"Jim and I have been huge fans of unintentionally-hilarious cinema failures for pretty much our entire lives. We both grew up watching "Up All Night" on USA, terrible movies on Cinemax, etc. And it's a somewhat unique format for a standup show. The clips take a huge burden off of us in terms of keeping the audience warmed up/laughing between sets. Because, really, when it comes down to it, we're both just unbelievably lazy."

We wrote up Hori Smoku's first NYC appearance just over a year ago, but I can safely say that this weekend's screening at Rooftop Films will be a heck of a lot cooler than how Marisa and I originally watched the film (streaming it through Netflix on my laptop).

Saturday night, on the roof of the Old American Can Factory in Gowanus, Brooklyn, there will be live music by Cheeseburger at 8:30pm, followed by the screening at 9pm and then an afterparty in the courtyard with Sailor Jerry rum.

(Sadly, they've closed the RSVP option for the event, but a lucky few will get access to the event at 8pm on Saturday.  I'd keep an eye on their Twitter feed for details, if I were you.)

And if you're in NYC but haven't yet heard of Rooftop Films... what's wrong with you?  For 13 years, they've been screening amazing independent films on rooftops around the city.  They've partnered with IFC and every year they donate money to filmmakers looking to complete their projects (they've also gotten a hell of a lot more money from me than I donate to that girls' school from which I graduated way back when).  Most importantly, we all know how cool it is being on a city rooftop - but when you combine that with great music and awesome indie cinema, it's like turning gravy into gold (and I looooooove gravy).

Be sure to check out their extended schedule for the rest of the summer's screenings.

It was a tattoo love fest this past weekend at the Traditional Tattoo & World Culture Festival -- festival being the key word as Phil Cummins made it clear that he set out to organize a gathering that was far from the impersonal mega-conventions ubiquitous around the world. And he did so.

See over a hundred of Brian's photos here.

The fest felt like a cross between a family reunion and mini-Woodstock (or Glastonbury for my UK homies). Most tattooists worked in yurts surrounding the Marlogue Inn, and in adjoining fields, you found a big circus-like tent for bands and burlesque; a small group of vendors selling jewelry and clothing; and some convention-goers pitching their own tents to crash close-by after all the partying. Overlooking the fields, by the tree line, a suspension rig was hung for flesh-pulling fun.

Flowers adorned women's hair (mine with a skull barrette courtesy of Goldilox).
 
Shirtless kids ran around tattooing each other with marker pens.

Vegan yummies were sold just steps away from flaming burgers.

Booze, booze, booze.

And of course, there were drunken sing-a-longs around a Pan-like punk with an accordion.

Yup, it was pretty hippie.

But Brian and I dropped our Brooklyn badittudes, threw ourselves into the spirit of it all, and came outta the weekend smiling and (largely) unscathed.

I'm gonna break down my highlights below, but for full festival coverage, check my upcoming review for Total Tattoo magazine.
 

The festival stayed true to its "Traditional Tattoo & World Culture" label. Hand tattooing was ever-present, which was best considering the downpour on Saturday making electric tattooing in the main tent troublesome. In the smaller tattoo yurts, you had Durga from Indonesia (shown above) hand-tapping traditional Mentawai and Dayak Borneo tattoos. It was wonderful to watch and learn, and I'm grateful to him and Janti for letting me hang out.

Across from Durga's tent was Denmark's Colin Dale, who not only tattooed his signature hand-poked Nordic motifs, but also paid homage to Inuit skin sewing on one brave man who was gracious to allow a stream of convention goers come in and out of the tent to gawk in utter fascination. Yesterday, I posted Brian's video of the skin sewing here. Ya gotta see it.

As I mentioned, most machine work was in the main tattoo tent. Dotwork guru Xed Led Head got an early start on Friday night during the pre-party by continuing a facial tattoo collaboration with Matt Black on fellow blackwork artist Joe Munroe. [That work is the first image shown above.] Matt also got a few dots in the next day (shown below).



That pre-party was pretty lubricated, so in our feel-good state at 3AM, Brian had the idea to create a "Tattoo Cribs" video (ala MTV) featuring Matt and his monster suite--three times bigger than our musty micro-room. That video is coming up.


