Berlin based, artist, photographer and designer Marius Sperlich creates macro-style photography that is provocative in the way that it aims to question social norms and break beauty standards…
Michele Servadio on Art, Tattooing and GESTURES01
Throughout our lives, our interactions with different people, environments and experiences are what makes us who we are. Now, imagine if these inputs left a mark on the surface of the skin. That’s what tattoos are: reminders of what made you who you are. With the Body of Reverbs (B.O.R), I’m emphasising those moments.
These are the words of Michele Servadio, a multi-disciplinary artist based in London and the creator of the Body of Reverbs (B.O.R), a contemporary ritual that uses the tattoo machine as a musical instrument, translating the vibrations of the needle on skin into a sound. Performed in front of a crowd, the tattoo itself is abstract and spontaneous. This is because it is the experience, the connection between body, sound and space that is central, not the result.
B.O.R was born out of the necessity to bring tattooing back to its archaic identity, at a time when it has become a mass consumed product. “The aim was to create a total art practice with tattooing at its centre”, explains Servadio.
Since its birth in 2014, B.O.R has launched New Rituals for Contemporary Bodies LP+ Book, featuring recordings of two performances from 2016 with Years of Denial and Hexn. The record will be launched on 7 September during GESTURES01, an evening of alternative performance art in The Old Baths, Hackney Wick and featuring guests such as Dahc Dermur VIII (Chadd Curry), Nick Tee, Matteo Vallicelli and Olivier de Sagazan. In anticipation of the launch, Mele Couvreur, a social development practitioner based in London, with a passion for art and ink, spoke briefly with Michele about the event, his views on art and tattooing and his desire to merge them both.
The line-up of GESTURES01 is pretty impressive and includes a diverse mix of artists. Yet, all of them have something in common: the body and its transformation. Can you tell us a bit more about what’s behind that?
There isn’t really a specific message, it’s more about raising questions about the body, about identity, about personality, and who you can be. The event is intended as a celebration of the body, personality and subjectivity in a time of constant mutation.
That’s why we have this sort of line-up: from Olivier de Sagazan and his performance on stage, B.O.R. and body modification, to Chad who is a living product of this constant mutation. I see a strong connection between Olivier and Chad: We will start with Sagazan, who mutates his appearance with paint and clay, in the context of a stage, and in the span of a performance. Then we end up with Chad, who changes his appearance daily, but in the span of a life time.
I would say GESTURES01 is a celebration of changes.
GESTURES01 puts tattooing next to other art forms such as painting, sculpture etc. Do you think this will happen more in the future and that tattooing in art will become more prominent? Yes, for sure. Tattoo is developing in unexpected ways. More and more people are coming into the culture from very different backgrounds. You can have a conceptual artist who starts tattooing just because he/she has a certain idea he wants to express. Or a graphic designer, a painter, a sculptor, a chef…
What is coming out of the tattoo world right now is coming from different realities. To me this is extremely interesting. It shows that there are different ways to deal with the body, many different ways to mark your body, and many reasons why you would do it. It’s bringing tattooing out from shops and into the galleries, venues, private spaces, and rural areas.
This is, to an extent, how we knew tattooing before, before the commercialisation. It brings tattooing back to what it once was. So I guess, putting tattooing next to painting and sculpture, is sort of making a little statement.
What are the main differences for you between art and tattooing Tattooing is dealing with the most beautiful thing there is: the human body. You are creating something on a human body that will live only a little, considering the lifetime of an art work.
When you create a work of art, you probably also do it for different reasons. Art has always been a way to talk about the problem of our existence. Art is very religious in that way. It talks about our existence, our society and our subjectivity, and what is tattooing, if not that? It is a direct act from our subjectivity through our body. Tattoos are feedback directly on our society. I think in the end we are talking about the same things. That’s why I want to unify those things.
What I like about art is that it is very transversal. I like printmaking, photography. I like experimenting in a dark room with chemicals. I like painting and life drawing. Life drawing is one of my favourite things.
That’s academic in a way. It’s extremely classic. It is a drawing on paper and it is one of the most beautiful things. It is so simple and such a powerful tool of research. When you draw something on a piece paper, you are drawing something that you copy, but the way in which you copy that thing, is according to the way you perceive the world. So you are showing the world your perspective. As simple as that you can say plenty of things. When you apply this on a body, you sort of closing that circle I like to think.
