Author Archives: Shannon Larratt

Senja Sidoro Framed

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I’m watching the incredibly cheesy Samuel Jackson reality-tv gladiator movie Arena on one monitor and editing tasteful classic photos of the beautiful Senja Sidoro on the other. So while half of my brain reminiscences about one of the stranger consulting gigs I ever did, creating a an untrackable video site for broadcasting biker-run dog fights (and handling the gambling on them) — one of the many things I’m not terribly proud of — I’m calming the guilt into submission with Photoshop filters and burying it with layers. In any case, here are some pictures of Senja Sidoro practicing with makeup — in the one image you can see an unpainted face next to what she made with makeup leftovers (click here to see it true, without all my editing). I like her piercings of course, and in this age of mega-implants, it’s somehow very friendly seeing a couple of dainty first-gen horns. By the way, if Senja seems familiar to you, it might be because she’s married to Lassi (scar.fi), is a talented performer in her own right, and founded Helsinki’s Başka Theater Group — find her on Facebook at SouciJawsDerringer.

Well, I think I’m all Photoshopped out for one day. Click to zoom.

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Flying over the water

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Andrea Azzolini took these beautiful pictures at the 8th Italian Suscon of Marita suspending over the water from the tripod (previously). I should note that I edited the suspension gear out of the picture, but I assume that’s obvious. Andrea writes (translate into English),

Sono arrivato cosi Lontano dal Mondo, che sperare di trovare Qualcuno che mi Comprenda è diventato un Illusione.

e le mie Illusioni sono i miei Sogni.

Vedo Cosi Tanta Bellezza e cosi tanta Tristezza, vedo Persone che Non Sanno Nemmeno chi Sono in Realtà, Nessuno che tenta di Raggiungersi, ci si fa Bastare l’Apparenza e ci ferma alla Superficie delle cose.

Per chi è Diverso, Rimanere Solo è Inevitabile.
Un Destino da Spettatore,
sempre Sospeso,
tra i più Bui e Confortevoli Abissi e le Più Fredde e Lucenti Volte Celesti.

Click the pictures to see them uncropped.

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Flesh Art by Liam Sparkes

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I just discovered the beautiful archaic work of tattoo artist Liam Sparkes of Shangri-La Tattoo Parlour (shangrilaparlour.com) in London, England. Wonderful work that I’ve got a raging mod-on for, tattoos able to transport my mind to another place and time. Not just works of beauty but works that exude a certain power I think. The lines feel somehow scraped into the wearer’s essence, not just casually inked on the surface. Here is a small selection of some of my favorite pieces. Click to zoom.

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Genital Beading in US Prisons

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My friend Buddy Williams who pierces at Ancient Ink Tattoos & Piercings in Antelope, CA (you may remember him from the microdermals he’s been doing on an older woman) told me an interesting story about a client who came to him for help recently. A guy came in and asked if they removed genital beads, and Buddy said yes. When he was setting up and asked the client to show him the bead, he saw what looked like it must have been at least four beads collected in a single spot — genital beads can be especially prone to migration. Buddy asked him where he’d gotten it done, and got the simple answer, “prison”.

Two years earlier while incarcerated, his cellmate had used a sharpened toothbrush to penetrate and create a pocket in his penis (hey, it’s better than using it as a shiv to stab someone) and implant a large plastic bead. The bead, about 1/2″ in diameter, had been obtained by cutting open a spray paint can — I’m sure you’ve heard the ball rattling around when you shake the can. He wanted it removed because it was starting to become quite painful. It took Buddy about five minutes to get it out (that’s it in the autoclave bag) because of how much scar tissue was around the bead. The body seemed to be both trying to encapsulate the bead and push it out as well, as it must not have been entirely biocompatible — it’s unknown what type of plastic it was, but it had a very grainy surface (which may have been in part from starting to break down), to say nothing of paint residue that may have been on it at the time of implantation.

The bead was also surrounded by a large amount of pus, so it’s definitely a good thing that it was removed. Strange, who’d have thought that prison was not the most ideal place for genital mods… I guess those behind bars should stick to eyeball tattoos.

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Ear Reshaping Fun

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Ok, one last bit of ear-chomp-chomp. Italian bodmod enthusiast Paolo Cambiaghi decided he wanted a new ear profile, and went to Bruno BMA (brunobma.com) to have it reshaped — you can see it nicely healed in these images. I always find these types of ear reshaping fascinating — The Enigma has a similar piece that I’ve featured on ModBlog, as does my friend James Keen, and this client of Muffe’s. The way the majority of the lip of the helix has been removed on Paolo’s gives it a very unique and unusual appearance.

