ZygZag Cheek Stretching

Posted on February 24, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

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This was originally posted on BodyTwo, but I was asked about it again this morning, and I thought it related well to the lip disc posts.

One of the most asked-about members of the modification community is “Fishmaul” (“Fishmouth”) or “Zygzag”, who is said to wear massive plugs in stretched cheek piercings. Here’s the photo set that most people have seen reposted over and over:

Some people claimed he was part of the German street punk scene in Aachen, others claimed he was Russian, and others claimed it was simply a fake Photoshopped picture. As it turns out he’s Polish, and quite real. A reader wrote me about him,

Hi Shannon. That “Fishmouth” is from Poland and everyone calls him “ZygZag”. For now he lives in Germany in a punk squat or something. I don’t know him but he’s a Polish BodyMod legend. For now he doesn’t wear his plugs. I’ve got different photos of him without plugs.

Here are the photos that came with that email:

He was drinking a beer at the time, so clearly he’d figured out how to live with giant holes in his cheeks…

Not long afterwards I received this photo of ZygZag with his plugs in at an event, wearing his cheek plates and other piercings:

As I wrote at the time, I can’t begin to express the admiration that I have for ZygZag’s dedication to developing this look… He’s got to be the only person on the planet, maybe the first in history, to push cheek stretching like this, and the degree he’s done it to is staggering. It’s really amazing to me, and the first time in a long time that I’ve seen something that’s genuinely new.

Unfortunately not much information on ZygZag is out there, as another Polish reader explains,

In January I discussed with my friends the subject of cheek stretching. Someone said that Zygzag is the only person in Poland with stretched cheek piercings so we started to look for his pics. After a few months of searching some guy contacted us and said that he knew Zygzag, and we wouldn’t find anything because he never wanted to have his pictures published. We also came to know that he removed the plugs because his eyes were constantly irritated and he couldn’t speak properly cause of the facial deformation. He had his skin transplanted few times to make the holes smaller. I don’t know how much of this is true, but it’s some additional info about the guy anyway.

So there you go… It won’t surprise me if he ends up being the only person to do this, ever. If anyone knows more (or knows anyone else that’s done this), please do write me!

Unlikely but True: Achilles Piercing

Posted on February 9, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

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The last posting of an Achilles piercing here on Modblog generated a number of whiny complaints about how unviable and dangerous it is from conservative piercers**. Now, my feeling is that in what I hope will always remain a rebel artform — rather than an “industry” — that there’s no space for conservatism (or whining), so with that in mind there’s a Mr. Tetanus interview pending.

Mr. Tetanus, a performance artist, wears a self-made 10mm spike through his ankle, behind the Achilles tendon, and has had it now for about twelve years. In the picture below you can see it now, as well as a photo looking through the hole and showing the displacement of the tendon. He doesn’t take it out much because the hole closes up within about a minute, and begins to reseal itself within half an hour.

He uses the piercing in performances, swinging bowling balls and other weights (another performance artist — “Angel” — has actually hung from meat-hooks worn in this piercing), so it can definitely take quite a bit of abuse without crippling him. That said, he emphasizes that he doesn’t recommend anyone else try this, and notes that even after twelve years it’s never truly healed (that said, it’s not as if tongue piercings ever “truly” heal for many people either) and in theory continues to put him at risk.

Risk, Schmisk!!! Anyway, I’ll post the full interview soon, but I couldn’t resist putting up a teaser and a photo of his remarkable ankle!

** Note: Since there are some serious comprehension issues with this entry getting people even whinier, let me be perfectly clear: I couldn’t care less if a piercer feels that they don’t want to do this, and personally I don’t think this should be offered on the walk-in public. Where I have a problem is if people say that no one should be doing or getting this modification (or other heavy mods). Body modification is where it is today because people informed themselves about the risks and tried new things, often with what seemed like serious dangers at the time — and when that ends, body modification begins to die.

Mr. Urethra, meet Mr. Anus

Posted on February 8, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

This cut on a Japanese BME contributor is the deepest subincision I’ve ever seen I think, as it’s beginning to extend past the point where the urethra turns up and toward the bladder. A full photo is after the break, and the next update, which I expect I’ll post on Monday, there are lots more shots as procedural pictures as well.

PS. Since I was asked last time, for those of you who want a great introduction to the “why” question, this interview with “J” is a good start (pardon the mid-90s era HTML).

My Friend Boris

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

My friend Boris from Russia is a man…

…a man with a vagina!

(Interview about his life and surgery pending)

Impgrin Interview Posted

Posted on February 4, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

Ooops! I forgot today was still Winter Break at school, so I don’t have time to post here until this evening on account of it being a day of four-year-old play. However, I quickly blasted through 1,800 images which are uploading now, and I’m reposting another one of my BodyTwo interviews, this time the very personal and touching “Impgrin” interview about a life exploring genital inflation and then a love story that repairs a set of genitals deeply damaged from mineral oil injections gone wrong.

Click through to read the interview and come back here to comment.

Martin: Genital Evolution

Posted on February 1, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

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Some of you already saw this amazing interview back when it was posted on BodyTwo, but I’m reposting it here now that it’s no longer available at its original source. Martin is quite inspiring in terms of his various transformations, and a giant thank you to him for offering us such an intimate look at what makes him tick.

Click here for the interview, and then come on back to comment or discuss!

Are they getting popular?

Posted on January 27, 2008 by Shannon Larratt

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I can’t imagine this is going to be a trend or anything, but I’ve seen a few more eyelid piercings lately, in addition to the one from Bulgaria posted a few days ago, this reader in North Carolina describes this as their favorite piercing.

In Tennessee I think they’re a little more cautious, at least in this horizontal placement — basically just a surface piercing on the eyelid — by Darby at Great American Tattoo Company in Kingsport.