itself has always played a role in my life, especially in my art. I paint dark images, but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t images of reverence and spiritual perseverance. In fact, I feel peaceful when I make them. HOW MUCH HAVE YOUR CHICANO ORIGINS INFLUENCED YOU? 19
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I didn’t think my Chicano heritage played a major role in my early life, especially after I got into high school, other than dealing with racism in Phoenix. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized just how much of a role it actually did play. Not only had all of the heavy Catholic iconography influenced my aesthetics, but also my behavior. I’m not a great man, but I was taught to try and be a decent man. AND YOUR GRAFFITI-ART BACKGROUND? Graffiti saved and changed my life. When you risk everything to make art that’s illegal, it rewires your brain. Graffiti is a lifestyle; the paint on the wall is a byproduct of that lifestyle. This mentality still plays a huge role in my life today, reminding me that there’s always a better way to do things. It’s affected how I draw, sculpt, tattoo, and paint. Graffiti was my art school. I owe a lot to my crews, these guys were on the frontline during the onslaught of aerosol artwork which I was blessed to take part in. WHICH PERIOD IN ART HISTORY AND WHICH ARTISTS INSPIRE YOU THE MOST? 20
I take something from all periods. My tastes are inspired by classical paintings and wood etchings right now. Not too long ago it was abstract, surrealism, special effects creatures... it seems that whatever I give the most attention to eventually changes. As far as influences, I could go on and on, but the ones that immediately come to mind are Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Ferdinand Bol, Peter Paul Rubens, John Singer Sargent, Odd Nerdrum, Jan Van Eyck, Adrian Van der Vert, Jean Leon Gerome...More modern artists include Zdzislaw Beksinski, De Es Shwertberger, Chet Zar, Nick Baxter, Shawn Barber, The Quay Brothers, Steve Wang, Jordu Schell... I could keep going, but as you can see, I jump all over the place. WHERE DID YOU LEARN THE TECHNIQUE FOR DRAWING AND PAINTING? Studying, applying, studying, applying, studying, applying. There is absolutely no substitute for hard work. YOU BEGAN TO TATTOO IN 1999...HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?
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I studied at a shop that’s no longer around, in Glendale (Arizona), from a man I’ll just refer to as Don G. (I’m not sure if he still tattoos, but last I heard, he’s back at it. I hope so). I was schooled about basic traditional tattooing by Jay Zuccala and learned about more rendered stuff by a guy named Jason Foglesong. After a few other shops, none of which are no longer around, I ended up at Phoenix Tattoo Company in 2004, I believe. This is where I really got my start; before then it was just trial and error. Eric, Marko, and Tony were all artists who were hungry to learn, and they made a really potent learning environment for another young and hungry artist. HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH TATTOO ART INFLUENCED YOUR PAINTING, AND VICE-VERSA? I have yet to figure out what part of my painting techniques should be used for my tattooing, and which ones shouldn’t. I think the biggest influence my painting has on my tattoos is lighting. Anyone who’s familiar with my tattoo theories knows that for me, it’s all about the lighting. It has to stay consistent, or
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the illusion of dimension is lost. Other than that, I try to make a tattoo be just that: a tattoo. I think that a tattoo shouldn’t be a painting on the skin. Tattooing has fundamental rules that need to be respected. As an artist wiser than me once said: “you wouldn’t try to build a house without a foundation and frame”. WHERE ARE YOU CURRENTLY LIVING AND WORKING? Why, do you have a place where I can crash? (laughter) I was in Los Angeles, but I’m currently nomadic, and keeping an eye open for the next place that will inspire and feed my need to be creative and inspire. I might be in your town soon, who knows... WHAT PROJECTS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE FUTURE? WHAT ARE YOU FOCUSING ON THE MOST? I have an idea for my next series, where the images are like anatomical charts illustrating the dynamic nature of the human vehicle, and how that vehicle is a perfect and visceral tool for communication and interaction. I could go into it further, but I like surprises. For now, my main focus will be to become a better tattooer, as I study, learn, and apply what I feel is great tattooing. I hope that one day I’ll be able to bring something new to the table, just like many tattoo pioneers have done. Tattooing is the most important medium I’m working with right now. I take it very, very seriously, and even though I am very carefree, I most definitely try to put every bit of energy that I can into every tattoo I make. I just want to constantly improve. I want to look at the tattoos I’ve made and smile, knowing the client is happy. And if they were awesome enough to let me make a design of my own on them, then I’m very lucky. Tattooing is very rewarding when its traditions are respected. But this requires discipline. For me, that’s ok…it’s worth it.
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CONVENTION
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PHOTOS BY SUSANA VICTORIA VESTIGEPHOTOGRAPHY.COM ASSISTED BY VERA LYNN SINNER AND KADDIE O’ KEEFE TEXT BY SINNER, O’KEEFE AND VICTORIA
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CONVENTION “VIVA LAS VEGAS” IS A PHRASE THAT BRINGS MANY THINGS TO MIND - EXCITEMENT, VICE, NEW EXPERIENCES. APPROPRIATELY ENOUGH, EACH OF THE 16 VIVA LAS VEGAS ROCKABILLY WEEKEND EVENTS PROMISES JUST THAT. WHETHER ENTHUSIASTS ATTEND BECAUSE THEY LOVE ROCKABILLY CULTURE, CLASSIC CARS, PIN UP GIRLS, OR, MOST RECENTLY, TATTOOING, THIS EVENT PROMISES TO DELIVER. INDULGENCE IN DECADENT PERFORMANCES BY WORLDWIDE BURLESQUE DANCERS AND TIKI COCKTAILS ARE JUST A COUPLE OF REASONS WHY VIVA IS THE PLACE TO BE ON EASTER WEEKEND.
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om Ingram is the mastermind behind this event, and has promoted Rockabilly events for over 20 years in the US and UK. He started off as a Rockabilly DJ in London, and ran the top Rockabilly clubs of the city. His radio shows included BBC Radio One, and he also worked on a station that aired in 28 countries across Europe. Currently hailing from Long Beach, Ingram is continuing his career in acting and producing television shows and feature films. He is also a tattoo
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aficionado, as can be seen by his beautiful back piece done by Opie Ortiz. Viva Las Vegas takes place at the Orleans Hotel and Casino, and attendees were able to explore several areas that offered everything from collectables to dance lessons. Indoor vendor areas were bustling with eager buyers interested in apparel and accessories from the 1940s and 50s. Musical acts performed in six different venues inside of the casino, while poolside parties with live performances and swimsuit contests each day were an afternoon delight. Downloading the smart phone app for the weekend helped people with their scheduling, so if you wanted to
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go to an event or watch a band, it would be added to your calendar with a reminder so you wouldn’t miss out. Attendees included all the famous names in pin up, such as Sabina Kelley and Cherry Dollface. Tons of bands and DJs played all weekend, including the Rockats, Lee Dresser and the Krazy Kats, Dixie Leadfoot and The Chrome Struts, Nikki Hill, and the Moonlight Trio - just to name a few. There’s simply not enough space to mention all the talented folks who participated. Headliners at the car show were Dick Dale, the King of Surf Guitar, and Little Richard, the godfather of Rock n Roll, known for hits such as Tutti Frutti and Good Golly Miss Molly. The Bustout Burlesque show, with music by one of the most popular New Orleans jazz bands, the Sideshow MC Dr.Sic, livened up Friday evening with its hot atmosphere.
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This year Viva Las Vegas set up its first annual Sailor Jerry Tattoo Lounge hosted by Steadfast tattoo parlor. Located right by the bowling alley inside the casino, with less floor space than in most other conventions, the lounge was still bubbling with plenty of energy. And finally, equipped with VLV-themed flash, artists were busy tattooing visitors eager to commemorate the event. Hawaiian artists from Loyalty Tattoo, Bruno Corso, Chronic Gypsy Tattoo, Goodfellas, Alla Prima, Kong, Mike Fite, and Breksa from Alchemy Tattoo were just some of the tattooists who have participated since Viva’s first tattoo show, which means this will certainly not be the last. Make your appointment sooner than later for VLV 2014!
