Category Features

Point 83: Fakir Musafar

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Interview by Sean Dowdell

Reprinted from Inkspired Magazine, Issue 26 with permission of the publisher

Cover photo of Fakir Musafar from his book Body Play, the Self-Images of Roland Loomis, 1950–1980

Why was I obsessed to modify my body? Why would I abandon the comfort of the status quo for the unknowns of body modification and ritual? I did it primarily because I was curious and bored with the status quo. In retrospect, probably for the same reasons early explorers risked the hazards of sailing uncharted seas. And like explorers of the past, present and future seeking rewards of some kind: treasure or knowledge. In my journey I sought to explore the seas of consciousness, my own inner self. The most personal and accessible vehicle was my own body.  During my 50 plus years of sailing via body ritual, I have found some of the same reasons I set sail in the body rituals of other cultures.”

“EPILOGUE,” Body Play: My Journey—Fakir Musafar

Sean Dowdell: Let’s start with your age, where you were born, and the city you live in now.

Fakir Musafar: I am presently 83, born in 1930 in Aberdeen, South Dakota (which was then on the Sissiton Sioux Indian reservation). I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1955.

SD: Can you tell us where you came up with the name, “Fakir Musafar” and why?

The original Fakir Musafar as depicted in a Sunday comic strip.

FM: In 1977, Doug Malloy and then icons in the tattoo industry (like Ed Hardy and Sailor Jerry) decided to hold the FIRST international tattoo convention in Reno, Nevada. There was no piercing industry then as such, only Jim Ward and me. We were invited to participate and bring a spectacular show for the closing event. Doug asked me to do all the practices I had adopted from other cultures: bed of nails, bed of swords, etc. for the show. But he felt my regular given name was not memorable enough for the event. Not good for publicity. So he asked me if I had a special pet name I could use. I respected and honored a 12th century Sufi called Fakir Musafar who said to get close to the divine, you should pierce yourself. I adopted that name for the show; after the event the name was remembered and stuck.

SD: Fakir, you are known to a lot of us fellow body piercers as the Father of the Industry, what are your thoughts regarding that statement?

FM: Jim Ward is actually the Father of the Modern Piercing Industry (he commercialized it) and Doug Malloy is the Grandfather (he championed it). My job has been to educate. I am widely known as the “Father of the Modern Primitive Movement.” Piercing and a whole lot more, espousing a whole different attitude about “body.”

SD: How do you feel about the fact that many people think of you as a role model or icon?

FM: Because I was a pioneer and brought something new into our Western Culture, I became an icon. I was #1 in this regard and my teaching was by example not proselytizing. I was driven by an urge to share, not ego driven.

SD: What specifically in other cultures prompted you to want to learn more about your body and at what age did you start the exploration?

FM: I grew up surrounded by Native American culture, friends, customs and vibes. This was more comfortable for me than Western Christian Culture of the white settlers in South Dakota where I lived. Later, I found that Lakota Sioux and Mandan customs and beliefs were much the same as Hindu and Sufi customs and beliefs. My early explorations began at age 12.  See attached my story from “Bodies Under Siege.” I had my first out-of-body experience at age 17 trying the bondage trancing ritual of Eskimo shaman.

Photos taken by Doug Malloy of the entertainment at the Reno ITTA tattoo convention in 1977 where Fakir made his public debut.

Belly dancer stands on Fakir’s back while he lies on swords
Fakir lies on a bed of nails while Sailor Sid hammers a wooden block on his back.
Fakir tows the belly dancer from the room on a luggage cart attached to the deep piercings in his chest.

SD: When or how did you discover that through pain, one can connect with inner self and conscience?

FM: At age 12 to 16 by trying some of the practices like Sun Dance of the Lakota and Ball Dance of Hindu devotees. Later in life when I visited other cultures, especially Hindu culture in Malaysia, and tried their body rituals with hook pulls, Kavadi and suspensions. However, PAIN is NOT my God! The notion of “pain” only exists in Western Culture.

SD: Who specifically would you consider to have had a large influence on your life direction in regards to body enhancement and manipulation and why?

FM: My own inner self, then by examples of other seekers via body ritual, the inner understandings of other cultures.

SD: I read in another interview with you in which was mentioned that “you had befriended some of your local Indian tribesmen and started to learn about them as people and their culture.” What was it that prompted you to participate in your first ceremony with them, and what was it?

