Petri Aspvik

Without Ed Hardy there wouldnt have even been reality tattoo shows.

True that. I was maybe looking at more from the collector side of things :-) And Shadow; fucking a!

Rob Benavides submitted it to the TAM issue 4 and it is dated 04. Dont know if he was first...

Anybody mention Kahlil Rintye?

Ed Hardy's Tattoo City

I've been a fan for quite some time. Timeless stuff. There is some weird amazing spark of life that just oozes from his stuff.

Hail to Jake!

I know that in 2012 it will be 2012 tattoos. I have been actually thinking that it would be cool to get I survived 2012 NOW, just to fuck with all the "doomsday" bastards. Because I base my prediction on logic, so its a shure bet."

edit. Then again... There really isn't going to be anything to survive from. So maybe the idea needs little work.

Maybe like a check list type thing with all the predicted doomsdays going on as far as they go. Maybe even make some dates up, then all of them crossed before hand and Carl Sagan slapping a face with a text such as "Carl Sagan - slapping bitches back to reality 1934 – 1996"

I mean exchanged :P

edit. Or meant... blaargh!

Ron Henry Wells (The Hyena in here)! The man has been tattooing for like 4 years, which boggles my mind. Great shit allready. I have only exhanced few emails with him, but apparently he is also a gentleman and a schollar. My hats off to him. I will put here few of his things that I like, hope you dont mind Ron.

The Laughing Hyena

Yeah, the Stuart leg sleeves are amazing. I want to strive to that outlook myself. This one by Scott Harrison is bad ass also. I dont really like Scott's stuff that much personally, but this owns! This tattoo and the one by Stuart look like Lungfish Feral Hymns album sounds. Images to sounds

And btw. About the use of space around tattoos. Check out the Robert Ryan interview in TAM, he talks about that in there.

Hey Marisa! Great to see you here :)

Soooo, whats it about? :)

Any idea where one might find this?

No, sorry. I saw it from TV here in Finland, and I think it has been shown only once, like 4-5 years ago

And the documentary posted above is Mark of Cain, if anyone is wondering

I just thought it would take less time to load, but its fine like that :)

Yeah, thanks for the confirmation :)

I was checking Shawns shorter Higgs video and the voice said that Daniel apprenticed under Tatts Thomas? That cant be correct?

You are some sort of a saint Shawn.

Thank you.

Mods can change them into just links. I tried but it always ends up showing the whole video screen...

Robert Ryan send these links. A new short Higgs documentary/video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0mkaUMOgZU"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMrG_lF1OxY"

Well you picked an amazing shop for your first tattoo :) What did you get and what are you planning on getting next?

And welcome

Who was your Higgs "substitute" at that time?

Shawn, did you get tattooed by Higgs?

Obviously the cool new things in 2011.

Back to the discussion.. I really like the idea of making the tattoo alive yourself. Well said. But I wanted to come back to the idea that tattoos of an image having a "set visual meaning" -- because in the same way, so do, for example, polynesian designs. X, y and z could very easily and concretely mean "sea, turtle and warrior" to the culture in which it originated. It reminds me of what's happening with a lot of other symbols lately, of the esoteric variety. People slapping on numbers or planetary symbols or images associated with different sects or secret societies. Designs which are deeply routed in belief systems or schools of thought that are often very difficult to understand.

So. More questions up for discussion. Do you think incorporating the use of tribal designs into new designs (or using straight traditional tribal designs) is a.) at all similar to that? And b.) as we create this new visual vocabulary, what do you think our responsibilities are, as far as both the tattooer and wearer are concerned?

I think it cames down to can a group of people copyright (for lack of a better word) a meaning of a symbol? Or should we automatically asume that if we as westeners use a symbol/design that means something (animal, plant, god, idea) to some people - and has meant it for hundreds, maybe thousands of years- that the people who have first gotten it tattooed would be offended? Maybe they would be happy. Or couldn't care?

I used to think that same aspect but I think it is a very westener type deal, how we are always concerned that if we use something differently than other people, then we would insult them. But I think it can also be a cool thing for them. Or not. Hard to say.

If there is a something in these tattoo designs that resonates, or as you said

Do you think the designs immediately spark something internal in us, as part of a collective unconscious, or do you think people just automatically associate them with something primal and primitive and therefore more significant?

Then it could very well be that they who have gotten blackwork/tirbal tattoos longer than america or finland has been around, might see it as this also. They also could find it something that brings US closer to them. And not just them to us.

So I think the responsibilites depend on the wearer. They should know that in some cases they might hurt some guy in New Zealand if they get a stylised moko tattooed. But also the people who want to raise concern about that the New Zealander might get hurt, should also consider the fact that they might think it is cool to them.

The Know Work is done by Norm.

super cool! thanks for sharing! clips from that sparrow/hardy one are used in that hardy documentary that was done recently.

What documentary?!

I have always dreamed that someone would do stuff like this. And now that it is happening it feels... normal.

But I love it! HENRY ROLLINS

KILL