Tag: Things and Ink

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Tattooing Under Martial Law

Our Australian contributing editor, Fareed Kaviani, is currently in Bangkok getting a back piece from Guy Le Tatooer. While over there he caught up with Six Fathoms Deep owner Nicholas Mudskipper to find out what it’s like tattooing under military rule.

On 22 May 2014, the military announced that it had taken control of the country in a coup implemented ostensibly to restore order and enact ‘necessary’ political reforms. Martial law continues to be imposed nationwide. Although the political arena is a complex entanglement of loyalties, royalties, and corruption, the situation can be simplified by reducing it to a civic battle between different coloured garments.

The yellow shirts wanted to suspend the constitution and depose the democratically elected government on the charge of corruption. Their desire was to appoint an interim administration to oversee political reform.

The red shirts were loyal to the ousted government.

Due to the civil unrest, most foreign governments have been advising their citizens to exercise a high degree of caution when travelling to Thailand.

I arrived on the 9th to get tattooed by Guy Le Tatooer while he’s guesting at Bangkok’s Six Fathoms Deep. Although Bangkok appeared to be business as usual, news reports of police harassment suggested otherwise.

Tourists and foreign nationals have become targets of what many claim to be systematic ‘racial profiling’. Accosted by police, people have been asked to present identification papers and visas, with some even forced to provide on the spot urine samples designed to detect hard drugs. As one report cautioned, an empty bladder is no excuse: ‘when he couldn’t produce, he says they forced him to drink four liters [sic] of water and pressed forcefully on his bladder to make him urinate and touched his penis.’

Using the threat of immediate arrest, they have been aggressively cajoling unsuspecting tourists into coughing up ad hoc ‘fines’ for failing to provide substantial documentation. Although Martial Law applies exclusively to the army and its soldiers, and Section 93 of the criminal code clearly states that searches conducted in public are prohibited without probable cause, it is believed that the police have had to improvise due to the Army obstructing their usual swindles.

Six Fathoms Deep’s Nicholas Mudskipper has experienced their intimidation first hand.

‘Yeah man, vultures on the streets shaking down people for payouts. I was headed back from a ju-jitsu session and I was told I’m a Russian selling coke around the red-light areas, [the officer] greedily stuck his hands into my gym bag to find a sweaty ju-jitsu gi! These guys’ other rackets are being squeezed by the military so they need to find other ways to buy Christmas goodies this time of year.’

‘So, are you red or yellow shirted?’ I asked in jest.

‘I make my own shirts bra! Black white and grey for days!’

Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, Nick came to Bangkok several years ago to set up shop with his business partner, Dillon Pienaar.

‘Bangkok is a beast that can swallow you up fast, a city full of interesting things, a sunny place for shady people!’

I asked Nick what it was like to run a tattoo studio, while under Martial law, inside the belly of that beast.

‘Bro, Six Fathoms Deep is like a bubble, once you’re inside, doesn’t feel like I’m in Bangkok anymore: no dramas, no politics, just tattooing and Masters of the Universe figures surrounding me. If all else fails I’m sure Skeletor will get my back. Our Tattoo shop is a friendly creative family for good-hearted tattooers far from home. We are all about doing good clean tattoos, good vibes, toy collecting and of course big BBQs!’

Speaking of toys, the interior of Six Fathoms Deep was peppered with an array of figurines.

‘I’m crazy about Masters of the universe and other 80s toys, Matt Adams is into Ninja turtles, Miss Ink is super into Russian and Kewpie dolls, David Chaston is into other strange stuff too, so yeah it’s just our man cave full of items that influence us and that we’re nostalgic about.’

And why Six Fathoms Deep?

‘I originally wanted to call the shop Six Feet Deep, but that was kind of taken, ha-ha. I grew up around the Atlantic Ocean and have always been curious of the mysterious depths and legends of giant creatures fathoms deep under the ocean, so I blended those together! Boom!’

Six Fathoms Deep’s resident artists are Nicholas Mudskipper, David Chaston, Miss Ink and Big Matt Adams.

Current guest artists are Guy Le Tatooer and Etienne Memon.

Read more of Fareed’s work at www.the4thwall.net

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The One Love Project

THE ONE LOVE PROJECT

The One Love Project aims to provide a safe and creatively stimulating learning environment for the children of a traditional Rajasthani gypsy community located on the perimeter wastelands of Pushkar, India.

The One Love project was born when five friends journeyed through India and experienced firsthand the desperate need of the children there.

Background to the project: It was while volunteering at Pushkar’s Joshua Play Project, that they discovered there were more children in gypsy encampments in the area. These children were sent by their parents onto the streets, to support not just themselves, but their families by begging from the numerous tourists. The One Love Project hopes that instead of a career of begging on the streets of Pushkar, the children will be both educated and stimulated in a creative way. Music, dancing, happiness and laughter are right at the heart of One Love.

The name of the project has been taken from the famous Bob Marley song, as he is revered with guru status by the locals,  and the project aim is to keep sharing his message of love, peace and equality. The aim is to bring hope and a brighter future to these children, create a safe space full of fun, music and laughter. Secure with love and support the children will rise above their social circumstances and look forward to making a great contribution to Pushkar’s future.

