Monday May 12, 2008
Flesh tones
By S. INDRAMALAR
Tattoos are still the preferred form of self-expression among Malaysians who have yet to embrace extreme body modification.
THE days when tattoos belonged solely on the arms of old salts, biker dudes, felons, punk rockers or painted women have long passed. These days, if you do not spot a tattoo or a piercing, you are likely to be the odd one out, or so it seems.
Says tattoo artist and body piercer Simon David, 34: “Nowadays, tattoos have become more acceptable in society. People don’t stare at you (if you have tattoos). Even the police don’t give you problems. People understand that tattoos are a form of expression. It is body art and not a show of strength or anything like that.”
Simon David, 34, got his first tattoo when he was 21. He has since had many more done until he has lost count of the actual number. Even his grandfather and great-grandfather sported tattoos. – Pictures by LOW LAY PHON and DARRAN TAN / The Star Simon, who, with his brother Eddie and sister Lina, have been tattooing for over a decade, has seen his clientele grow to an assortment of people.
“Our clientele is really diverse, from students to Datuks and even a 75-year-old priest. We have professionals like lawyers and doctors, too.”
The trio from Sarawak operate Borneo Ink and are well-known locally and abroad. Simon and Eddie were featured in a National Geographic documentary The Vanishing Tattoo in which Canadian tattoo artist Thomas Lockhart and writer/adventurer Vince Hemingson captured on film their “epic quest around the world” in search of the last authentic tribal tattoos.
But what do you do when the pain you endured for hours while straddling a roller chair at the tattoo parlour no longer sets you apart from the crowd? Do you go get bigger tattoos, more piercings or go for something more extreme?
Enter extreme body modification, a radical form of “body art” to express one’s individuality. These include scarification (which involves cutting an image into the skin and irritating the wound to encourage scarring), tongue splitting (where the tongue is split down the middle to look like a two-pronged snake tongue), branding (burning an image onto the skin), implants and beading (placing objects under the skin to mould the skin outwardly).
Such extreme procedures are still pretty underground; they are for the hardcore and are offered by a few “specialists”.
They are, however, gaining popularity in the West.
According to an article on nationalgeographic.com, Scarification: Ancient Body Art Leaving New Marks, scarification emerged in San Francisco in the United States in the mid-1980s. Initially, it was embraced by the gay and lesbian subcultures, said Victoria Pitts, professor of sociology at City University on New York in New York City. By the early 1990s, though, the practice had been adopted by a group interested in “reviving or re-enacting indigenous body rituals from around the world”.
“(These were) members of a neo-tribal or ‘modern primitive’ movement who were trying to get in touch with a more authentic or spiritual experience of the body,” says Pitts.
“For some, this type of modification sent the message that they didn’t want to fit into society in the ordinary sense.”
Simon David: ‘Tattoos were part of growing up.’ Pitts adds that since the new millennium, scarification has become widespread in the United States, Australia and across Europe.
Extreme body modification is also slowly catching on in some Asian countries like Thailand and Singapore.
It may take a while before Malaysians go to extremes, says tattoo artist Simon, as we are a more moderate society.
“Perhaps we are more conservative but I don’t think Malaysians are ready to give people a shock of their lives (with implants, etc). Singapore is more open. There you get people with tattoos from their head to their toes, those with fangs (tooth implants that resemble fangs) and even horns,” he says.
Simon, who got his first tattoo more than 13 years ago at age 21, says: “I have a lot of tattoos now. I have lost count, actually. In Sarawak, everyone has tattoos. My grandfather and his father had tattoos. Tattoos were part of growing up.
“I keep getting more. I guess it’s an addiction even though it hurts,” says the lanky Sarawakian who has tattoos all over his body.
Simon says he does not sport tattoos to be noticed and he has no intention of getting implants, splitting his tongue or branding himself.
“If I wanted to stand out, I’d do something else.”
Body piercer Walter Chong, 31, says he would consider getting implants.
“I would like to get a circular barbell on my arm. I think that would be cool. But I won’t get them here in Malaysia because I don’t think there is anyone who is certified to do it,” says Chong who has over 30 piercings on himself and quite a number of tattoos, too.
Although he started out getting tattoos and piercings to be different, he says the desire to stand out became secondary.
“After a while, I just wanted to get more and more; it’s a personal thing, I guess.”
Chong reckons that body modification may eventually become popular among Malaysians.
A tattooist working on an intricate wing design for a client. Musician Eddy Lim, 28, however, does not think he will ever get an implant or do anything that extreme.
“I don’t like the thought of putting a foreign object in my body. I know a few Malaysians who have done implants, but it’s not for me,” says Lim.
However, he is fascinated with tattoos, which he views as works of art.
“I have a load of tattoos. My right arm is almost completely covered ... my chest, stomach, neck and legs, too. I still want more. I want to cover myself up not because it is cool or glamorous. I really appreciate tattoos as a work of art. The tattoo on my right arm – I think it’s a masterpiece,” says Lim.
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