Why do you want to bring them together? I think it is a duty of an artist, of a young artist, to fill the gap when there is a lack of something in the culture that we live in. I perceived, and felt, a lack of spirituality in tattooing for example. I felt this gap between art and tattooing. Or the struggle of trying to understand tattoo, not just as a product, but as something deeper than that, as something non- professional. Art is not professional. That doesn’t exist, a professional artist. Nor does a professional tattooer, but I don’t want to go too far…
Sticking to art, if you see what is lacking, then I believe it is your duty to fill that gap. To me, there is a big gap between art and tattooing, and I want to fill that gap and bring the two together. That is why I love tattooing the same subject on someone, and then doing a painting or a print of the same subject. They are all part of the same universe. But one is made to live on someone’s body, and one is made to live on paper and live forever.
B.O.R is that total art concept where you bring everything together. In a way, I’m trying to fill that gap by bringing tattooing back to its own spirituality. That is why we are connecting it with the power of sound, trance and pain.
Will there be a GESTURES02? I’d love to do that, at least once a year. I’m not an organizer, but I’d love to do it. I love the struggle. If I have the chance, yes, I’d totally do it.
Interview with Anna Mimink
Tattoo artist Anna Mimink, works as a guest artist in several shops, and she can often be found at Artoria Tatouage in Paris, we caught up with her to find out more about her travels and tattoos…
How long have you been tattooing? What inspired you to become a tattooer? I have been working as a tattoo artist for five years now. I’ve always had a strong bond with drawing; when I was a child, I started to talk quite late on and drawing was my first way of expressing myself. But, I never fitted in when it came to art lessons and education, so I just kept drawing alongside my studies.
I was working in Paris in a luxury hotel and I felt burnt-out, and fed up with my career, so I went to see a friend who owned a tattoo studio. I ended up coming to the shop everyday, just to draw at first. But I really liked the carefree atmosphere and the positive impact that the tattoo had on the clients. So when he proposed that he would teach me, I was more than happy, even if it wasn’t my vocation at first.
What is it about tattoos that you love so much? What especially do you love about black and line work? For some people, it’s very hard to truly express themselves. I love it when a client comes to me with a project is, that is a true expression of their inner feelings. The human contact is so important to my job. We are talking about people not just art! I am still very moved when people I don’t know trust me enough to mark their skin for life.
I regards to the art, I have always loved art that is clean and well defined. I am quite manic in real life, and I think it comes through in my art. I also like the simplicity, or the efficiency of the blackwork. It gets straight to the point, no flourish. That’s how I like to express myself. Two other things that are important to me in a tattoo piece, and can be found within blackwork are; there is a good contrast and the tattoo will last very well with time.
What do you love to tattoo? What would you like to do more of? I really love to tattoo manga pieces. I am quite a geek, especially towards the Japanese culture. So these subjects are so much fun for me to work on. Especially, when I can rework them. It’s very intimidating but also rewarding to follow the steps of great mangaka (manga authors) that I love and admire. So of course, I would like to do more of manga pieces, especially some lesser known ones. I like doing some Naruto or Dragon Ball but it’s also great to work on other titles.
You have travelled and worked in so many countries, which was your favourite? Good question! I will split your question in two, my favourite country for travel and my favorite country for work. China was my favorite country to travel. It’s so big and so diverse! It gave me the feeling that you could spend your whole life trying to know more about it. And it’s the origin of so many Asian cultural streams. For the work, I would say Australia, the clients are very open-minded and they easily trust your work even if you are a foreigner.
What country/experience has inspired you the most? Where would you like to go back to? The Taiwan Tattoo Convention was my best memory of working in another country. I only spent a few days there, but the customers were so nice, they were very interested in my work. The local artists are so good and so open-minded and welcoming. Taiwan was like a perfect mix of China and Japan, and last but not least, the food was great! I really want to go back there one day !
Who has been the most influential person you have met? Or the one that has taught you something new about tattooing? Lately, I traveled around California with my family and I met an amazing artist in San Francisco, Brucius Xylander, owner of Black Serum tattoo studio. His sense of detail is just amazing, and it really gave me the will to work in a different way and develop new techniques to bring more details and more precision to my work.
Has becoming a mother changed your outlook towards your career? Or your style? It hasn’t change my ambition to become one of the best tattooers one day. But it really changes the way I look at my own work. I always considered myself as a dark person, and my drawings were a reflection of that. But after becoming a mother, I just wanted to spread more joy around me. And that’s where I started to specialise in manga. I wanted to tattoo more positive and innocent pieces. Even when it’s a sad or trash manga, it’s only fiction, it’s less sad than a crow skull or dead flowers to me. So yeah it definitely changed my style. And I am very happy about that change, I don’t have to carry the weight of my clients bad feelings like I had to sometimes, now I just share a common passion with them. It’s just perfect!