FM: I was bored and wanted to experience something outside the limited  dimensions  of the culture I was living in.   I did my first permanent body piercing at age 14, my first mini Sun Dance ritual and out-of-body experience at age 17, my first tattoo at age 19 (self-made).

SD: Were you accepted entirely by the Indians that you were around or were there some that didn’t want the outside influence from you?

FM: Yes, I have always been understood and accepted by the Native American tribes where I lived. Later by other Native Americans and Tamil Hindus in Malaysia and some Sufis. I connect with them all on an energetic level. They can usually “read” energy.

SD: How would you describe pain? How are you able to overcome it so easily?

FM: Again, PAIN is NOT my God. The idea and emotions behind the word “pain” are strictly a Western, Christian and modern notion. Pain is merely intense physical sensation. Proper mindset and training, as in some other cultures, allows one to accept ever increasing sensation and convert it into an ecstatic state. There are physical changes, like release of endorphins, followed by trance and freedom of consciousness from the material world. What is called “pain” can open doors to “bliss”. One can only learn this through personal experiences. In my case, body rituals including those of body piercing, tattooing, suspensions and pulls.

SD: Do you wrestle with the fact that most people want their piercings for simply aesthetic reasons and miss some of the important ritualistic meanings in them?

FM: Yes, I have a problem with this. These people lack the education, training and guidance to understand tattoos as “magic marks,” piercings as movers of energy and body rituals involving intense physical sensation as doorways to spirit.

Fakir and Jim Ward sundancing for the
documentary film Dances Sacred and
Profane, Wyoming, 1982. Photos by
Charles Gatewood.

SD: When, why and how did you decide to start your piercing school?

FM: After we launched the modern body piercing movement in the 1970’s, the sexual and spiritual aspects stayed pretty much intact until the mid I980s. Then body piercing became popularized, commercial, and mainstream. By 1990, the beauty and intent of the practices got somewhat lost, as well as the skills and practical knowledge to do safe and reasonable piercing. I started Fakir Intensives in 1991 as an educational enterprise to counter this trend.

SD: Were there many obstacles to overcome in doing so? If so, what were they?

FM: Everyone who could get a clamp and needle thought they were a piercer. Many mistakes were being made with BAD outcomes. The energy movement and spiritual aspects of body piercing were being mostly ignored. Out of conscience, I felt I had to do something to counteract the mad rush to “mutilate” and “decorate.”

SD: What piercers are you most proud of teaching and seeing their success?

FM: At Fakir Intensives, we have trained and educated some 1200 piercers since 1991. Many of them are now captains of the industry with some of the the best long term successes in the industry. Fakir trained piercers are in studios all over the U.S. and the world. We set the standards which others try to match. I am especially proud to have been a part of the establishment of the APP and of the Fakir Intensives instructors who are now on the APP Board of Directors.

Jim Ward rigs Fakir into the cage-like Kavandi for
a ritual, Valhalla Ranch, California, 1983.
Photo by Mark I. Chester.

SD: Is the piercing school successful?

FM: Of course. We have become a de facto standard in the industry.

SD: Are you surprised at the immense popularity of piercing today?

FM: Yes, never thought contemporary culture was ready for it. But a bit disappointed by some of the results.

SD: What advice would you say to someone who wants to get into piercing but isn’t quite sure how?

FM: Get educated on the skills, health, safety, energy movement and spirit of the craft. Yes, it is a craft with a little bit of magic thrown in.

SD: What are your thoughts on some of the heavy body modification that is going on today?

FM: Yuck! Much of it was misappropriated from other cultures and has gone “off the rails.” Respect for the originators and Mother Nature is very much needed or there will be a lot of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual damage.

SD: What are your ideas for your future in the next 5-10 years; what would you like to be doing or accomplishing?

FM: I only hope I have been a positive influence on something newly brought in contemporary culture.

SD: Is there anything that you would like readers to know about you that isn’t common knowledge?

FM: I am an ordinary man who simply heard the sound of a different drummer.