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Opie Ortiz, Seal Beach, USA
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Atomic Tattoo Ink colours are made using cutting edge formulas, perhaps the most advanced in the world of Professional Tattooing. $QH[SORVLRQRIFRORXUVZLWKRYHUVKDGHV(DVLO\PL[DEOHWRJLYH\RXDQLQ¿QLWHUDQJHRIFRORXUVKDGHV&RORXUVWKDWDUHEULJKW DQGYLYLGRQWKHVNLQ,QNVIRUJUHDWUHVXOWVZLWKXQLTXHIHDWXUHVÀXLGEULJKWDQGTXLFNWRXVHEXWRIIHULQJPD[LPXPFRORXUGHQVLW\ Atomic Tattoo Ink don’t lose brightness and saturation on healing. How is this possible? We’ll let you in on a secret: they cause less bleeding! Less bleeding means less “dilution” of the pigment beneath the skin. It means the colour “takes” better during tattooing because it isn’t blocked by the blood coming out. Less blood also means less scabbing, faster healing times... it all adds up to brighter colours! ([FHOOHQWUHVXOWVEXWZLWKRQHIXQGDPHQWDOSRLQWVDIHW\2XULQNVFRPHZLWKDOOWKHFHUWL¿FDWLRQVUHTXLUHGE\ODZSRLQW06'6 GDWDVKHHWDQG&HUWL¿FDWHRI$QDO\VLVIRUHDFKFRORXUDQGHYHU\VLQJOHORW$WRPLF7DWWRR,QNDUHFRPSOLDQWZLWKVWULFW(XURSHDQ ResAP(2008)1 standards. In fact they contain no carcinogenic PAH aromatic amines (Policyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons). Heavy metals are below legal limits. All inks are sterilized in order to ensure microbiological safety. &RORXUVIRUSURIHVVLRQDOXVH
www.atomictattooink.com |
[email protected]
RESELLER WELCOME! WorldMags.net
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r e v e f k In bad girl & titude? at love! Oh SHE LOVES THE TANK GIRL COMICS - A TRUE FEMINISMPUNK ICON FROM THE 90s - AND THIS ALONE IS ENOUGH TO MAKE US HER FANS. THEN SHE’S GOT VERY SPECIAL TASTE FOR EVERYTHING REGARDING TATTOOS (STARTING WITH THOMAS HOOPER) AND LISTENS TO EXCELLENT MUSIC ALONG THE LINES OF BARONESS, WITCH AND MOTORPSYCHO. LET’S FACE IT, HATTIE WATSON HAS GOT LOADS OF PERSONALITY AND HAS FLAUNTED HER HEAVILY TATTOOED SKIN IN GREEN DAY VIDEOS AND ON THE PAGES OF TATTOO LIFE…WHAT A KNOCKOUT!
TEXT BY SIMONE SACCO PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN SAINT
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O, LET’S START WITH BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT YOU AND TATTOO ART IN GENERAL... Well, I got into tattoo culture when I was in my early 20’s, and I haven’t stopped since. If you ask me what my favorite styles are, I think I’d say that I prefer more traditional pieces right now, but I also love dear, old Japanese and stipple work like what Thomas Hooper creates.
I THINK YOUR MOST INTERESTING TATTOOS ARE THE HEART, WHICH IS ON THE UPPER AREA OF YOUR CHEST, ALONG WITH ITS COUNTERPART, THE COFFIN (!!!) WHICH IS ENTANGLED IN SPIDER WEBS, AND THE CANDLE WHICH
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r e l v r i e f g?
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IS SLOWLY MELTING ON THE LOWER PART OF YOUR TUMMY. I WAS WONDERING IF THESE HAVE ANY SPECIAL MEANINGS… There are no real meanings. I was obsessed with Halloween for a while and still love it, but I’ve just grown into a different kind of person now.
LET’S TALK A MINUTE ABOUT WHO YOU USED TO BE. ARE THE DOLL, CUPCAKES AND LOLLYPOP WHICH YOU HAD TATTOOED ON YOUR LEFT LEG PERHAPS A TRIBUTE TO YOUR CHILDHOOD? I suppose a little bit, yes. To be honest, I’d wanted a sweets arm for years, but I think it just spun out of control and it is what it is, now… (smiles) ON THE SAME ARM YOU HAVE
r e v l e r f i g k I&aOnthbtiatlouddve!?
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A FUNNY ASTRONAUT, COMPLETE WITH A LASER GUN… It’s actually a fictional subject that was created by CandyKiller aka Brian Taylor (you can find other examples here: www. candykiller.com, Ed). I really love his work and thought that little guy was cute.
LET’S KEEP TALKING ABOUT FANTASY CHARACTERS: WHAT ABOUT THAT TANK GIRL TATTOO ON THE UPPER PART OF YOUR LEFT ARM? IS IT A KIND OF ICON FOR YOU? Yeah, she’s always been a favorite comic book character of mine and a huge inspiration because she’s such a badass woman. That’s why I chose this tattoo – who else, but her?
AND YOUR SKIN’S TRIBUTE TO THE TANK GIRL WORLD CONTINUES JUST A FEW CENTIMETERS AWAY… Yes, just below the Tank Girl portrait there’s a Tank Girl tank taken straight out of one of her latest adventures.
WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TATTOOED ON YOUR FEET? There are two dead sparrows. Actually, I would love to get them faded so I can get something else...
ARE THERE ANY OTHER INK PROJECTS IN STORE FOR THE FUTURE? Well, I would like working some more on my left arm and then my right leg, but I don’t have any new ideas for tattoo subjects yet.
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I&aOntbhtiatloudve!
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WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE TATTOO ARTISTS? YOU MENTIONED THOMAS HOOPER BEFORE… Hooper for sure, but I have to mention Darcy Nutt, Emily Rose Murray and Kris Roberts, too!
I KNOW THAT YOU PARTICIPATED IN THE SHOOTING OF GREEN DAY’S LATEST VIDEO CLIP CALLED ‘OH LOVE’... HOW DID THAT GO? It was interesting, but it wasn’t what I expected. Green Day are cool, but right now my favorite musicians are Magnolia Electric Co. (whose leader, Jason Molina, tragically passed away last March. R.I.P., Ed), Motorpsycho, Baroness, Witch, and… Neil Young!
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TATTOO ARTIST
BY MIKI VIALETTO
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ROYAL TATTOO I L TVEDES VEJ 3 3000 HELSINGØR, DENMARK PH: 4920 – 2770
TATTOO ARTIST
WWW.ROYALTATTOO.COM
THIRTY YEARS OF HARD WORK IS NOT A FEAT THAT EVERYONE CAN PULL OFF. AND EVEN FEWER FOLKS ARE ABLE TO REACH THE LEVEL HENNING JØRGENSEN HAS. WITH UNDISPUTED ARTISTIC TALENT AND AN UNMISTAKABLE TECHNIQUE THANKS TO HIS CLEAR AND PRECISE STYLE, JØRGENSEN WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TATTOOISTS TO INTERPRET ORIENTAL STYLE IN A EUROPEAN WAY. HE BECAME A MODEL FOR AN ENTIRE GENERATION OF TATTOOISTS WHO VENTURED INTO THIS ART FORM IN THE 80S AND BEYOND AND CHOSE HIM AS THEIR BENCHMARK FOR REVISITING THE ORIENTAL STYLE. IN SEPTEMBER THERE WILL BE A CELEBRATION FOR ROYAL TATTOO’S THIRTIETH ANNIVERSARY, IN HELSINGØR, THE DANISH CITY WHICH HAS BECOME A KIND OF MECCA FOR TATTOOISTS HAILING FROM ALL OVER THE GLOBE.
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I HENNING, I HEARD THERE WILL BE A BIG PARTY IN YOUR HONOR COMING UP SOON... RIGHT? I am really fortunate because I’ve managed to keep my Royal Tattoo Studio open for 30 years, and so yes, on September 20th we will celebrate its thirtieth anniversary.
