Ink Inc goes extreme

Never mind the pain of ‘branding’ or tattoos that resemble scars — city buffs are going all the way for a streak of difference, finds Kareena N Gianani.

Two months ago, when Nikhil Gupta, a 24-year-old professional, sat in the tattoo artist’s chair, he knew he wasn’t in for the usual. He was warned of unbearable pain, blood and gore but he couldn’t care less. Instead of the usual hum of the tattoo-machine, the tattoo artist was slicing his right upper arm with a scalpel. Gupta was ecstatic.

Mere designs in ink etched on the body don’t seem enough for many tattoo aficionados. Stretching beyond the limit are imagination, technique and the results in tattooing. Gupta’s tattoo was no colourful snake and dagger, but an experiment with scarification, an emerging trend in tattooing done sans ink.

After three regular ink tattoos, Gupta was itching to try out something outrageous. When his tattoo artist suggested scarification, Gupta was initially revolted but later intrigued. “I researched on scarification for months and was enthused. The tribes from the Amazon scarred themselves for spiritual healing and the pain was believed to unite them with their deities,” says Gupta. He was also fascinated with the idea of testing his pain threshold. One can label it sadistic, but Gupta asks, “Why not? A tattoo must be well thought of, symbolic and something you wouldn’t get bored of.” Gupta doesn’t care that a few acquaintances have severed ties with him because of his extreme passion. “Having a fetish for scars seems perverted to some but having my name etched this way is a high,” he states.

Tattoo artists in the city aren’t complaining. A client ready for some quirks and the thrill of the exotic is their best bet. Al Alva, a leading tattoo artist at Bandra, is glad that people are open to experimentation. “Branding, UV tattooing, and bamboo tattooing are other forms that are considered extreme.”

The reasons for opting for such new art are many. Twenty-two-year-old Simmonelle d’Souza, for instance, unabashedly admits she’s a “whacko”. “I got a bamboo-shaped scar tattooed below my hip because I wanted to make a statement and regular tattoos don’t do that anymore.” “The one question that I love is people asking me how much it hurt. I get a kick when I tell them it was unbearable,” she says.

UV tattoos, say its fans, are a safe bet for working professionals who want to be discreet about tattoos. Etched in white UV ink, these tattoos are invisible in normal light and emerge only under black light, usually found at discotheques.  Prashanth Menon, who recently got a lizard-shaped UV tattoo on his arm, says UV is yet to take off in Mumbai but is a rage abroad. “I can’t sport tattoos at my workplace and a UV tattoo was a great experiment — it helps me be sporty and jazzy at parties,” he says. UV tattoos start from Rs2,000 per inch and scarification can be done for Rs1,500 per inch.

Branding is another technique fast luring those who fancy body art that symbolises ancient rituals. First used by Romans to brand their slaves, branding now is just another unusual body modification. The desired design is cut out from stainless steel, is heated to a high temperature and is then branded on bare skin, leaving a permanent mark. The design can later be filled with colours. Micky Malani, a tattoo artist, says 70 per cent of his clients keep coming back for more tattoos. And branding, for them, means taking the art to another level. “Real tattoo buffs are always looking for the next big thing — branding is one way to sport something bizarre.”

AJ, a body-piercing artist, got ‘branded’ a few years ago. He might not have an outlandish story to support his action but loves his branding nonetheless. “Almost all my skin is covered in tattoos and I just wanted to try out branding for fun. A Japanese sign caught my fancy, and after I got it ‘branded’ on me, a Japanese friend told me it meant ‘Caution: Harmful for children’!”

Another ancient practice seeing a comeback is bamboo tattooing — thanks to Hollywood starts like Angelina Jolie who sports a 12-inch Bengal tiger tattoo on her lower back. Fine magnum needles are firmly attached to a thin piece of bamboo and are gently tapped onto the skin. The art form is believed to have originated in South East Asia 3000 years ago and is widely practiced in Thailand.

Nashwin D’Mello, who recently got a bamboo tattoo in the shape of the Tricetra (a Celtic symbol that stands for the Holy Trinity), says he went for it only because of its ancient significance. “I find bamboo tattoos very intricate and symbolic. Its no-machine approach, the use of natural dyes and greater pain fascinates me.”

D'Souza puts it best. “It isn't about just getting inked, it's all about proving a point to yourself”. Pain, she says, sets the tattoo posse free.

g_kareena@dnaindia.net