See BODY OF GOD:  www.hulu.com/watch/531912

Annie Sprinkle with Fakir as photographed by Charles Gatewood for his book Forbidden Photographs

Point 83: The Body Piercing Archive Presents: The Perforated Body: An Exploration of Piercing Performance

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This year, the Body Piercing Archive (BPA) is celebrating performance artists that have pierced their bodies from the past to present. In our exhibit we examine the methods and motivations which utilize perforation as an element of powerful performance. See the Conference schedule for free guided tours led by artists and scholars.

Kris-Canavan and Manuel Vason Collaboration, London, 2003
Tolentino and Fila It Will All End in (Ultra Red) Tears 2013

EXHIBIT HOURS:

Tuesday 10 am–6 pm Wednesday 10 am–6 pm Thursday 10 am–6 pm Friday 10 am–1 pm

RECOMMENDED TOURS:

TUESDAY
  • 10:00 am–10:30 am Tour Guide: Paul King
  • 12:00 pm–12:30 pm Tour Guide: Steve Joyner
  • 2:00 pm–2:30 pm Tour Guide: Dr. Dominic Johnson
  • 4:00 pm–4:30 pm Tour Guide: Lukas Zpira
WEDNESDAY
  • 10:00 am–10:30 am Tour Guide: Dr. Julian Carter
  • 12:00 pm–12:30 pm Tour Guide: Allen Falkner
  • 2:00 pm–2:30 pm Tour Guide: Lukas Zpira
  • 4:00 pm–4:30 pm Tour Guide: Ron Athey & Darryl Carlton
THURSDAY
  • 10:00 am–10:30 am Tour Guide: Ron Athey & Darryl Carlton
  • 12:00 pm–12:30 pm Tour Guide: Dr. Dominic Johnson
  • 2:00 pm–2:30 pm Tour Guide: Allen Falkner
  • 4:00 pm–4:30 pm Tour Guide: Steve Joyner
FRIDAY
  • 10:00 am–10:30 am Tour Guide: Paul King

Point 83: Conference Performance Art Highlights

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Ron Athey Portrays St. Sebastian with arrows and a hypodermic crown of thorns. From his work in progress “Martyrs and Saints.”
The photo first appeared in issue 49 of Piercing Fans
International Quarterly, 1996

Piercing in Performance:

Recollections from Five Artists

The artists will discuss some highlights of their ca- reers and look back at thematic arcs and motivations for their use of the body in performance.This evening’s event is in three parts: Allen Falkner, Steve Joyner, Lukas Zpira and then Ron Athey with Darryl Carlton. (Open to All)

Speakers:

Ron Athey was born in 1961. Self-educated (not to mention schooled) in the Westcoast punk and exper- imerimental music scenes, he started  making  noise  and body-based performance work with his partner Rozz Williams in 1980, under the name PE. Ron Athey & Co.’s ‘90s work is known as the torture trilogy; it was often a direct or esoteric response to the AIDS pandemic, bodMod, the queer body, the polemics of blood. Solo work and operatic collaborations include Solar Anus, The Judas Cradle, Sebastiane, and the automatism opera, Gifts of the Spirit. Athey is a visiting lecturer at Roski School/USC, teaching a seminar on the history of California-centric countercultures, and periodically facilitates immersive performance art workshops.

Lukas Zpira is a body modification artist, nomadic performer, documentor of the contemporary fringes, and one of the major figures of the contemporary un- derground.

His works, closely related to nouveau realism, dif- fered in style to his writing and photography, which were far more influenced by surrealism and Dadaism, notably Duchamps and Man Ray’s rayographs. It was in 1993 that he took on the name Lukas Zpira, an anagram inspired from the surrealists. Multiple experiences and various exhibitions still left him unsatisfied, and he felt he had quickly reached the limits of his medium. He left the collective in 1995 to turn towards body art.

Soon after, Lukas opened Body Art/Weird Faktory in Avignon, the first studio in France dedicated to body modification.

In early 2004, in Japan, Lukas Zpira developed and wrote the body hacktivism manifesto, an artistic and political movement that asseverates the corporal biodiversity facing beauty standards imposed by Hollywood. More inspired by the bestial extra-terrestrials of Star Trek than the tribal references of the modern primitive movement, this activism of a new genre asserts the heritage of science fiction in the battle for body autonomy.

Additional Speakers:

Darryl Carlton, Allen Falkner, and Steve Joyner

Still image of David Wojnarowicz from his film,
A Fire in My Belly (1986–7).
Photo from issue 49 of
Piercing Fans International Quarterly, 1996.

