I’m going to divide these next few posts up in order to get a good overview of them all, because I’ve been up to quite a bunch of things these last few months.
So I’m starting off with the Brighton Tattoo Convention…
Deciding to go to this was kind of a last minute thing for me, but I was bombarded with advertisements by Tattoo Revolution magazine and figured “What the heck?” It was around my 22nd birthday and I’d get to spend a few days alone with my boyfriend, ogling tattooed strangers. Hit and a win!
First of all, how fantastic is Brighton?! We stayed at the Premier Inn, right smack bang in the middle of everything, and three minutes from a Yo! Sushi, where I inevitably had my birthday meal. We were also less than ten minutes walk from the Odeon too, and went to watch Tangled in the evening, with a bunch of other geeky adults.
Anyway, the convention… I’m trying not to jabber too much, because I have so much to talk about, and so little space and time.
This was my first tat-con (yes I’m lazy and thus forth will refer to it as that) so it was extremely overwhelming, both in good terms and bad terms. The good being that I got to see so many shit-hot tattoos, and everyone seemed really friendly. There were cupcakes, and a corset shop and hundreds of free stickers (the cheap-man’s way of covering my sketchbooks). And best of all I got to meet Alex Guest of Tattoo Revolution Magazine, who turned out to be cooler than I could have imagined, and gave me his business card and a fortune cookie which said I was going to get a pay rise very soon. Cheers Alex!
Dan and I also pondered over him getting a tattoo, after we spotted the Bad Bunny Tattoo Studio sketchbook, and fell in love with their quirky new-school drawings. If it hadn’t been for the hefty price tag and my lack of funds, I would have bought the book, but luckily you can still see some of their artwork on their website.
Of course, there were plenty of juicy pieces of artwork hanging around, as you can see from my eager snaps…
We even spotted some traditional tattooing!
The downside to the Saturday was that, for once, instead of sticking out, I basically just disappeared into the crowd. And I felt really insignificant for not having my first tattoo. So I spent much of my birthday feeling sorry for myself, and not paying attention to the fact that I should have been enjoying myself!
So after some initial scolding by my boyfriend, we decided to enjoy the Sunday, which we really did! We watched a couple of the Tattoo competitions, oohing and ahhing at some awesome artwork, my favourite of which was a Doc Brown (Back to the Future) tattoo, it made my day.
Then, as if by some miracle, Art Historian Matt Lodder presented a seminar about tattoos as art objects, which was not only fascinating in itself, but was also completely relevant to my final year Dissertation! So I listened with rapture, while Dan made a recording, and for the first time that weekend I had the gumption to approach Dr Lodder and talk to him. Far from looking like your usual old-fart art historian, Matt Lodder was a tattooed and pierced young dude who dressed like he’d just jumped out of the ’40’s. He was so incredibly friendly, and offered to help me with my Dissertation (which he did, evidently, but that’s another story).
Dan and I spent the rest of the afternoon looking in on the Sugar Project (and I wish to God I could bid on one of those!!!), eating chips, and finally landing ourselves in the “cinema” watching Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry. I’d been meaning to watch this for a while, and I wasn’t disappointed; it’s a hilarious, and often poignant film, about the original old tattoo dude, Norman Keith Collins and his bizarre life. Apparently, the version we saw was the short version (about an hour and a half) so I still have more to see. But if you watch it, keep an eye out for “Crazy” Philadelphia Eddie, he had me giggling every time he was on screen, funny git!
Some stills from the Sailor Jerry Cinema...
We ended the day on a high note, wandering up to the piercing/branding room where we watched a huge guy have the number 13 burned into his neck (electro-cautery tattooing) by the very talented Quentin from Kalima body piercing studio. We got to talking when he noticed me drooling over pictures of tongue-splitting (seriously, Google that if you don’t know what it is). He told me that he was one of the first people to have the tongue-splitting procedure over here in the UK, and told me about his way of doing it, and how he encourages his clients to really think about the painful body mod. Something which I am doing, after taking his card.
Quentin and his victim...
Finally, I can’t talk about the convention without mentioning the few celebrities that we saw. Dan Gold and Phil Kyle of London Ink fame were there, working hard. I have to admit, I’ve always thought Phil Kyle was pretty awesome, so it was cool to see him there. But I had to giggle when my boyfriend asked, “How long to you reckon Dan Gold will take to do that tattoo?” as he’s known for being a tad slow. He might be a bit of a cheeky bastard I suppose, but I still get goosebumps when I see someone off of the telly… I just wish it had been Jodie Marsh so I could fix her freaky nose with my fist.
Phil Kyle and Dan Gold getting it on!
So, despite a rough start, all down to my own insecure feelings, I really did enjoy the con, and I’m hoping to go the Manchester Tattoo Show next month, and the Liverpool con in May. I’d recommend those wondering if they should go to one, to just do it, and don’t let fear of intimidation ruin it for you. You don’t need a tattoo to have fun at these conventions, and nobody will judge you.
Luckily I learned from my experience, and next time I’ll be getting more out of those fantastic tattooists, than just their business cards (of which I got like sixty of them…)
Until tomorrow then!
