News Archives - Page 41 of 43

September 24, 2011

London Tattoo Convention First – first day of filming

20,000 or more visitors are expected to attend this weekend’s International London Tattoo Convention at Tobacco Dock in Wapping. The halls of the warehouse have become a fantastical world of tattoo parlours, tattoo museums, fashion boutiques, a rockabilly club and performance stages.

And I have been lucky enough to film and report the action for Zeitgeist magazine…

Friday 23 September – Day one of filming

It is easy to spot the convention goers from the moment we arrive at Shadwell station, a trilby, a pin-up style head scarf…and of course lots of beautifully decorated skin – wonderfully out of context on the streets of Shadwell. I wait for the rest of the film crew to arrive (the boys from Papercut Pictures and Olivia Snape) with a cup of coffee and a cheese toastie, and wonder what the day will hold.

Thinking we are organised, we arrive at the gates at 10.30am ready to get inside and start arranging film times. We are clearly not as eager as a lot of art enthusiasts and a queue is steadily building outside the main gates. I am in awe, amazed by the inkings and body modifications that adorn the skin of these art collectors.

Even though the convention is not yet open, when we get inside there is already a buzz as the artists set up their equipment for a day of tattooing. We have a list of the artists we need to see and arrange suitable times in their busy schedules for them to speak to us on camera about their particular take on the art form. From traditional Samoan done by hand, to antique victoriana and old-school American.

Many of the artists have travelled the world to work at the convention and while it can be easy to put ‘tattoos’ in one category, the convention truly illustrates the variety of styles and traditions in the history of the art form, as they are all there to see in the maze of Tobacco Dock.

Our first day of filming was stressful, but amazing and we spoke to some of the world’s leading tatooers: Pili Mo’o, Ryan from Scapegoat tattoo, Jo Harrison, Steve Vinall and Michelle and Amanda from Daredevil tattoo NYC.

I won’t tell you what they had to say though, as the short films will be on Zeitgeist very soon. I can’t wait to go back today and speak to some more artists, including Uncle Allan (who I LOVE!) let’s hope he gives me a sneaky tattoo while I interview him.

Hope to see some of you there again today…

September 21, 2011February 5, 2012

Cosmopolitan blog awards

I feel extremely honoured to be shortlisted for a Cosmo Blog Award, in the Lifestyle section.

I have been writing about tattoos for a number of years now and I would love to see an alternative blog, such as Th’ink, be a winner in a fashion-dominated world.

As tattoos gain increasing currency in contemporary culture, my blog mimics the chic aspirations of girls just like me. Those who use tattoos as a way of expressing themselves, but are not necessarily completely covered, and see the beauty of the art from and the sub-cultures surrounding it.

Tattoos are becoming more fashionable, I am here to make sure people get good tattoos and think before they ink themselves for life. If you have read my blog, enjoyed it and agree with the messages I stand for, please vote for Th’ink and help me put good tattoo art in the heart of fashion culture.

Vote here… www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blog-awards-2011-vote

September 18, 2011

London Tattoo Convention excitement

The seventh International London Tattoo Convention, now the most important and crowded convention in the world, will be held over the weekend of September 23/24/25 (NEXT WEEKEND, CANNOT WAIT) at Tobacco Dock. This year, the organisers are opening up even more areas, rooms and attractions than ever before, to meet the public’s inexorably increasing interest in body art.

I am excited to announce that I will be reporting from the event for Zeitgeist magazine, with the help of Papercut Pictures. Article and short film to follow, watch this space…

In the meantime here is a selection of photos from last year’s event.

Lee,Simon & Dan,Artist- Lee Simonds @ Cherry Blossom, Walton — Lee, Simon & Dan - Artist, Lee Simonds, Cherry Blossom, Walton

August 31, 2011

Hang a Damien Hirst on your vagina

Former POP editor Dasha Zhukova‘s new art and fashion bible, Garage magazine, is set to launch next week. It has already caused controversy over one of the cover images, in which a butterfly is placed provocatively over a lady’s, urm, parts. Zhukova approached several contemporary artists with the brief to design a tattoo, which would then be inked onto a ‘living canvas’.

23-year-old Shauna Taylor agreed to get a butterfly tattoo, from artist Damien Hirst, on her crotch for the feature. Tattoo artist Mo Coppoletta (The Family Business, London) was picked by Hirst himself to ink the green-and-black tattoo. The tattoo took two sessions to complete.

The black-and-white image which appears on the cover of the magazine has a butterfly sticker hiding the tattoo and reads ‘peel slowly and see.’ Inside the magazine is an innovative photo-feature titled: Inked. The subject matter has been making headlines and is considered to be somewhat controversial, it has even been banned from the shelves of UK newsagent WHSmith.

Famous artists including Jeff Koons, Jake and Dinos Chapman, John Baldessari and Paul McCarthy also feature in this project. The spread features a number of ‘willing canvases’, an assortment of men and women and raises questions about the permanency of contemporary art. ‘What are they worth? Something more than the skin on their backs?’ asks Garage’s Becky Poostchi.

The feature, despite causing some controversy, highlights the growing status of tattoos as art objects, finally people are beginning to see that tattoos themselves can be art. Some of the sketches for the tattoos are now the property of the Gagosian Gallery, only proving their status as valuable works of art.

GaragePrince — Richard Prince’s signature smiley face was tattooed on Conrad Lochner, a 31-year-old from New York

June 23, 2011

Matt Lodder – the art doctor.

On the 21st June 2011 I had the pleasure of hearing Doctor Matthew Lodder give a talk on his thesis – Tattooing as Artistic Practice. I have raved, in an adolescent fashion, about Matt Lodder in previous blog posts…

Back Business card — The back of Matt Lodder's beautiful business card.

Matt Lodder’s talk was extremely insightful, he posed a significant question: if tattoos are art, then why have they never been analysed as art objects? Discussions about tattoos tend to centre around the psychology of the tattoo wearer and motivations behind getting tattooed. So Matt’s thesis begins where many other discussions end – the tattooed body as art.

The talk raised important questions about the inherent problems with analysing the modified body as art. There are issues with authorship: who is the artist – the wearer or the tattooist? Problems with ownership and copyright.

Matt coloured his talk with examples to illustrate these issues. Lee Wagstaff, an MA printmaking student, transformed his body into a living piece of art. Lee designed all the graphics that would be inked onto his body, as the recipient he set out his objective clearly. The tattooer reproduced Lee’s ideas, he was the functionary. However the stylistic quirks of the tattooer will inevitably effect the way the final tattoo looks.

This example, plus others such as Wim Delvoye’s Tim, illustrate that tattoos can be art. Tim was sold for €150,000, for this price the piece has to be exhibited three times a year, of course meaning that Tim himself has to travel to wherever the artwork is to be exhibited.

Well, Doctor Lodder talked about his ideas far more eloquently than I, so if you get a chance to hear him speak I highly recommend it…

After all this academia we needed wine and discussion in the pub…

Alice Th'ink and Matt Lodder - in the pub for an apres-talk vino

Wine leads to chat about our own inkings and below is Matt’s beautiful padlock tattoo.

Matt Lodder padlock tattoo — Matt Lodder's padlock tattoo - I am hoping to get a padlock tattoo very soon too and I love this one.

Matt also has the words: Curiouser and Curiouser on his wrists, of course I love the Alice in Wonderland reference, being named Alice and having an Alice in Wonderland tattoo myself.

Top photo: www.swallowsndaggers.net Bottom photo: Ink it up