Body Probe:

A History & Theory of Piercing in Performance Art

Since the late 1960s, performance artists have challenged the limits of art—and frequently courted controversy—through practices of strategic wounding or self-injury. Piercing the skin has been a core technique for testing the performing body’s capacity for pain, pleasure, or endurance—alongside controlled cutting or scarification, repetitive, or sustained action over prolonger durations, sadomasochistic techniques, or the appropriation of medical technologies, including surgery. This lecture will survey a range of uses of piercing in performance; and situate the use of piercing among a broader range of uses of pain, endurance, and body modification in art and performance. I will then proceed to distinguish piercing as a distinct technique or technology in performance art, by teasing out what might be uniquely meaningful in the probing and puncturing of skin, and the spectacle of the permeability of bodies. (Open to All)

Speakers:

Dominic Johnson is Reader (Associate Professor) in Performance and Visual Culture in the School of English and Drama, at Queen Mary University of London. He is the author of Glorious Catastrophe: Jack Smith, Performance and Visual Culture (2012); Theatre & the Visual (2012); and The Art of Living: An Oral History of Performance Art (2015). He is the editor of five books, including most recently Pleading in the Blood: The Art and Performances of Ron Athey (2013); and (with Deirdre Heddon) It’s All Allowed: The Performances of Adrian Howells (2016). From 2005 to 2012, his frequently bloody performances (solo and in collaboration with Ron Athey) were shown around the world, including at festivals of performance and live art in Copenhagen, Ljubljana, Rome, Toronto, Vienna, Zagreb, and elsewhere, and throughout the United Kingdom, including most notably at the National Review of Live Art in Glasgow, and at the National Portrait Gallery in London as part of ‘Gay Icons’.

Point 83: My Journey with Fakir

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By Jef Saunders, APP President


Fakir with Jef’s son Simon, wife Laura Jane Leonard, and Jef himself. Photo by Ken Coyote

On May 4th, 2018, Fakir Musafar posted a farewell message on his Facebook account: “The time has come for me to inform you that Fakir’s shelf life is running out. I have been fighting stage 4 lung cancer since last October, and I am near my expiration date….” While I have known about Fakir’s diagnosis for months, witnessing Fakir make his short time remaining public really hit home. The outpouring of emotion, thanks, and support from all over the world has been quite a thing to behold. I’m confident the letters, cards, and photos you send are deeply appreciated by both Fakir and his wife Cleo, and may provide an air of closure.

Fakir with Jef’s son Simon Saunders. Photo by Ken Coyote

My journey with Fakir began over 20 years ago, the way it has for so many others: through reading Modern Primitives. I was struck by the audacity it took to modify one’s body in so many different ways, all of it done long before body modification was an accepted element of Western culture. He seemed larger-than-life, brilliant, and enigmatic beyond description. Who was this man, and how had he developed this devotion to piercing, corsetry, and suspension?

It wasn’t long before I met him in person, in the spring of 1999. I remember thinking to myself, “I hope I look as good as this guy does when I’m in my fifties,” not realizing I was taking a class from a man in his late sixties. Fakir’s apparent defiance of his age turned out to be nothing compared to the impact his Basic Piercing Workshop had on my life. I learned directly from Fakir about the cultures he admired and about what compelled him to modify his own body. I was exposed firsthand to the ritual and spiritual experience that piercing and body art could be, and I was awakened to a perspective on body play that came from the immersive experience of the workshop. Fakir and his Intensives changed me forever.

I felt compelled to revisit the magic in the Fakir classes. Within eighteen months I had attended his Basic, Branding, and Advanced Intensives. Five years later I was visiting regularly, at times even driving from Rhode Island to San Francisco, just to experience a class. In 2005 I started teaching for Fakir, and I’ve grown increasingly devoted to the unique quality of the workshops the Fakir Intensives deliver. For Fakir, however, teaching the body arts is really only half the story.

It’s difficult to explain the amazing life he has led. You may be aware that Fakir has been an advertising executive, a military demolitions expert, and a lifelong photographer. You might not know that he was a magician, a ballroom dancer, and a pioneering corset designer. There’s a unicycle in his garage, surrounded by shelves of piercing supplies, rigging for human rituals, and Body Play magazines. The man has lived that kind of life.