WOW, WHICH OF YOUR CLOSEST FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES WILL BE THERE? First off, all the artists who have worked 38
at Royal Tattoo - about 90-100 tattooists – will come; they’ve been invited to create a painting for this occasion. My idea is to organize a show where all their works can be exhibited and in this way go back in time over the past thirty years, with the help of photographs and paintings. Then I’d like to publish a catalogue with this collection of work. We expect about 500 people to come: a mix of friends, colleagues, family and clients. This is the third time that I’m celebrating the studio’s anniversary and I know that many friends from all over the world will be happy to come. That’s why I decided to do it on a date which is close to the London Tattoo Convention, so that anyone
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coming from very far away can participate in both events with just one trip. And I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that on the Thursday before the convention, the tenth anniversary celebration for Mo Coppoletta’s studio, Family Business, will be held in London. THEN SEPTEMBER WILL BE A VERY BUSY MONTH FOR TATTOO FANS EVERYWHERE! IT’S STRANGE TO SAY, BUT IN A WORLD WHERE THINGS ARE IN CONSTANT EVOLUTION, IT’S HARD TO FIND TATTOOISTS WHO WANT TO CHANGE THEIR JOB. I HAVE TO SAY THAT WITH THIRTY YEARS OF WORK UNDER YOUR BELT, YOU ARE A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THIS! Yeah, I admit that I’ve never wanted to do
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anything else, for me this job is the dream of a lifetime and if I had to choose all over again, there would be no doubts: tattooing, forever! It’s my life and my passion. I live tattooing, I love tattooing. Every day I think about how fortunate I’ve been to be able to do this work. Having said that, I must add that this is a very hard job that requires long hours, leaving little time for family and friends outside of the tattoo world. I can’t believe that 30 years have already gone by, I still feel like a kid who
wants to learn, discover something new, and I’m still very curious and want to do my best. I am still honored by the fact that clients trust me to work on their own skin. LET’S GO BACK THIRTY YEARS IN TIME. WHAT WERE YOU LIKE, AND WHERE DID YOU LIVE? Thirty years ago I was a guy working as an apprentice in Amsterdam’s red light district. I worked there for four years, and then I had the luck to work with dear old Ole Hansen
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at Nyhavn 17 in Copenhagen. Working with him was like starting from scratch - he was a strict teacher and I learned a lot. After that, in order to be respectful of the tattoo shops that already existed in Copenhagen, we chose Helsingor to open our new studio, because it was far enough away from the others…in fact, we received their blessings. Helsingor is a small city very close to Sweden, and at the time we opened it wasn’t easy to find a tattoo shop there. So my 39
WorldMags.net hope was to gain a lot of Swedish clients, and that’s what actually happened. I was working so hard and wanted to do it in a way that was different from how tattooing was done at that time. Mike Malone had told me about how Ed Hardy worked, doing custom tattoos and preparing personalized work for his clients. Before that, clients would pick one of the designs they’d find attached to the tattoo shop’s walls. So I started to do custom tattoos as well, because I’ve always been very ambitious and I’ve always wanted to give it my all, and I still think like this today. I know I can always improve and learn something new. WHAT STEPS WERE THE MOST IMPORTANT ONES ALONG YOUR PATH AS A TATTOO ARTIST? My undying passion for art, travelling throughout the world – which helped me discover so many interesting things – and all the people I’ve met and with whom I’ve worked. My curiosity, the fact that I am surrounded by so many talented artists, and my consistency in trying to improve myself… I believe that all of these things put together have been significant steps along my artistic path. It’s difficult to say what I’ve actually achieved over all these years, without seeming vain; however, I am very proud of the fact that I was able to keep my shop going for all these years, offering top quality work – now more than ever. Clients from all over the world come to get tattooed; this was the dream I had when I decided to open in Helsingor, 30 years ago. I’ve made so many friends in the tattoo world and for me this is the most important thing. Long-lasting friendships are the greatest benefit I’ve received over all these years. TODAY, WHAT HAVE YOU ACCOMPLISHED, AND HOW HAVE YOU CHANGED? Have I changed? I don’t know…I feel like I’m still myself! I still have the same passion for tattooing and for my friends, I would still like to grow as an artist, I always want to do my best, I still like talking with my clients, travelling, meeting people, so...I don’t think I’ve changed at a personal level. But I do hope I’ve changed professionally. WHAT SUBJECTS DO YOU LOVE THE MOST? I love all the oriental tattoo subjects, but my favorite image is the dragon, because it’s powerful and magical; its shape is a unique one for tattoos, it adapts well to the body, perfectly. The dragon is also a universal subject, and when it is mixed with elements like water and wind, it becomes very dynamic. 40
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WHICH JAPANESE LEGEND OR MYTH DO YOU PREFER? There are so many interesting ones! It’s difficult to say…Taira no Tomomori is still one of my favorites: a general chained himself to an anchor and threw himself into the ocean, and then was followed by all of his men, who died with him. It’s said that their spirits then hunted down their enemies. In that region of Japan, crabs have marks on their shells which look like human faces. The legend says that those marks are the spirits of the defeated general and his men. I also like the myth of Shoki, the demon tamer; it makes for a great story and gives lots of possibilities for creating a beautiful image. IS IT TRUE THAT YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN A TRAVELER? WHERE DO YOU LOVE TO VISIT? Yes, it’s very true, I travel all the time, I like to go anywhere, and it’s always exciting to visit new places. It energizes me to talk to people and try living the way they do, wherever I go. I love New York and California. For private vacations with my family, the prize goes to Sardinia, Italy’s lovely island. It’s one of the places that I’d consider for my retirement, when the time comes…
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DO YOU THINK THAT HAVING YOUR OWN STUDIO HAS GIVEN YOU A SAFE HAVEN, OR HAS IT EVER LIMITED YOU IN SOME WAY FROM CHOOSING CERTAIN PROJECTS THAT WERE APPEALING? Having my own studio obviously has limited me in choosing other projects. Once you’ve decided to open a studio, you have to take care of it and you can’t leave it to anyone else, it’s your responsibility and yours alone, and you should never expect that other people can take care of it with the same enthusiasm as your own. As I’ve already said and will say again, I am fortunate to have always had the best teams; this makes it possible for me to travel, because everyone is very responsible. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE HENNING WHO ISN’T A TATTOO ARTIST. WHAT ARE YOUR DEEPEST PASSIONS AND YOUR LATEST CURIOSITIES? Last year I started to go horseback riding with my daughters. Last year we went horseback riding in Sardinia for 5 days; we were immersed in such wonderful and wild nature, riding on beautiful horses. This experience helped bring out my cowboy spirit – fantastic! I’ve always tried to stay fit, and last year I really became serious about serious exercise. It’s like a drug, it makes me happy. Outside of the tattoo scene, I enjoy life with good food, dear friends and I love being with my family. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED AS YOU’VE WORKED ALONGSIDE GREAT TATTOOISTS LIKE PAUL JEFFRIES, TREVOR MCSTAY AND MIKE RUBENDALL, AND HOW
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HAVE THOSE EXPERIENCES ENRICHED YOUR LIFE BOTH CULTURALLY AND ARTISTICALLY? At the end of the 80s, I began to work with Paul Jeffries and that was an incredible opportunity for me; Paul really opened my eyes, I owe him so much! It was a wonderful experience for me to see how he worked and how he created his fantastic body suits. My visits with Paul completely changed my way of managing my shop and the way I work. I met Trevor Mc Stay in the 80s. We were very similar and shared the same passions, and even though we lived on opposite sides of the world, we shared the same cause. We still stay close in touch and I consider him a great friend. Mike Rubendall came to my shop to do a guest spot when he was still very young. I followed his brilliant career and he became a dear friend and colleague of mine. Being around this young and passionate person gave me new energy and he was a great source of inspiration for the entire time he was here.
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WHO’S WORKING AT ROYAL TATTOO NOW? At the moment at Royal Tattoo I am honored by the presence of Danny Chan, Lobinho, Ron Koupal, Stef Bastian, and Theo Maurin as the permanent team, and regular guests like Beppe Shiro, Delia Vico, Emma Kierzek, Kai Sobierayski, Imma, Marco Serio, Mike Rubendall, and Stuart Archibal. There are many other tattooists who come at least once a year. We have been so lucky to have such important artists - who are also wonderful people - come to work with us. And this is why I want to do the show which will open for our thirtieth anniversary – to present all these people’s work.
IN CLOSING, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SHARE WITH US, BEFORE WE MEET AGAIN IN SEPTEMBER? I am very grateful for the support I’ve received throughout all these years. A few years ago I was going through a bad period and I was able to really feel the affection and presence of so many people who were there to help me. This really struck me, and I won’t ever forget it. And finally, to all my clients I would like to say: thank you, truly, for entrusting your skin to me.