[**Actually, the pre-party for us really began on the flight over when we met Cammy of Metalurgey in Dundee, Scotland, and his beautiful girlfriend Katie on the plane. It appeared that we were grouped together and segregated from the other passengers, like in-flight detention for the tattooed. And that was just fine with us.**]  


The nerve center of the fest was inside the Marlogue Inn's bar and restaurant, where I had a table for signing copies of my Black Tattoo Art book ... and playing Pippi LongShortstocking. As it was the driest area on Saturday with the largest wall space, I was surrounded by beautiful fine art work including that of Boz (his online gallery is a must-see) and Claire Artemyz, of whom I'm a long-time fan for her "body landscapes," which are intense and intimate super close-ups of tattooed skin.


Also in our indoor space was the incomparable Pat Fish, the Queen of Celt, who surprisingly was the only one tattooing the native art of the Irish. Pat was a machine and didn't stop working the entire weekend, but we did find a moment to chat about tattoos, law and her most excellent mule.

The keynote speaker of the fest (shown right) was ManWoman, an artist who has devoted most of his life to reclaiming the swastika from its Nazi association and bringing it back to its ancient, peaceful origins. This reclamation was an overriding theme throughout the fest and "gentle swastika" tattoos adorned many bods there. I interviewed ManWoman for Total Tattoo and had a lot of questions on whether the symbol could ever shed the horrors that surround it. ManWoman had his own yurt where he sold his books and his "Smiley Swastika" tees.


Another huge highlight for me was finally meeting in person Dimitris of Hellenix Stixis and the gorgeous Clare Goldilox -- both of whom I've featured here for their hand-poked tattooing. Dimitris schooled me on the importance of learning the symbolism and history behind the motifs he extensively researches and then tattoos. And Goldilox, well, she did the wildest tattoo of the weekend: a hand-poked handprint butt tattoo. Ok, this tattoo needs its own paragraph ...

So, the I-will-never-anger-a-man-that-large head of security for the festival, Mick, and his lovely wife Christine approached Clare wanting the imprint of his hand on the right cheek of her behind. Next thing ya know, his hand is dipped in ink to make the stencil, a skirt is lifted, and the task of proper placement on the butt cheek begins ... oh, and with the couple's awesome teenage daughter standing by and offering guidance on whether it should be a little higher up and to the left. Claire spread out rugs on the floor of the restaurant, then had Christine lay upon them, and proceeded to hand-poke her butt.

Wait, it gets better ...

Once the outline was done, Phil's son Callan Cummins arrived to take part in the tattooing. Callan is Ireland's famed 8-year-old tattooist featured in mass media and even this documentary. The decision to have him tattoo went something as nonchalant as this:

"Mum, may I help Clare tattoo Christine's bum?"
"What did ya father say?"
"Yes."
"Ok, but do whatever Clare tells ya."

And this is what it looked like:

Callan was serious and tattooed like a pro.

Clare finished it up after a brief interruption by the cops (the bar/resto was not supposed to be open that late but something was worked out), and Christine was left smiling with her sexy new tush.

Then pints were poured.  A drunkenly exuberant DJ played that funky music.  And it seemed that every single person there was feelin' the love.

Ok, I've written too many words here, but the very best way to get the feel for the fest is to check out our Flickr photo set.

Share and enjoy. 

In 24 hours, Brian and I will head to Edinburgh, Scotland for some fun and then Cork, Ireland for even more fun this weekend at the Traditional Tattoo and World Culture Fest. [Looking forward to seeing Colin Dale, Xed Le head, and the fabulous Pat Fish, Queen of Celt, among so many other wonderful artists.] Will have a convention review and photos when we're back next week.

Meanwhile, I wanted to leave you with a few events from NYC to Liverpool (Sydney, Australia) to supplement our list of favorite upcoming conventions through October.

In that list, I mentioned the one-night-only-must-see exhibit: Pint Size Paintings at NYC's Sacred Gallery this Friday, July 9th. [I wrote about the book here, and have a couple photos of the exhibit from my Hell City gallery here.] So, I'm offering this quick reminder because I really recommend the show.

Also in NYC, P.J.S. Exhibitions presents Metanoia, a group exhibit featuring the fine art of top New York-based tattooists Chris O'Donnell, Stephanie Tamez, and Thomas Hooper of New York Adorned; Josh Egnew of Three Kings; Jason June of Daredevil Tattoo; as well as a hand crafted motorcycle by Ryan Bonilla of Bellum Concepts. Bevin Robinson and Patrick Sullivan will be co-curating the show, which runs July 15th through August 29th. A preview of the artwork is shown above.