Interview with Karac Wilson
37-year-old Karac Wilson is a social care worker and tattoo collector from Sheffield. We caught up with Karac to chat all things tattoo…
What inspired you to become heavily tattooed? Growing up my older brother was heavily tattooed when I was around 16 years old, he was tattooed before it was cool. I didn’t really give it much thought back then, but he definitely inspired me to get a tattoo. As I got older I remember watching guys like Lil Wayne and music videos of heavily tattooed guys and always loved the look. Allen Iverson the NBA player was my idol growing up he was heavily tattooed and had his own style that changed the NBA. He was seen as the badboy of the league due to his tattoos that’s why I have his portrait on my leg by (Gibbo0)
When did you get your first tattoo? What was it and do you still like it? My first tattoo I was 18 I was into Ja Rule. And he had a “pain is love” tattoo on his chest. I took a print out to a tattoo shop and had the exact tattoo on my chest. That tattoo later got lasered and covered. It was one of those tattoos you get when your young and I didn’t really think about it. Lesson learned.
Has being tattooed ever helped you to get jobs or hindered you? My tattoos so far have not hindered me getting jobs, I currently work in social care with children with challenging behaviour and it’s a great ice breaker and a great talking point. On the negative side I worked in the probation service and they were not keen on all my tattoos and pretty much pushed me out because of it.
What kinds of reactions do your tattoos get? My tattoos get me plenty of attention wherever I go, even more so since my head was tattooed. I pretty much have people asking to take photos anywhere I go. Mostly positive reactions but you always get the odd negative one. But it does not bother me, each to their own and all that.
Do you have any future tattoo plans? Are you working towards a body suit? I don’t have much space left for tattoos as my bodysuit is nearly complete. It’s a a case of being really picky about my last few spots. The last three months I’ve had my stomach, armpits and nipples tattooed and they were really painful areas. I’m working towards a bodysuit and I’m 90% there, I’ve got the majority of it done in the last three years. It’s been a fun journey where I’ve travelled to many artists and cities across Europe.
Did you make a conscious decision to only have black and grey work? What do you love about this style? I started with a black and grey sleeve and then that’s all I wanted. For me bodysuit work is better with one or the other in my opinion. I love colour tattoos but I think you have to look after them much more and have good skin. Black and grey is a solid heal every time, where colour can drop out depending on your skin and aftercare regime. I have seen some amazing bodysuits in colour but black and grey works better for me.
If you could tattoo your body all over again would you go for colour or the same? If I could start again I think I would still go with black and grey I’ve been lucky to have work from Niorkz, Ben Kaye, Gibb0o, Matt Pettis, Dom Brown and Liv Frost. One black and grey artist id like a piece from would be Little Nick his work is unreal. If I could get a colour bodysuit it would have to be by Alex Wright and Ben Kaye, those guys are doing some unreal work.
All photos taken by Brendan Clayton
Interview with Tattooist Joe Ankave
26-year-old Joe Ankave is a tattoo artist from Te Aviv, Israel who is currently traveling in California. We caught up with Joe to chat about his tattooing style and the tattoo scene in Israel…
How long have you been tattooing and how did you get into the industry? I’ve tattooing for almost seven years now. When I was 16 years old I knew that I wanted to develop my drawing skills and take them to the next step. After a couple of years I bought my first machine and started working privately at home and I work by myself till this day – I don’t have a master. In Israel you don’t need a license to do this, and it is quite different from the UK.
What inspired you to become a tattooer? Was there a particular person? From day one, Shige inspired me the most, and he still inspires me today actually. Shige is the one who took traditional Irezumi to the next level, he turned it into the modern form of neo-traditional tattooing.
How would you describe your tattooing style? My main style is neo-Japanese. Some would say that I do bold colour work, which is kinda funny. All tattoos must be done as bold as possible, so that they look right. In time tattoos fade more and more, so why not make it bold from the beginning?
What do you like to tattoo? Is there anything you would love to tattoo? The object that I like to tattoo the most is the peony flower. This kind of flower has great potential, especially when it comes to different sizes. You can create a beautiful movement within the tattoo and of course to do a nice bit of colour work.
What was your first tattoo? I’m not sure about that, but I think the first tattoo I did was a smile on my friend’s leg.
What’s the tattoo scene like in Israel? It’s getting better and better! People are getting more and more tattoos and also big ones! There are many new tattooers and new tattoo shops, especially in Tel-Aviv. Also every year there’s the Israel Tattoo Convention and every year more and more people are coming over. Now you can clearly see a huge difference in the amount of people that are exposed to tattooing.
What kind of reactions do your tattoos get? It’s funny to say that but people love my tattoos even those who don’t have tattoos or say that they don’t like Japanese work at all. I believe that when I try to do my best with each new tattoo, when I harness the ability to focus on the small details, I can create a sort of magic. When people look at my tattoos they can see it too, it’s hard to explain but just the way I see it.