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NOTHER YEAR HAS ROLLED BY AND ONCE AGAIN OVER 300 TATTOO ARTISTS – THE BEST IN THE WORLD - HAVE MADE A DATE TO GO TO THE BRIGHT, VICTORIAN TOBACCO DOCK IN LONDON. FOR TATTOO COLLECTORS, THE LONDON CONVENTION IS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE MISSED; IT’S THE NUMBER ONE EVENT IN EUROPE FOR TRUE FANS OF BODY ART. THE STAGE IS SET FOR A BUSY BUZZ OF TATTOOISTS HARD AT WORK AT CREATING SPLENDID TATTOOS IN ALL STYLES, ALONG WITH UNFORGETTABLE AND CAREFULLY HAND-PICKED PERFORMANCES, SHOWS AND CONTESTS. EVERYONE WANTS TO BE THERE. THIS IS THE ONLY PLACE WHERE YOU CAN MEET CURIOUS AND INTERESTING PEOPLE AT EVERY STEP, JOKE WITH WORLD-FAMOUS TATTOO ARTISTS, AND ADMIRE LOVELY WOMEN WHO SHOW OFF THEIR TALENTS IN DANCES AND ACROBATICS THAT WILL TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY: THERE’S JANET FISCHIETTO’S
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© Josefine Jonsson
WorldMags.net PREVIEW LONDON
BURLESQUE CIRCUS, THE INSPIRED STRIP-TEASE OF ALTERNATIVE MODEL CERVENA FOX WITH HER UNMISTAKABLE FLAMBOYANT HEAD OF HAIR, ELEGY ELLEM’S SEXY PERFORMANCES, A POLE DANCE SHOW COMPLETE WITH FIRE AND SWORDS OFFERED BY THE DARING FUEL GIRLS, AND FINALLY THE NERDY STRIPPER SHOW – THE NAME SAYS EVERYTHING! – WHERE NERDS GET THEIR SEXY REVENGE. YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO GET AN UP-CLOSE LOOK AT OUR 2014 CALENDAR GIRL, AND ASK FOR HER AUTOGRAPH AT OUR TATTOO LIFE STAND. FEMALE BEAUTY WILL ALSO BE CELEBRATED DURING THE PIN-UP CONTEST, WHICH WILL CROWN THE MISS PIN UP UK BEAUTY QUEEN DURING THESE THREE DAYS OF THE CONVENTION. BUT THE CONTEST WHICH IS MOST HIGHLY ANTICIPATED BY CONVENTION PARTICIPANTS, ORGANIZERS, AND TATTOO ARTISTS IS – WITHOUT A
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DOUBT – THE ONE THAT AWARDS THE BEST TATTOOS MADE DURING THE CONVENTION. THIS CONTEST, WHICH ENDS THE CONVENTION, TAKES PLACE AMIDST THE FLASH OF PHOTOGRAPHERS, WHILE TATTOO FANS SWEAT IT OUT UNDER THE REFLECTORS AS THEY DISPLAY ON THEIR SKIN THE FINEST WORK OF TATTOO ARTISTS PRESENT AT THE CONVENTION. DON’T MISS ANY OF THE 26 ROOMS AND SPECIAL AREAS DEDICATED TO ART SHOWS, WHERE YOU’LL DISCOVER FRANCO VESCOVI’S CROSSES, ALBUM COVERS WHICH HAVE GONE DOWN IN HISTORY AND ARE NOW REINTERPRETED BY TATTOOISTS IN THE SHOW BY ALL MEANS NECESSARY, AND THE APPEARANCE OF JONDIX, WHOSE CREATIONS REVEAL HIS EXPLORATION OF A DEEP SPIRITUALITY AND SOME ASPECTS OF BUDDHIST MYSTICISM. WELCOME BACK TO THE LONDON TATTOO CONVENTION - THE ONE AND ONLY...THE SHOW IS ABOUT TO BEGIN! 48
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FOR ALL YOUR TATTOO AND PIERCING SUPPLIES CONTACT: UK
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WorldMags.net CALENDAR GIRL
CERTAINLY THIS BREATHTAKING MODEL WILL KEEP YOU COMPANY DURING EVERY EXCITING MONTH OF 2014, BUT MORE THAN THAT, CLEO WATTENSTRÖM IS A VERY DEDICATED TATTOO ARTIST AT LIFESTYLE TATTOO IN STOCKHOLM. IN A NUTSHELL, THIS IS WHO THE HEAVILY TATTOOED CLEO REALLY IS: A DETERMINED WOMAN WHO HAS DILIGENTLY FOLLOWED OUR PREFERRED “CULTURE” EVER SINCE SHE WAS A TEENAGER. HER AMBER-BROWN SKIN DISPLAYS SUBJECTS THAT RANGE FROM FOO FIGHTERS TO THE BIG HORROR CLASSICS OF CINEMA’S GOLDEN AGE, ALONG WITH EXOTIC ANIMALS AND TWO SIMPLE LITTLE LETTERS WHICH SUMMARIZE HER OVERALL PHILOSOPHY: LT, OR “LIFESTYLE TATTOO”… TEXT BY SIMONE SACCO PHOTOS BY CHRISTIAN SAINT
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HE FIRST THING I’D LIKE TO FOCUS ON IS THAT, DESPITE YOUR LOVELY APPEARANCE, YOU ARE NOT A PROPER MODEL BUT A 100% PROFESSIONAL TATTOO ARTIST: AM I RIGHT? Yeah, you are absolutely right!
SO, HOW DID IT FEEL TO TRANSFORM YOURSELF INTO A TATTOO ENERGY “CALENDAR GIRL”? I’m not sure! (laughs) You know, I haven’t seen the calendar yet, but I like this big feeling of anticipation as I wait to see it… OK, LET’S CONCENTRATE ON MATTERS RELATED TO THE PAST: WHEN DID YOUR DEEP “RELATIONSHIP” WITH TATTOO ART OFFICIALLY BEGIN? I would say maybe around the age of 13-14, when I decided to pursue my passion for tattoo art. AND NOW YOUR BODY IS PROUDLY AND HEAVILY INKED WITH BLACK & GREY AND COLORED TATTOOS. TELL ME THE TRUTH: WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOURSELF IN THE
MIRROR, DO YOU SEE A KIND OF “LABOR OF LOVE” FOR THE TATTOO COMMUNITY? I’m not sure I see it in any specific way, because I never planned to be heavily tattooed, it just turned out that way! (smiles). If anything, I see it as a collection of memories from this lifetime. LIKE THE PORTRAIT DISPLAYED ON YOUR RIGHT HAND? Oh, that’s a true classic! It is Frankenstein’s Bride and it pairs with the Monster tattoo on my left hand. I KNOW THAT YOUR VERY FIRST TATTOO WAS A SENTENCE COMING FROM RASTAFARIAN CULTURE: ‘BABYLON GOING DOWN’. ARE YOU STILL INTO REGGAE MUSIC? It was just a phase in my life. I like reggae music, but not more than many other genres. YEAH, IN FACT YOU HAVE SOME LETTERING ALONG YOUR HIPS WHICH READ: “RUN AND TELL ALL OF THE ANGELS/ THIS COULD TAKE ALL NIGHT/ THINK I NEED A DEVIL TO HELP ME/ GET THINGS RIGHT”… Yeah, it’s a text pulled from a very cool Foo Fighters song! (It’s taken from a tune called Learn to Fly from Dave Grohl’s album entitled There Is Nothing Left To Lose which was released in ’99, Ed.)
WHEN YOU ARE TATTOOING SOMEBODY AT LIFESTYLE TATTOO, DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE SOUNDTRACK? It really depends on my mood, so I don’t have just one favorite track. LET’S CHANGE THE SUBJECT: WHO TATTOOED THAT BIG AND AMAZING BACK PIECE FEATURING AN ORIENTAL TIGER? Andreas Blanco, my talented colleague who also works at Lifestyle! DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER FAVORITE TATTOO ARTISTS BESIDES ANDREAS? Tattooing has become very popular during the last few years, so there are so many talented tattooists. I don’t have one favorite in general, but I follow Jeff Gogue and Shige’s work a lot. WHAT DOES THAT LITTLE TATTOO NEAR YOUR EYE MEAN? Those are the initials of the shop where I work, LT as in “Lifestyle Tattoo”. It’s the most exciting place to visit in Stockholm, of course! (laughs) OK, MY LAST QUESTION: DO YOU PLAN TO GET ANY MORE TATTOOS? Well, I still have some other empty spots on my body. I’m going to tattoo my feet for sure, but at the moment I’m working on…
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BOOK
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THIRTY YEARS AGO, IN THE FALL OF 1982 TO BE PRECISE, THE FIRST ISSUE OF THE LEGENDARY MAGAZINE TATTOOTIME WAS PUBLISHED, CAUSING UNEXPECTED WAVES IN THE TATTOO SCENE. THE SERIES OF FIVE ISSUES PUBLISHED BETWEEN 1982 AND 1991 HAS BEEN OUT OF PRINT FOR QUITE A WHILE NOW. BUT LAST YEAR DOUG HARDY, ED’S SON, KNEW INSTINCTIVELY THAT IT WOULD BE WORTHWHILE TO REPRINT THOSE FIVE MEMORABLE ISSUES.
Y D R A H D E DON
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o it was thanks to his inspiration that this twovolume book emerged, in which the first original editions of each issue – which by now are unobtainable - were reprinted without the changes and modifications that had been made to later editions. Don Ed Hardy has written the introduction to the book, and the table of contents was lovingly prepared, many years ago, by the gypsy tattooist Eric the Red. The first issue, New Tribalism, gave life to a brand new style which became a trend and inspired tattoo artists and tattoo fans the world over. After that, four more monographic issues were released which explored the most popular subjects in tattoo art: Tattoo Magic, issued in 1984, Music & Sea Tattoos (1985) Life & Death
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Tattoos (1987) and finally, Art from the Heart (1991). There are interviews, photographs, flash and illustrations, and numerous articles dedicated to the most recurring subjects, mysterious symbols, techniques and the history of tattoo art. The end result is a small and precious encyclopedia, a source of knowledge and deeper understanding for everyone. It also takes an enthusiastic look at tattoo art and represents an editorial product which – now as in the past – aims to spread a culture which deserves respect, as it reveals stories and contexts which have often been ignored. All of this thanks to Ed Hardy, of course, his wife Francesca Passalacqua, and contributions from the most important artists in the tattoo world who so generously offered to share their knowledge. Surprisingly topical, these five issues of Tattootime swing pleasantly from scholarship to pop, guiding readers through the facts and ideas of a world which is both ancient and modern at the same time.