I’ve had the good fortune to grow close to Fakir, first as a student, and then as an instructor, but more significantly, as a friend. He is the patriarch of my chosen family, and I can say without hyperbole that the most important relationships in my life all trace back to Fakir, the Fakir Family, and the Fakir Intensives in some way So, although I write this column with a heavy heart. I’m thankful that Fakir chose to inform the broad piercing community about his condition, providing anyone who has felt his substantial impact the opportunity to reach out to him by sending a card, a photo, or a letter before he moves on to the unseen world. Through this considerate gesture, Fakir is showing us once again the type of person he is, and the extraordinary value he places on human connections. I truly hope you’ll take him up on it.

My journey with Fakir resonates as one of the greatest joys of my life. Thank you, Fakir. Your contributions to body art will be celebrated by our community for all time, and I, personally, have been forever blessed by your influence in my life. Your example and guidance have led me not only to evolve into the piercer I am today, but more importantly, the person I have become.

Merry Meet, Merry Part, and Merry Meet Again!

Point 83: Point of View

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EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN

Left: A carnival or
circus performer from the 1890s
The amazing Mr. Lifto performing with the Jim Rose Circus.

Remember grandma’s junk that you couldn’t give away ten years ago and ended up sending to the Salvation Army or the dump? Just look at the prices they’re charging for it now that it’s become “collectable.”

Some of us who are a little older may even have seen a revival in popularity of the fads and fashions of our youth. Anyone for disco, bell bottoms, platform shoes, lava lamps, mood rings?

There are a lot of things in life like that somehow come full circle. Assuming you live long enough, it’s bound to happen to you too.

Piercing as a performance medium isn’t anything all that new, come to think of it. Just how many hundreds of years have Indian sadhus been working some dusty street corner, a skewer through their cheeks or hooks in their flesh, begging a few coins from passersby?

While today’s performers may not be doing anything new, there can be no doubt as to the great range and variety of imaginative ways in which they are incorporating piercing into their acts.

Some of this issue’s featured performers use their piercings to perform amazing feats of strength or endurance to entertain and astonish their audience. Take, for instance, the Torture King or Mr. Lifto (shown here). This tradition has roots among traveling circus sideshow acts: human and animal freaks, fire eating (see Chuk’s story in this issue), and sword swallowing, to name a few. In this type of performance, the body and its limits tell the whole story. We are compelled to watch these variations on the human condition, to find bits of ourselves in the “Other.”

Piercing as metaphor is often used in more high-concept performance art. Stelarc, Orlan, and David Wojnarowich are among the many high-profile artists who make statements using temporary piercings and/or body alterations. In this issue Justin Chin explores the notion of immunity and transmissible diseases by “infecting” himself with his own blood. Dave Tavacol gives us a glimpse into an unpleasant but not so far-fetched future, putting a piercing-related twist on cultural disapproval suggestive of The Scarlet Letter.

As many of us know, piercings can project one into an altered state of consciousness. The feats of Amazonian shamans, Indian fakirs and sadhus, and the grand spectacle of a tribal rite of passage all bear historical testimony to this tradition. Mr. Fab is one of a growing number of exponents of the neotribal performance path, using piercings to share these ancient experiences with the audience.

Drag queens are some of the most elaborate performers of all, using familiar paraphernalia to subvert our comfortable understanding of culture, gender roles, and socially acceptable behavior in a theater of the absurd. As Trauma Flintstone, Cirus, Mark Pritchard, and Fennel explain, piercing can be one more theatrical prop. Fennel’s performances play out a particularly astute perspective on a common breed of nihilistic club performance currently much in vogue. In classic drag oneupmanship, he gets even by beating them at their own game.

Many of the performance artists who appear in this issue have been a part of the Ron Athey show. These include Crystal Cross, Julie Tolentino Wood, Marina Vain (Spike), and Paul King. They utilize piercing as metaphor, crude spectacle, punishing absurdity, powerful, bitter humor, and panache to make strong statements about AIDS, gender, homosexuality, religion (especially Christianity), fetishism, and outsider status. Their ever-expanding international audience bears testimony to the fact that piercing and performance are a naturally matched pair, centuries old and yet still fresh, with the power to move the viewer to another state of awareness.