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I should mention that this picture first came to my attention because Morgan Dubois, who recently experienced his tattoo being copied by a Polish fan and was worried it might be happening again. Morgan got his tattoo in 2009 by Igor of Tattoo Station in Lyon, France, inspired (for very personal reasons, which is why it bothered him when it was copied exactly) by the music of Autechre — check out the video of Dropp to understand it a bit better. Paolo’s tattoo on the other hand is a case of completely different motivations and interests bringing one to a similar end design, and was done by Spider Tattoo in Italy. He tells me it is inspired by the art of Wassily Kandinsky, specifically the work he did in the later portion of his career after teaching at The Bauhaus.

Tongue Split = Mutant Healing Factor

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One of the most amazing thing about tongue splits is that they heal crazy fucking fast, have no long term risks, and have the highest satisfaction rate of any body modification out there. They heal faster than tongue piercings — and probably faster than any other modification with the exception of tattoos — and they’re not going to chip your teeth. That said, it does require skilled hands to do it right. While it is true that nightmare incompetent tongue splits by DIY home doctors tend to be survivable and heal just fine, they’re playing with fire and at a minimum you’ll have way more pain, fear, and there’s a solid chance you won’t get as good looking or deep of a split. It is the sort of thing you should want to do responsibly. Don’t take my comment on how easily it heals and how happy people are with them to mean you can have your dog do it, even if he is very well-trained border collie.

This example was done by the fully human Gladix at On Edge Piercing & Tattooing in The Hague, with beautifully clean looking suturing. Only seven days later and Tirza’s tongue split looks incredible. Nice and deep, perfectly rounded edges without any scarring. Superb work. I should mention that even though the tongue split looks completely healed at this point, but it could take a few weeks more before it can truly be considered fully healed.

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When Aghoris Lose Their Ears

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Martin sent me this video of the autocannibalism fun they got up to at GELOCHT UND SCHARF GESTOCHEN (gelocht.com) in Neuss, Germany (across the Rhine from Düsseldorf). Before I start making obvious jokes about Germans and cannibalism, can I just say this is the best studio name ever? It’s one of those wonderful phrases that doesn’t translate cleanly into English but roughly it’s “holes made and sharply stuck”. Perhaps you have to speak both languages but to me it’s both hilarious and somehow poetic.

Martin to we’re watching here is the closure of 68 mm (2 5/8″) lobes, which looks like it was very well done, but is completely outshined by the apparently Aghori-inspired autocannibalism ritual in which the soft jiggly but very chewy ear leftovers are consumed. You’d be surprised how common this is (for atheists as well as for those with spiritual justification) in tissue removal procedures and skin removal scarification. I will try and update this entry in a day or two with some more information, so check back if you’re interested.

Click the thumbnails to see them bigger, or click here for the video.

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Partial ear reconstruction with keloid removal

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Since I seem to be in the mood for posting stuff about ears being chopped up today, let me share another. My friend Gabriele from Max Art Body Piercing in Rome had a client come in that had a large open lobe that had been previously scalpeled (Ludovico’s ears were 2″ last time I remember them) — as you can tell from the distinctive shape, a “U”-loop of flesh hanging down from the ear — and also had a keloid covering a solid area of it’s upper-outside edge that the client wanted excised, complicating the procedure. To make the procedure even more tricky, they wanted to keep the piercing, but alter its shape and reduce its size. To accomplish all of this, Gabriele cut out the body of the keloid and closed the wound, as well as removing part of the lobe “worm” to tighten the ear to the new size. The jewelry used for the healing is glass with silicone o-rings. Glass is an ideal material, but for some people the o-rings can cause irritation (and must be kept clean to avoid a build up of waste — and becoming a home for bacteria), so the client will have to keep an eye on that. The bruising in the third photo went away quickly, the tissue relaxed, and healing is going well so far.

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Ear Pointing Evolution

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To generalize, ear pointing works by cutting a piece out of the top of the ear, and then stitching the open portions together, folding the helix rim up into a point. It is a wonderful optical illusion that this makes it seem as if the ear has a point coming out the top, when in fact the ear has actually been lengthened very little, if at all, since we can only remove tissue — nothing is added. While additive procedures are theoretically possible, they appear currently beyond the reach of the body modification practitioner, if not beyond the reach of most reconstructive surgeons. In the majority of ear pointings done since Steve Haworth first invented them in the mid-1990s, the wedge-removal procedure has changed little — only the location, size, and shape differs (and varying the shape of the piece removed the result can cover a wide range of appearances).

However, Samppa Von Cyborg expanded the procedure by removing more than just what’s needed for the point, allowing one to reshape the entire contour of the ear. This related example is by Matias Tafel of Rata Body Art in Argentina. You can see from both the stitches and the animation that a long strip running much of the height of the ear has been excised, giving an end result where the ear is narrower as well as pointy. This narrowness brings with it the optical illusion of additional length/height, because it changes the length to height ratio and tricks the mind of the observer.

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