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DON ED HARDY - TATTOOTIME 352 FULL COLOUR PAGES, HARDCOVER PUBLISHER:WorldMags.net HARDY MARKS PUBLICATIONS, (SAN FRANCISCO)
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CONVENTION
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Dave Shull, Damon Hacker & Leon Novicke, New Culture Tattoo Co, Denver, USA
Athena, Various Artists
Ray Michalski, Snake & Dagger, Flint, USA
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PHOTOS BY RICHARD TODD WorldMags.net CONVENTION
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PARTICIPATION WAS HIGH FOR A VARIETY OF TATTOO CONTESTS (SOME INTERESTING CONTESTS INCLUDED THE MOST UNUSUAL AND THE MOST PATRIOTIC, NEXT TO CLASSIC ONES LIKE THE BEST BLACK AND GREY, TRIBAL, TRADITIONAL, REALISTIC, COLOR, ETC…). AND WE WERE THERE, IN CHILLY DETROIT, TO CAPTURE THE BEST WORK DONE AT THIS CONVENTION AND TO SHOW YOU WHAT PEOPLE WERE DISPLAYING ON THEIR SKIN. THIS IMPORTANT AMERICAN DATE ALLOWS TATTOOISTS TO EXPOSE THEIR WORK TO A CLIENTELE OF TRUE TATTOO FANS. ENJOY THE PICS.
Beto Munoz, Rising Phoenix, Addison, USA
AST WINTER IT WAS PARTY-TIME AT THE HOTEL MARRIOTT – RENAISSANCE CENTER, IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT. THE 18TH BIRTHDAY OF DETROIT’S HISTORICAL CONVENTION WAS CELEBRATED AMIDST THE DRONE OF TATTOO MACHINES AND RIVERS OF INK. AND THIS ANNIVERSARY WASN’T TO BE MISSED BY THE BIG NAMES IN THE TATTOO WORLD! THOSE PRESENT INCLUDED: JACK RUDY, BOB TYRRELL, TONY CIAVARRO, BIG GUS, MIKE DEMASI, PAUL ACKER, NICK COLELLA AND ABOUT A HUNDRED OTHER AMERICAN ARTISTS WHO CHOSE DETROIT TO BETTER DISPLAY THEIR SKIN ART TALENTS.
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Nick Selley, Acid Works Tattoo, Mt Morris, USA
Johnny Quintana, Ink Shop Tattoo, Arcadia, USA Nick Baxter, Private Studio, Austin, USA
Steve Soto, Goodfellas, Orange, CA & Hand: Ryan Mullins, Art Junkies, Hesperia, USA
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Abey Alvarez, 3foot, Radius Tattoo, USA
Abey Alvarez, 3Foot Radius, Upland, USA
MadMax Beers, Raging Tiger, Kalamazoo, USA
Chris Bierlein, Screaming Needle, Allendale, USA
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B, InkShop, Arcadia, USA
WorldMags.net Vince Villalvazo, Mystic Owl Tattoo, Marietta, USA
Johnny Quintana, Ink Shop Tattoo, Arcadia, USA
Rember Orellana, Rebel Muse, Lewisville, USA
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TATTOO ARTIST
BY STEFANIA PEROSIN
DOMANTAS PARVAINIS FACEBOOK: DOMANTAS.PARVAINIS FACEBOOK: TOTEMAS TATTOO INSTAGRAM: DOMANTASPARVAINIS E-MAIL:
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O TELL US…WHO IS DOMANTAS PARVAINIS? I’m a 24-year old guy living in Šiauliai, Lithuania. I do the same stuff every day, just like everybody else. But recently, while I was doing the same old stuff, I got into tattooing and that’s why I’m doing this interview now. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU BEGIN YOUR ADVENTURE IN THE WORLD OF TATTOOS? I did my apprenticeship in 2010, under Tomas Gaupsas in Koping, Sweden. Our friendship started in quite the usual way, and I needed a place where I could develop my skills and gain some professional knowledge of tattooing. Before when I was living in Denmark, I was just collecting certain information from anywhere I could find it. After three or four months doing
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VERY YOUNG, FULL OF TALENT, GRATEFUL, HUMBLE AND YET AMBITIOUS AT THE SAME TIME. DOMANTAS LOVES DRAWING AND DISCOVERING THE HIDDEN DETAILS IN IMAGES, AND HAS A PASSION FOR SKATEBOARDING. BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST, HE’S AN EXCELLENT TATTOOIST, WITH PLENTY OF PROJECTS UP HIS SLEEVE. HE MAY NOT KNOW IT YET, BUT HE ALREADY STANDS OUT FROM THE CROWD. the apprenticeship in Sweden, I had to get back to my education (Multimedia Design and Communication), which was not successful. I didn’t feel like it was my thing. Then I got an invitation to try and work in a Danish tattoo shop, and that’s where everything started. MOST OF YOUR TATTOOS ARE IN REALISTIC STYLE. HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO GIVE AN ARTISTIC FEEL TO YOUR TATTOOS, SO THAT THEY ARE NOT JUST A COPY – EVEN A PERFECT COPY – OF REALITY? Well, that’s a tricky question, since it’s very hard to explain why or how I do one specific thing or another. It just happens. But if we’re talking about technique, then it’s all about patience and passion. The more time and passion a person gives to a certain piece, the more it becomes alive. In my opinion, technique is learnable; it just takes each person a different amount of time to achieve that state of mind where you believe you are able to pull off a design drawn on paper, or
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transform an object you took a picture of. But everybody has their own way of thinking and creating, so I think this one is impossible to explain. IN YOUR DRAWINGS, WHICH ALLOW YOU THE FREEDOM TO CREATE WHAT YOU LIKE, THERE APPEARS TO BE A CERTAIN PREFERENCE FOR DARK SUBJECTS AND COLORS, LINKED TO THE HORROR AND FANTASY WORLDS. WHERE DO YOU FIND THE INSPIRATION FOR YOUR WORK? Mainly from music (ambient, experimental, jazz, various classical), but also movies (mystery, drama, sci-fi), photography, and pretty much everything that captures my attention. I like subtly dark themes. THE PRECISION WITH WHICH YOU CREATE DETAILS (HAIR, ANIMAL FUR, FACIAL EXPRESSIONS) REVEALS YOUR EXCELLENT SKILL. WHAT HAVE YOU STUDIED AND HOW DO YOU TRAIN IN ORDER TO HAVE SUCH IMPECCABLE TECHNIQUE?
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WorldMags.net TATTOO ARTIST As far back as I can remember, my biggest problem and passion has been detailing, even before I had a basic foundation or knew how to create a basic composition…so that’s why I never finished my drawings. Things got better after I started attending Junior Art School at the age of 13. At that time I was amazed and completely blown away by landscapes and realistic pencil or charcoal drawings and oil paintings. I remember staying up late at night to redraw from old postcards, just because they had so many details in one place. Technique, as I said, is something an artist can master in a certain amount of time, but over time both technique and the artist change. Certain rules can be applied to all tattooists, but the rest is personal preference. Without good contrast, emotions and composition details have zero value, in terms of durability and aesthetics. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT YOU HAVE A PREFERENCE FOR BLACK AND GREY, ESPECIALLY IN YOUR PORTRAITS…OR AM I WRONG? Well, yeah. I feel like I don’t have enough knowledge to do color portraits well. And also there are many more people who ask for portraits in black and grey instead of color, and I prefer black and grey myself. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TACKLE ANOTHER STYLE? Of course, when the time is right I would love to start from scratch and try a completely different side of tattooing. It would change my point of view and help me think about tattooing at 180 degrees. I think the first thing I would love to try would be new traditional. I’m very inspired by the strength and simplicity of this genre. It’s very creative too. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO LIVE AND WORK IN YOUR CITY, ŠIAULIAI? It’s a relatively small town, with a population of about 100,000. It’s a nice, cozy and calm town, and for me it’s got everything I need; when I feel bored or get tired of it I travel somewhere else for a bit and come back refreshed. The studio I’m working in is called Totemas Tattoo, and there are six of us. We each have very different styles and preferences, and there’s plenty of space to express ourselves. WHAT IS YOUR CLIENTELE LIKE, AND WHAT ARE THEIR MOST FREQUENT REQUESTS? There’s a variety of people - in every possible way - and everyone is very nice and friendly. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my international clients for traveling far just to get something done by me! And thanks to all my clients, past and future, for letting me permanently express myself on their skin.