Finally, for my Aussies, Liverpool's Casula Powerhouse Art Centre presents Body Pacifica,  a show focusing on Samoan, Maori, Tongan, and Niuean tattooing and ceremony. For me, one of the more interesting features of the show is Leo Tanoi's exhibition, which looks at the history and change of islander attitudes towards Samoan tattooing, and "explores stories of copyright and change, and the uncertain future of tattoo designs from a traditional perspective." The show runs until August 29th. Read more about the show and see a photo gallery here.[Thanks, Zhan, for the heads up!]  

Te Ao Hurihanga, photography by Chris Barber

On September 9, 2009, Matty No Times (Three Kings Tattoo) noticed that his legs had become severely swollen. He went to an emergency room and three hours later, after multiple blood tests, was informed that he was in liver failure (see details below). Now, about 8 months later, Matty is on his way back but is in severe financial debt.

A group of all star artists have joined together for a remarkable show to help Matty pay off his medical expenses. The show will be at the YES Gallery located at 147 India Street and Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint (Brooklyn) The exhibition will run from July 17th to July 23rd with a special opening reception on Saturday, July 17th from 5 - 10PM at YES Gallery with special Guest DJ Jesse Jones (Yuppicide).

ALL ART IS $350 OR LESS, and raffle goodies from KCDC Skate Shop, Tattoo Elite International, Waverly Color Company and more. The goal of this exhibition is not only to support Matty No Times, but to also present a spectacular array of noted artists, allowing our friends and peers, art lovers and collectors to view and obtain works that are both affordable and of exceptional quality, and to do this while we help out our friend and colleague. This is going to be an amazing, HUGE art exhibition with some incredible artists donating art. Don't miss it!!

Ink-n-Iron Fest photo by Nicole Reed

Tattoo events are taking place every thirty seconds throughout the summer, from New Jersey to Taiwan. Here's our pick list for the next few months to get you planning your own tattoo tour.

June

This weekend, June 11-13th, at the Ink-n-Iron show, custom cars, pin-up girls, Rockabilly bands, and top tattooists converge around and aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA. I've been following the road trips of artists and vendors on Twitter as they make their way over for the seventh year of this sleep-less event.  Too much to do there: live shows, the International Pole Performer Showcase, the Pin-Up Pageant, Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School, hot rod and kustom car contests, and of course, you could get tattooed by these excellent artists. Check the photos from previous shows, like the one above, on this page.  

I noticed a few of my faves weren't going to be at Ink-n-Iron this weekend but instead are working the Krakow Tattoo Fest in Poland--artists like Robert Hernandez, Victor Portugal, Zsolt Sarkozi and even Jeremiah Barba will be there (and not in his Long Beach homebase--I also think Slayer has something to do with this).

Next weekend, June 18-20, artists will also be divided among two popular shows, Northern Ink Xposure (NIX) in Toronto, Canada and the Evian Tattoo Show in France. The longstanding NIX show will host seminars, Art Fusion and a fine art gallery, among the mix of tattoo goodness. On Thursday before the convention kicks off, there will be a silent auction benefit for Skate4Cancer where tattoo artists donated custom painted skate decks for the charity.

I'm a little bummed that I won't be able to make it to the Evian Fest as it's the last show in this beautiful city. Gene Coffey of Tattoo Culture offered his thoughts on last year's show here (from friendly crowds to dapper mustaches.) He also took some photos, including this one below of a tattoo he did there. The client wanted Gene to tattoo the words "Bonjour Mademoiselle" but in the way he thought it would be spelled. Gene has never taken a French lesson. Obviously.


 
July

So, remember the Pint Size Paintings exhibit I've been talking about, which launched at Hell City Killumbus? Well, the show is coming to NYC's Sacred Gallery but for one night only, July 9th. Don't miss it!

Alas, I will miss it myself because Brian and I will be in County Cork, Ireland, July 10 & 11, for The Traditional Tattoo and World Culture Festival. I am so excited for this! It's going to be a small gathering, in Cobh, of artists and collectors who love traditional tattoo--not in the Americana sense, but the tribal. For me, it's really a family reunion with Colin Dale and Xed Le head, who were featured in my Black Tattoo Art book, and a chance to hang out once again with the audacious Pat Fish, Queen of Celt. If you're looking for a tattoo vacation in a sea-side town with a bunch of beautiful freaks, please join us.  