The Project Now: The One Love Project has been running for one year and currently has 18 children, funded by sponsorship, to attend the town’s local private Parasha School, where they receive a rich curriculum and support in all core areas of learning. The children are accompanied, after their formal morning lessons at the school, to the One Love Project, where they are provided with a healthy midday meal and a teacher gives them further assistance with their homework. There are plenty of opportunities for children to play and explore their own culture in visual and expressive arts.

The cost of running the project: Charitable donations by the founding friends and supporters have provided the project with a building and monsoon proof covering, gas and a fresh water tank for cooking wholesome meals and providing clean drinking water for the children. A local teacher has been employed for homework help and further educational support. Art and music supplies, blackboard and learning apparatus have also been purchased with donations.

It currently costs £50 a year to keep each child enrolled in Parasha School and an extra £220 a month is needed for the running costs of the project – this is to cover food, water, power and payments to the project manager, teacher and cook.

Current funding status: One girl who helped with the build contributed to the start up costs by donating all her money she had earned from teaching Yoga in the town. Members of the One Love team run a jewellery company called Gypsy East and during the build they designed a One Love pendant. All of the profit from the £10 necklace went directly to fund the project. The project also receives donations, money from sponsored runs and they are also looking to hook up with The Pipe Dream Experience to raise some money from a one-off event in London.

The One Love Pendant

 

Future plans for the project: The primary plan is to move The Project’s site, currently at the base of the gypsy camp, to an official location where the children can play, learn and develop with greater protection. The aim is to establish a recognised charity that will provide the children with the basic rights of every child: education, play and staying healthy. The entire team are heading back to India over the next few months to work on relocating the project. 

Follow the One Love project’s progress on Facebook and Instagram or email the team at theoneloveprojectpushkar@gmail.com.

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Issue 9 stripped back – what’s inside?

Our editorial assistant Rosalie Woodward reviews issue 9 of Things&Ink magazine #strippedback – out now, with a choice of three different covers. Pick your favourite cover and buy your copy here!

Miniature Ink – Page 10
Meet the buyers of ‘Miniature Ink’, an exhibition of artwork donated by over 100 tattoo artists from around the world to raise awareness for cancer charity Sarcoma UK. Editor Alice Snape met the lucky art owners when they collected their original framed pieces from Atomica Gallery. If you were wondering who nabbed your favourite and where they ended up then look no further than the latest issue of Things&Ink.

 

The New Normal – Page 29
Things&Ink presents an array of colourful characters, a spectacle of human oddities, here to shatter social norms and break the rules of attraction. We bring to you tattoo artist Freddie Albrighton caught in a gender divide, one which reflects his tattooing and fashion style. The beautiful two-headed Sophia Bickerton, who openly shares her life on social media and is an avid believer in self acceptance. The stunning acrobat Ermine Hunte with a moving tale of transplant surgery. The smouldering one-legged pirate Taylor Crisp, daring to explode social ideals of beauty…

 

Phantasy Homes – Page 46
We step inside the home of tattoo artist Lianne Moule, which she shares with her tattooist husband Jason Butcher, who both work at Immortal Ink, Chelmsford. The pair have collected quite an array of curiosities and interesting items that reflect their creative tattooing styles and colour palettes.

To read these features in full order your copy here…

 

Which cover will you choose?

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Temporary tattoos for Suzie

Every Friday Suzie Barrie goes to her local tattoo studio, Muscle and Ink in New Zealand for a new temporary tattoo.

For the past few months Suzie, who has Down’s Syndrome, has been taking a pack of temporary tattoo designs and tattooist Jason Ward applies them for her, like he would a regular tattoo – he even wears gloves.

At first Jason thought it was a one time thing, but Suzie hasn’t missed a week since she first went in and when she has time she gets more than one design.

Tattoo artist, Jason Ward of Muscle and Ink Tattoo gives Suzie a stick-on tattoo each week.

Talking to the New Zealand Herald Jason said:

The first time she came in, she just walked in, slapped a couple of stick-on tattoo packets on the desk and asked me to put them on her arm. I said, ‘what?’ And she said it again so I sat her down and put them on… But if she was a member of my family and she had have walked into another tattoo shop and they had told her to bugger off, I’d be angry. Why would you say no? You should treat everybody the same.

Image from stuff.co.nz

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My week vaporising

Our music writer, Jen Adamson, took the vape challenge to see if a week of swapping roll-ups for a vaporiser would help her to cut her smoking habit down and eventually help her quit. We asked her to keep a smoking diary, here’s how she got on….

 

I’m a smoker and for every health reason under the sun, I need to and should cut down. I think with the realisation that I’ve now smoked heavily for a good 10 years, it’s high time that I give it a go and at the very least try for a week to quit. Drum roll please…

My challenge is to cut back with the help of a vaporiser. I smoke a maximum of about 10 thin roll ups a day. I personally think I’m a heavy smoker, although I have already changed my smoking habits. I used to smoke normal cigarettes before I started smoking roll-ups. One day I would like to completely stop smoking, for good.