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WorldMags.net TATTOO ARTIST IN LITHUANIA, ARE THERE OTHER ARTISTS WITH WHOM YOU’RE IN TOUCH? IS THERE A NETWORK OF PEOPLE WHO MEET REGULARLY IN ORDER TO EXCHANGE IDEAS ON TATTOO ART? Yes, there are a lot of artists working under different styles. I don’t know all of them personally, but those I do know are very friendly and we share ideas and knowledge when we meet. Unfortunately, Lithuania still doesn’t host a major tattoo convention, because people are still in the process of understanding and appreciating tattoo art. Most people still think of a tattoo as a piece of jewelry, but of course it’s not just that. DO YOU OFTEN TRAVEL TO CONVENTIONS? I have only been to two or three for the moment. But now I’m trying to be more active and I plan to attend more conventions in the future. WHAT OTHER PASSIONS DO YOU HAVE, AND WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT TATTOOING?
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I love skateboarding, even though I don’t ride that much as before, because of work. I also love bicycling, and I try my best to keep my body in shape, because exercise refreshes my mind so well, and gives me the energy to concentrate all day. I don’t have many hobbies, but I think that a hobby shouldn’t be related to the work you do, so that you can keep your mind sharp and focused every day. WHAT PROFESSIONAL PROJECTS DO YOU HAVE FOR THE FUTURE? I really want to start learning how to do oil painting. There are also some plans to make a DVD. For the moment the idea hasn’t fully taken shape, but I’m working on it. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD BEFORE WE END THIS INTERVIEW? I would like to thank Tattoo Life magazine for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank my family for always believing in me, and of course all my colleagues from Totemas Tattoo and others for supporting me and for just being very nice people. And to InkMachine for all its support and all the Tattoo Life readers who will read this interview – a big thank you.
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THE 2013 EDITION OF THE NAPOLI TATTOO EXPO WENT ONSTAGE AT THE MOSTRA D’OLTREMARE IN ONE OF ITALY’S MOST POPULAR CITIES, A LITTLE BIT EARLIER COMPARED TO THE USUAL DATE IN MIDSUMMER. ORGANIZED BY THE ASSOCIAZIONE CULTURALE NAPOLINDELEBILE, IN COLLABORATION WITH FRIZ TATTOO AND MICROMUTAZIONI, THIS CONVENTION DEDICATED TO ARTISTIC EXPRESSIONS RELATED TO BODY ART AND BODY MODIFICATION CELEBRATED ITS TENTH ANNIVERSARY. TEXT BY: ANNA ROSSI PHOTOS BY: DEBORA MARCATI
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Paolo Old, Ghirigori Family, Oggiono, Italy
CONVENTION
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Antonio Proietti, Camden Town, Rome, Italy
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Andrea Pallocchini, Four X, San Felice Circeo, Italy
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Gianluca Fusco, Positive Vibrations, Aradeo, Italy
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s the convention organizers proudly declare, a lot of ink has passed under the bridge since the time it all began. Over the years the Napoli Tattoo Expo has established itself as a top international showcase for tattoo art in southern Italy, and once again it succeeded in bringing together tattoo art, music, figurative art and street art. This year’s fair saw the presence of over 200 international tattooists who, along with participants, admired – and contributed to creating – a very unique show. Besides tattooing, there were concerts, DJ sets, seminars, performances and contests. Speaking of contests, the big news this year was the prestigious 2013 International Competition Chaudesaigues Award which chose the Napoli event for its second edition. The contest jury
consisted of only the finest experts and tattoo artists: Shane O’Neill, Nikko Hurtado, Alex De Pase and Mike Devries. Joe Capobianco, an American artist who has been world-famous for twenty years now thanks to his iconographic pin-ups, was also in Italy for the first time. There were lots of tattooists from the Campania region who acted as hospitable and charming hosts as they moved deftly between making tattoos, offering seminars and putting on shows, including: Enzo Brandi, Costantino Sasso, Riccardo Cassese, Mojo, Roberto Lauro and Silvia Amantea. Other Italian tattooists answering the roll call were: Murran Billi, Vlady, P’Ink with his artistic and experimental creations, Marco Lari with his horror and Sabry Ink Lady with her highly requested funny style creations. Music fans had plenty to choose from during an event which makes music one of its top protagonists: there was lovely Tying Tiffany’s hypnotic electronic, Karim Qqru’s Italian rock’n’roll and the Napolitan band The Collettivo; the latter two are making interesting strides in the indie world. Unlike past conventions, this year the heat let up and allowed participants to fully enjoy all the collateral events, including shows, painting workshops and the “Bod Mod” seminar for professional piercers. The Naples convention always provides satisfaction in the food department, with an incredible amount of steamy and irresistible pizzas which Naples is famous for. The cheerful and generous nature of Naples folks always leaves a carefree and unmistakable mark on this highly popular event.
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Fabricio Mello, Casa de Leoes, Nantes, France
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BEST OF SHOW 1 RICCARDO CASSESE 2 JOE CAPOBIANCO COLOR TATTOO 1 ANDREA “ANTIKORPO” LANZI 2 LOVE TATTOO 3 MAX LABARBERA SMALL TATTOO 1 ANDREA “ANTIKORPO” LANZI 2 PABLO (Milano City Ink) 3 CARLO FORMISANO
Enzo Brandi, Enzo’s Tattoo, Naples, Italy
Joe Capobianco, Hope Gallery, New Haven, USA
TRIBAL 1 PIERLUIGI DELIPERI 2 COSTATTOO 3 CLAUDIO COMITE REALISTIC BLACK AND GREY 1 MATTEO PASQUALIN 2 RICCARDO CASSESE JAPANESE 1 VLADY (Positive Vibration) 2 FRANCO ROGGIA 3 FABIO GARGIULO (South Ink) TRADITIONAL 1 GOODFELLAS TATTOO 2 MARCO VARCHETTA 3 DONNA MAYLA
Mojo, Mojo Tattoo, Avellino, Italy
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TATTOO ARTIST “THE POLYNESIAN PEOPLE’S WAY OF THINKING IS IMBEDDED IN THESE MOTIFS THAT WE TATTOO OURSELVES WITH; WHETHER BY MACHINE OR TATAU (HANDTOOLED), THESE ARE THE TOOLS OF OUR TRADE AND AS TRADESMEN IT IS OUR GOAL TO BECOME MASTERS OF OUR TRADE AND CULTURAL INHERITANCE.” STRONG WORDS FROM A HIGHLY MOTIVATED AND TALENTED INDIVIDUAL, SI’I LIUFAU IS PART OF THE WORLDWIDE RESURGENCE OF MODERN POLYNESIAN TATTOOING. IT’S ALWAYS INTERESTING FOR ME TO LEARN ABOUT ANOTHER TATTOO STYLE, SO RICH AND COMPLEX IN CULTURE AND SIGNIFICANCE. I MET SI’I THROUGH THE POLYNESIAN EXPERT SULU’APE STEVE LOONEY AND HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO INTERVIEW HIM FOR TATTOO LIFE.