July 30 through August 1st, Asbury Park, New Jersey will be home to the  Visionary Tattoo Arts Festival. I usually don't list first conventions because most have a rough start but when I saw the artist roster, I had to include it. It's another beachfront party--albeit a bigger one--with live painting, music and sideshow performances. We'll be there handing out Needles and Sins swag so look down. I'm short.

That weekend is also the Taiwan Tattoo Convention. Paul Booth, Shige, and Jason Stewart will be the main attractions but the tattoo art that's coming out of Taiwan itself demands attention, like the work of Andy Shou shown below. For more info on the show, hit the Tattoos.com page.



August

August 6-8, over 300 tattooists will descend upon Doncaster, England for Skin Deep's Tattoo Jam, one of the biggest conventions in the UK. When I went to the Tattoo Jam in 2008 (held in Wales), I had such a blast and got a hand-poked Thai tattoo as well. [See the photos here.] The diversity of artistic styles is vast so there's something for everyone at this show.

Also, Tattoo Jam has teamed up with the best named tequila brand ever for the Hornitos Design Competition where you get a chance to design a limited-edition Hornitos bottle, and if you win, oh, prizes abound.

August 27-29 is Hell City Phoenix's "Let It Burn" fest. What more can I say? If it's as good as last month's Killumbus show, then it's worth braving Arizona, even if you look like "an illegal."


For some advance planning, here are our favorite shows in September and October:

• * September 10-12, Art Tattoo Montreal at the gorgeous Gare Windsor.
• * September 24-26, The London Tattoo Convention at the Tobacco Docks. We'll be there, and there's a rumor going around that I'll be releasing the Black & Grey Tattoo book with Edgar Hoill. I cannot confirm such gossip. Just sayin.
• * October 1-3, Mario Barth's Biggest Tattoo Show on Earth 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.
• * October 22-24, A Convention of the Tattoo Arts 2010 in San Francisco by State of Grace. Horitaka knows how to put on a convention. Making plans to be there as well. More as time nears.

And with that, I'll leave y'all to update your calendars.

The Wellcome Collection in London describes itself as "a free visitor destination for the incurably curious," which of course made me curious, incurably so.

Founder Sir Henry Wellcome was a pretty curious dude himself, fascinated by the intersection of medicine and health, business and marketing, philanthropy, culture and art. Wellcome collected over a million objects, including manuscripts, carvings, posters, images and a number of body art artifacts like the preserved tattooed skin above, taken off an executed criminal around 1850-1900.

From June 10th to September 26th, The Wellcome Collection presents an exhibition devoted entirely to the largest human organ. Simply entitled Skin, the exhibition delves into "the changing importance of skin, from anatomical thought in the 16th century through to contemporary artistic exploration."

The show includes image galleries, video, a Skin Lab that looks at developments in skin science (including bio-jewelry and clothing), and essays by Javier Moscoso, and by Katie Kitamura--sister to Horitaka of State of Grace and author of The Longshot: A Novel.

The tattoo portion involves a design competition where the winning artwork will be tattooed live onto Caisa Ederyd (pictured below) at the "Tattoos: Marks of meaning" event on July 22nd.

     
Don't Panic offers full detail on the competition and the sweet prizes for the winner. Here's just a taste to give you an idea:

"One of the aspects we are interested in is looking at peeling back the layers of skin to discover what's beneath--let your imagination run wild with the anatomical workings of your body. Organs, dissections, skeletons, guts, nerves bundles, veins--get your thinking caps on to illustrate what's beneath our skin and display the internal on the external.

In her own words, Caisa advises: 'I'd like it to have something to do with body organs such as hearts, lungs, guts and blood. This is because I think the inside of the body is interesting, beautiful and, sadly, because my dad died from a heart condition a few years ago.'

The image of Caisa above shows the area that she wants tattooing, just around her left ribs. The area is quite large and the tattoo could be up to 15 x 15 cm. The tattoo can be in black and white or color."

They have an "Inspiration Image Gallery," which includes an exploded thorax. Cool.

As for those sweet prizes, they include £100 cash, a free tattoo by a tattooist from London's Good Times, their artwork on 60K posters, and a year's free membership of the Wellcome Collection Club.

Check out some of the entries already submitted. Good stuff. The competition closes on Friday, June 25th.

--
PS: Beyond the physical exhibit and competition, I suggest you check out the online library, which offers so many interesting images and info that will satisfy your curiosity of the body. I mean, bodies in general.