 

“First let me explain how the electronic vaporiser works: they are battery powered devices that produce a water vapour that resembles smoke. The vaporiser that I tried was on the large side, being around 5 inches long compared to a roll up which is around 3 inches in length. The vaporiser unscrews in the middle so that you can drop some of the refillable e-liquid inside. While smoking you press a blue button on the side of the tube at the same time as you inhale. It was really easy to use and simple to re-fill. I used nicotine infused e-juice in a pomegranate flavour.”

Day One
I work in a bar and today I’m doing the day shift. During these shifts I usually smoke five roll-ups spread out to break up the work. As it’s the first day I’m really making an effort to smoke the vape, I even sat and smoked it inside the office, but the vape isn’t giving me the satisfaction that I’d normally get from cigarettes.

Day Two
As well as smoking the vaporiser yesterday I also smoked three roll ups. I’m trying not to change my routine too much and the cravings are starting to kick in. I enjoy rolling cigarettes and having five minutes to myself outside. I want to smoke the vaporiser during the times I usually smoke, opposed to smoking more during the day because I have the vape. Today has been stressful and I’ve smoked five roll ups.

Day Three
Today I have the day off, Hurrah! I’ve started to smoke the vaporiser inside my house, which feels really unnatural and weird. I don’t smoke inside my home and my daughter doesn’t like me smoking the vape inside either, even though it doesn’t smell and the smoke isn’t harmful. Back on the doorstep for me! My cravings are easing a little and I only had three roll ups today.

Day Four
I’M CHEWING THE END OF THE VAPE! I’m trying hard not to smoke roll ups but I just don’t feel I’m getting the nicotine hit that I need from the vaporiser. I’ve also smoked three roll ups today.

Day Five
I cracked today! I went out with some friends who also smoke, so I did too. It is just so hard to say no when everyone around you is smoking. I’ve finally realised that I have no will power, something that you need in large supply if you want to cut down smoking. I tried to use the vaporiser as well, but I can’t get used to smoking it inside, personally I think it is a little bit rude to vape indoors. I’ve still gone down from 10 to four or five roll -ups a day but the vape hasn’t left my mouth!

Day Six
I figured out today that it’s the ‘hit’ that the vape isn’t giving me. When inhaling it doesn’t give that ‘drag’ feeling that you get when you inhale on a cigarette. I think the vaporiser I have is much too mild. I thought because I smoke quite thin roll ups that I wouldn’t need a strong vaporiser, that I would be fine on a milder one. In reality I think it would be easier to cut down if I had a stronger one, but I guess it is all trial and error where vaping is concerned.

Day Seven, the last day!
I haven’t given up yet! The one thing the vape has really done has helped me to cut right back! I haven’t stopped smoking completely; smoking is a hard habit to break. I think the vaporiser is a way for me to replace one harmful habit for another not so harmful one. I think one of the reasons I find it so hard to quit is that I enjoy having a moment to stand outside and take a break. The vaporiser is not a cure for smoking, but a way to replace cigarettes, the pressure shouldn’t be put on them but on you. Willpower is the biggest thing, but undoubtedly they do help. I’ve liked having fingers that don’t stink of smoke and clothes that don’t reek of it either. A colleague at the bar did notice that I smell less of smoke now and, to be honest, I didn’t even take that into consideration!

 

I’m going to carry on using the vape, as a replacement, so that I can lower my nicotine intake by decreasing the amount of nicotine juice I put inside the vaporiser. Hopefully I can progress to just smoke the flavoured juice and hopefully I can stop smoking roll-ups all together. Baby steps…

 

 

Tips for Swapping Tobacco for Electronic Cigarettes

We’ve asked online vaping and e-liquid specialists VapeClub.co.uk what advice they could give to a newbie just starting out in their transition from smoking to vaping. Here’s what they had to say:

1.     Try a few different devices and pick one that suits your needs

Some people want the look and feel of a tobacco cigarette so they’d be more suited to ‘cig-a-like’ devices. Other people want the improved performance of the second generation devices that don’t look much like a cigarette but provide a better throat hit or ‘drag’ experience. Have a go on a few different models and find the one that will work best for you.

2.     Choosing the right nicotine strength:

The nicotine strength in electronic cigarette usually ranges from 24mg (Very High) to 0mg (Nicotine free). Finding the right strength for you is going to take a little bit of trial and error. Vaping is not 100% efficient many smokers find that when they make the move to vaping they actually use a higher nicotine strength than they imagined they would need.

3.     Prime it for full effect.

A few primer puffs will allow the atomiser to get up to full heat before you start to inhale and allow the device to work at its full potential.

4.     Do not be afraid to experiment with flavours!

It’s very common after even just a short while vaping for people to realise just how much they don’t enjoy the flavour of tobacco.

5.    Get involved in the community and learn as much as you can!

As a new vaper it can be a bit daunting. Don’t worry, we have ALL been there, and there is an ever growing community of vapers both online and in real life who are more than happy to give you tips and advice and help you learn everything you need to know.

Hang in there… Anything that is important to you is worth fighting for. Good luck and Vape on.