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AN YOU TELL ME ABOUT GROWING UP AND YOUR CULTURAL HERITAGE? I was born and raised here in Orange County. My dad came straight from the rock (Samoa) and my mom was a blonde, greeneyed, German girl from Minnesota. Around the time I was in 5th grade my parents divorced, and my siblings and I ended up living with my dad and his two sisters and a horde of cousins. It was an interesting household, as my dad and his sisters would speak to each other and to friends of theirs in Samoan, but to us they only spoke in English, and we could only speak English at home. This was somewhat ironic since every other aspect of our lives was experienced in a very Samoan way, or fa’asamoa: discipline, activities and food. THAT’S FUNNY, MY MOM SPOKE TO ME IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE BUT MY FATHER ALWAYS SPOKE TO ME IN ENGLISH. TATTOOS ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF SAMOAN CULTURE. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR FIRST
WorldMags.net INTERACTIONS WITH TATTOOS - SAMOAN OR OTHER STYLES? I will never forget the first time I really noticed a Samoan tattoo. I’d already had my last name tattooed on my back and at this time I was playing JC football locally, when I met this guy who had just come from Samoa. He had an armband with the Fu’e and To’oto’o (iconic symbols of Samoan culture) surrounded by what we recognize as traditional Samoan designs. It was an amazing thing to see! These tattoos identified this person as a Samoan so clearly and simply, while having their own aesthetic appeal. And little did I know at the time, but those designs held the keys to Samoan culture and history. It took six or seven more years after that for me to become involved in tattooing and another couple of years after that before I found myself on this journey to understand these designs that define and identify Polynesian people. Eventually the search for this understanding brought me to the Sulu’ape family, where I laid on mats for two and a half weeks to receive my own tatau (pe’a), and began to understand the culture and society of the people who have protected and cultivated this art. OKAY…CAN WE GO BACK TO THE STORY ABOUT THAT FIRST TATTOO ON YOUR BACK WITH YOUR LAST NAME? It sounds like you were tattooed when you were rather young. Yeah, I was tattooed right around my 18th birthday. I was scared that my father would have a lot to say about it, as we were raised in a strict LDS family. And he did have a lot to say, when he found out about it. But that tattoo had been made by a local artist who had tattooed a lot of my friends, and it was one of them who took me to get tattooed at his apartment. I only remember him drawing it on freehand, and then once he started, squeezing the chair saying, “Holy Shit!” I think I broke the chair! He was fairly fast though, and it was all over in 2 hours. BUT YOU SAY YOU TRULY GOT INVOLVED IN TATTOOING LATER. HOW DID THAT COME ABOUT? I started to tattoo when someone gave me a tattoo I didn’t like. I was in prison at the time, and had this Jamaican guy tattoo a design I had drawn up. In the end I wasn’t happy with it, so I told the guy to give me the machine so I could finish my own tattoo, and that’s how it all started. Next thing I know, people were asking me for tattoos left and right. So after tattooing in the penitentiary for a couple of years, I got out and landed a job at Lowrider Tattoo III in Costa Mesa. Tattooing has been in my life every day since then.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE PE’A The Pe’a or tatau is one of the most documented and prolific tattoos throughout Polynesia, and is a significant part and identifying feature of Samoan culture. The pe’a is a rite of passage for males in the culture, to show endurance through pain, subservience to one’s peers and elders, and obedience to the protocols and expectations of Samoan society. WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE PE’A LIKE? When I was young I had heard about Samoan tattoos, but it wasn’t until I’d started tattooing myself that this part of tattooing was truly unveiled to me. The first time I saw a tatau, I was speechless. It was the most inspiring tattoo I’d ever seen and even though I knew very little at the time, the importance of this tattoo to Samoan culture made it even more alluring. The moment I saw a tatau, after already having become a tattooer myself - and specifically a Polynesian tattooer - I knew that I wanted to experience and wear this tattoo. I just didn’t know if I was qualified or if I would have my family’s support to do this. But very soon I was the one laying in front of the Tufuga with my family and friends in attendance to show their support. Little did I know at the time, but this was the last task that my dad helped me with because he passed away two
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weeks after I completed my pe’a. I do feel that he knew that I needed to finish my pe’a, and how important it was to me but also to our family since I was the first Sogaimiti from my father’s side in a very long time. IT SOUNDS TO ME LIKE YOUR PE’A AND THE EXPERIENCES LEADING UP TO IT REALLY CONNECTED YOU TO YOUR SAMOAN HERITAGE AND IDENTITY. HAS IT CHANGED YOUR LIFE? Without a doubt! Looking back at how I grew up here in Southern California, I would say that before my pe’a I knew nothing of Samoa. Now that I have my pe’a, I know what Samoa is. I am certainly no expert, but I’ve realized that there is so much more to being Samoan than how we are viewed by society today. The Tatau, Malofie and Pe’a are very important defining aspects of Samoan culture and it is an honor to be involved in the survival of this art form, with the knowledge that it has been practiced on these small Pacific islands for thousands of years. Growing up, I always wanted to learn more about my culture, and as a tattooer I’ve wanted my work to be recognized as Samoan; the experience of getting my pe’a gave me more insight into Samoan culture than I would have ever learned through books, the internet or stories. I CAN RELATE. I FLEW TO JAPAN TO GET MY
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WorldMags.net TATTOO ARTIST BACKPIECE AND FELT THE SAME TYPE OF AWAKENING. IT’S A GREAT THING! OKAY, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS OF THE PE’A: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? IT SEEMS TO BE A GRUELING EXPERIENCE AND I’VE HEARD IT CALLED “A RITE OF PASSAGE?” WHAT DO YOU THINK? A pe’a takes as long as a person needs to finish it. I’ve seen Su’a Sulu’ape Peter do one in just 3 days! But my own personal tatau took 2 and a half weeks, a total of 10 sessions over 17 days. Then there are some that take longer than that for whatever reasons…the important thing is just to finish - otherwise you’ll be thought of as a pe’a muku, which is nothing to be proud of. Receiving a tatau is a draining experience for a person, because it tests your physical, mental and spiritual limits. It is a rite of passage for Samoan people, and also the source of inspiration for much of modern-day tattooing. IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS A FUSION OF POLYNESIAN STYLES NOWADAYS - WHY DID THIS HAPPEN AND
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT? We have most definitely seen a welcome progression of Polynesian work over the past several years, with artists combining not only the motifs of multiple islands in one tattoo, but also combining Polynesian tattoos with other mainstream tattoo styles such as Japanese, black and grey, color, etc…the only limit is our imagination. This progression is a very healthy and natural part of tattooing. One major reason for the fusion of Polynesian tattoos has been the migration of the Polynesian people as well as interracial mixing. Many of our families here in the United States are either first or second generation, and as we have relocated and re-established our communities, we have seen many of our Polynesians coming together in a multicultural Polynesian community. So since we’ve begun sharing our individual cultures, food, dances and bodily fluids with each other, it is only normal that we should share our tattoos with each other, as well. WHAT DO THE TATTOOS MEAN? Polynesian tattoos are the identifying marks of the Polynesian people. The motifs, simple representations of nature, represent the complex Polynesian philosophy of life and community. As with most indigenous people, there was and still is a strong relationship with nature, not only as a source of substance but also as a source of spiritual inspiration and personal guidance. Since every island in Polynesia is a little bit different from the others, so are their tattoos. HOW DOES ONE STUDY SAMOAN AND/OR POLYNESIAN TATTOOING? Well, first off it helps if you are Samoan or Polynesian in some way. With so much of the designs representing different aspects of each Polynesian culture, an understanding of the culture is imperative to being able to learn the artwork. Also, tattooing a Polynesian design, whether specifically Samoan or from any of the other Polynesian societies, is a cultural inheritance. The designs and the knowledge of how to apply them to the body have been handed down through the generations. Having said that, it is my belief that a person has to learn directly from one of these Tufuga Tatau or Master Tattooists; literature and the internet should be used only for supporting knowledge and not as the basis of a person’s understanding of this art form. Something else a person needs in order to study Samoan or Polynesian tattoos is to wear a Polynesian tattoo, whether contemporary or traditional.
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WorldMags.net WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN SAMOAN OR POLYNESIAN TATTOOING? The most important thing in the Polynesian art of tattooing is the person. It’s the person getting the tattoo who decides which motifs will be used, men or women, and the island of origin. In the case of a non-Polynesian, the person should choose their island of inspiration. For example, many Samoan, Tongan and Hawaiian people want their tattoos to represent their heritage. In these cases, as tattooers we must know the differences in these designs so that we can properly serve our clients’ wishes. In these situations, our work as tattooers becomes a civil service to these individual Polynesian communities. It’s important! HOW IMPORTANT ARE THE “STICKS”? ARE YOU LEARNING THIS TRADITIONAL METHOD? The “sticks” or au’s are very important in many aspects of modern-day Polynesian tattooing. However in my opinion, the most important thing is the knowledge that accompanies these tools, the history of Samoa and folk tales of these islands. So for me, using the au’s and learning the traditions of this trade are essential since I am a tattooer of Samoan heritage. In order to be able to tattoo Samoan art or any other Polynesian art style, I need to understand my own roots first. So here I am today, still chasing all the knowledge which is a part of the Samoan tatau. DO YOU THINK HAND TATTOOING IS MORE TRADITIONAL? Well yes, of course “hand tapping” is more traditional. There really is no comparison with machine tattooing, but they are both beautiful in their own ways. After receiving my first tatau, I remember looking at it and thinking there were so many little imperfections! Don’t get me wrong, the design was what it was intended to be and I realized that this traditional art form had a much deeper significance than just looking pretty. This art form holds the heritage of a people who have thrived throughout the Pacific Ocean. And it isn’t just the knowledge of Samoa, but the Polynesian people’s way of thinking that is imbedded in these motifs that we tattoo ourselves with; whether by machine or tatau (hand-tooled), these are the tools of our trade and as tradesmen it is our goal to become masters of our trade and cultural inheritance.
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WorldMags.net CULTURE BY LUISA GNECCHI RUSCONE
THE INFORMATION THAT IS AVAILABLE ON THE ORIGINS OF TATTOOING IN EUROPE GOES BACK TO ANCIENT GREEK AND ROMAN TEXTS AND TO SEVERAL ARCHEOLOGICAL FINDINGS OF MUCH LATER PERIODS, WHOSE INTERPRETATIONS ARE NOT ALWAYS AGREED UPON BY SCHOLARS.
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t seems that archeologists unanimously agree that tattooing was practiced in Europe before the last ice age, 12,000 years ago. Proof of this can be found from discoveries made in 1867 in France, in the Grotte di Fées in Châtelperron – where bowls containing red and black pigments were found, along with sharp flint stone tools – and similar findings from caves
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in Scandinavia and Portugal. The tools’ sizes and shapes have led archeologists to believe that they were used for tattooing. Human figures with four vertical lines carved into their cheeks – which look like tattoos – were found on stone blocks in Aveyron and Tarn, France. In Romania, on the banks of the Danube, small clay statues with lines etched onto the bodies were discovered; these lines are also considered to be tattoos. The clay statues date from 5,000 BC and have
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been attributed to Cucuteni cultures. From writings of ancient Greek and Roman historians we know that the Indo-European tribes from Western Europe tattooed themselves: the Dacians, the Thracians and the Illyrians would create tattoos which represented a person’s social status, a custom which they probably learned from their conquerors, the Asian Scythians. Unquestionable proof of tattooing’s existence in ancient Europe was gained
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in 1991 when the mummified body of a man named Oetzi was discovered in a glacier in the Alps at the Italian-Austrian border. The mummy was 5,000 years old and was preserved in excellent condition, thanks to ice. Tattoo marks are clearly visible on its skin. These marks were etched behind the knees and on the back – very unusual locations for tattoos, which are usually placed on highly visible parts of the body – and for this reason scholars are in agreement
that these tattoos were made for therapeutic reasons, as a cure for back pain. Indeed, these tattoos are located in the same areas where acupuncture needles are placed to cure arthritis. In the twentieth century, other important discoveries were made that have helped reconstruct the history of tattooing on our continent. In southern Siberia, on the upper Altai Mountains, the bodies of a man and a woman were found in two different burial mounds. These
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bodies had also been well-preserved for 2,500 years, thanks to ice and a skillful mummification technique which almost completely preserved their skins. In 1948, the Russian anthropologist Sergei Rudenko discovered a Pazyryk cemetery at about 120 kilometers from the Chinese-Russian border. The tombs Rudenko discovered were in an excellent state of conservation. They contained skeletons and complete bodies of embalmed horses and human beings,
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as well as a large number of artifacts: harnesses, saddles, a cart, blankets, clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, amulets, tools and hashish pipes (which were described by Rudenko as “pipes for smoking hemp”). Also discovered were textiles coming from China and Persia, which were thousands of kilometers from Pazyryk territory. Rudenko’s most important discovery was the mummified body of a Pazyryk chief - a stocky and strong man who had died when he was 50 years old. While a part of his body had deteriorated, most of his tattoos were easy to see. This chief had elaborate tattoos of real and mythological animals all over his body. The best preserved tattoos were of a donkey, a mountain goat, two stylized deers with long horns and an imaginary carnivorous animal, on his right arm. His chest displayed two griffin-like monsters and his left arm had partially erased images which seem to be two deers and another mountain goat. On the front of his right leg there was a large fish which extended from his foot to his knee, while a monster seemed to be climbing onto a foot; on the inside of his shin there was a series of four running rams which were attached together to create one design. His left leg also had tattoos, but they had deteriorated and were no longer visible. On his back he had a series of small circles along his spine which probably had been given as therapy. Tattoos like this are still made today to cure back pains in some Siberian tribes.
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In the summer of 1993 another Pazyryk mummified body was discovered in Siberia, on the Umok plateau. This time it was a woman, whose body had been buried for over 2,400 years in a coffin made out of a hollowed-out larch trunk. This young woman was named “the ice virgin”. The outside of her coffin was covered in leather, which had been engraved with stylized images of deer and a snow leopard. What probably happened is that shortly after she was buried, frozen rain flooded the tomb and so the entire contents of the death chamber remained frozen until it was discovered. Her arms were tattooed with images of mythological animals similar to those of the previously discovered Pazyryk warrior. She was dressed with a flowing dress of white silk, a long, red, wool skirt and long felt socks. She had an elaborate hairdo consisting of hair and felt. Many artifacts were also found in the death chamber, such as gold ornaments, cutlery, a brush, a vase containing marijuana and a mirror which had a picture of a deer engraved on the back. Six horses with elaborate harnesses had been sacrificed and laid on trunks which formed the roof of the death chamber. In the pre-Christian age Pazyryk nomads, Shiites and many other local tribes gave rise to the Shiite-Siberian culture. The Shiites and the Pazyryk were two nomadic peoples who roamed the vast steppes of Central Asia with their herds. Skillful riders, they became dangerous warriors who crossed
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enormous distances in order to raid adjacent tribes. The Shiites and Pazyryk dominated the vast areas of Russia and Central Asia with an iron hand starting in ‘800 BC, for a millennium. Their predominance extended from Asia to the east Balkans. They were famous for their jewelry and utensils decorated with animal figures like those found in their tombs. The same animal designs appear in the tattoos of the male and female Pazyryk warriors who were discovered in Siberia. The most beautiful and well-preserved tattoos are those displaying four rams on the ankle of a man and a horn bracelet on a woman’s wrist. The depth of the pigment in the skin suggests that the tattoos were made with the pricking technique rather than the needle and thread technique which was widespread at that time among the Eskimos, Siberian tribes and the Inuit. The mastery involved in the creation of these designs and the tattoo technique were just as good as those of Burmese and Thai tattoos from the same period, leading to the idea that perhaps these civilizations were connected in some way. Such detailed representations of real and mythological animals are present even in modern tattoos in Southeast Asia, where they are considered to be magical and protective for hunting and fishing. The Pzyryk tribes also probably considered these tattoos as good luck amulets for hunting deer. The fact that they were found on the bodies of only two warriors leads one to believe that these tattoos were reserved only for upper class people.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: - Steve Gilbert: Tattoo History; - G. Luigi Cerchiari: Chiromanzia e tatuaggio, Hoepli, Milano, 1903; - A. De Blasio: Il tatuaggio, Arnaldo Forni Editore, Napoli, 1905; - Luisa Gnecchi Fercioni: Tatuaggi la scrittura del corpo, Mursia; - Maarten Hesselt Van Dinter: The World of Tattoo, Kit Publishers, 2005.
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WorldMags.net SAMUELE BRIGANTI A Sailor’s Life
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«I wanted to dedicate these watercolors entirely to the sea, and ‘Sailor’s Life’ is the title I chose for this set.»
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nspiration for these subjects came to me through an attraction I’ve always had for traditional style and for the pioneers of that style, but also thanks to my love for the sea. The subjects, the atmosphere, and colors in these illustrations express what I see every day living by the sea, surrounded by ports, boats and the strange people who have always hung out in places like this! The color that you see in these sunsets is very similar to what I see every evening, as I gaze out at the sea from my window, in Tuscany. I always use watercolors because I like the graphic result and I find that this technique is a little bit like tattooing, since all the brush strokes have to be perfect the first time you lay them down, especially the shadings.
SAMUELE BRIGANTI DRUM TATTOO ORBETELLO, ITALY WWW.SAMUELEBRIGANTI.COM
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Aaron Coleman, Immaculate Tattoo, Meco, USA
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Anabi-Tattoo, Anabi Tattoo, Szczecin, Poland
Bez, Triplesixst Studio, Tyne and Wear, UK 92
Daniel Di Mattia, Calypso Tattoo, Liege, Belgium
Carlos Hierro, The Original Tattoo Lubeck, Germany Carlos Rojas, Black Anchor Collective, Hesperia, USA
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Cang Long, Cang Long Tattoo, Shanghai, China
Antonio Todisco, Macko Tattoo, Monopoli, Italy
Alex Gotza, Dirty Roses, Thessaloniki, Greece
Adrian Machete, Machete Ink, Berlin, Germany
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Chris Crooks, White Dragon Tattoo, Belfast, UK 93
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Calle, King Carlos Tattoo, Stockholm, Sweden
Andy Engel, Andy’s Tattoo, Kitzingen, Germany 94
Annie Frenzel, Lowbrow Tattoo Parlour, Berlin, Germany
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Daniel Martos Sanchez, Demon Tattoo, La Seu D’Urgell, Spain
Chris Danley, Forever Tattoo, Sacramento, USA
Amar, Dragon Tattoo, Eindhoven, Holland
Brent Patten, Forever Tattoo, Sacramento, USA
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Anderson Luna, Saved Tattoo, NYC, USA
Ben Cheése, Everlasting Tattoo, San Francisco, USA
Claire Reid, Claire Reid Tattoo, On the road, Australia
Big Gus, Art Junkies Tattoo, Hesperia, USA 96
Ben Grillo, Power Tattoo, Vista, USA
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