—Michaela Grey & Jim Ward

Point 83: Conference, 2018 from Editor Jim Ward

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It warms my heart to see this issue of The Point and brings back fond memories of issue 49 of Piercing Fans International Quarterly. Published by Gauntlet in 1996, it featured more than a dozen performance artists active at that time.

In 1996, suspension had not become the popular pastime it is today. Only one photo in the 64 page issue features it, but there were plenty of imaginative ways in which artists found to express themselves with piercings and blood.

The opposite page features the editorial Michaela Grey and I wrote for the issue. The names may have changed, but perfomance art is as vital today as it was in 1996.

The cover of PFIQ issue 49 with Spike the Holocaust Girl photographed by Christine Kessler
Back cover featuring Ron Athey in the “St. Sebastian Enlightened in a Zen Garden” scene of The Casting Out/A Crown of Thorns performance at L.A.C.E., Los Angeles, November 13, 1992.
Photo by Dkon Lewis.

Point 82: The Unusual 1930’s Pierced Heiress

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By Paul King, BPA Founder & Researcher

One would think that a neck piercing in the 1930s would be the most surprising detail of any woman’s life, but not for our Piercing Pioneer, Georgia Perkins, a.k.a. Mrs. Jake Hamon.

Georgia was born in Kansas, where she  met her husband Jacob Louis Hamon, aka Jake. After Jake obtained a law degree, the couple moved to Oklahoma. In 1909, they had two children, Jake Jr. and Olive Belle.

Jake senior was a risk-taking, young Republican, who speculated on oil and railroads, both of which paid off, substantially

He became known as “The Oil King of Oklahoma.” Jake even brokered a deal to build a railroad with the famed circus entrepreneur, John Rigley.

From historical records, Jake’s character appears shady while he was the attorney general of Oklahoma. Rumors of corruption marred his political career from the beginning. Allegedly, he extorted gamblers on his road to building wealth and power. Soon after while lobbying in Washington, D.C., he was accused of attempting to bribe a Senator. By far, the most scandalous charges against him were for buying votes for Warren G. Harding’s nomination as the Republican party presidential candidate. The estimates for payouts ranged from $250,000 to $1,000,000 (approximately $3 to 12 million in today’s dollars). The backroom dealings were rumored to provide Jake and his cronies exclusive access to the oil rich fields of Teapot Dome, Wyoming. The ensuing congressional investigation would forever tarnish the legacies of Jake Hamon and President Harding. Hard to believe, but the Hamons’ personal lives were even more outrageous! At 40, Jake met the young Clara Belle Smith. The two fell in love. Reports remain contradictory for which or if both Hamons couldn’t stomach a ruinous divorce, so they remained married. Jake put his mistress through  school and then hired her on as his personal secretary. To make hotel stays less problematic, Jake paid $10,000 to his nephew to marry Clara so that she could legally obtain the last name Hamon. Despite these great lengths for appearances, the affair was a poorly kept secret.

As fate would have it, Georgia’s cousin was the wife of then presidential hopeful, Warren Harding. As mentioned previously, Jake paid a considerable sum to buy the nomination for Harding to go on to win the presidency. Once elected and with pressure from his wife, President Harding, or most likely Harding’s wife, would not accept Jake’s mistress in Washington. Jake would have to reconcile with his legal wife. It’s reported that Jake and Clara were known for drunken arguments. Their tensions crescendoed on November 21, 1920, in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Clara shot Jake in the liver. He died five days later. Jake’s story flip-flopped from self-inflicted to a desperate plea for leniency for Clara. The murder trial became national headline news followed around the country. Despite Georgia’s damning testimony and demands for the electric chair, Clara was acquitted on self-defense. One of Clara’s legal defense team was the twin brother of the judge! Obviously, the soundness of the jury’s verdict has been debated Despite the controversy, our piercing pioneer Georgia Perkins, the now widower Mrs. Jake Hamon, bounced back! In 1922, our protagonist married a wealthy Chicago banker, only to divorce him a year later. The cause given was domestic cruelty. Reportedly, her new husband “practiced his ju-jitsu” skills on his wife.

After her second marriage, Georgia started playing ranked golf in the nascent women’s tournaments. At this time, there were no “pro” females, the prizes were strictly honorary. Once cash was included, winnings still remained much lower than men’s. Even so, Georgia’s prowess on the green would keep her name in regional papers for most of the next de-cade, albeit, not headlining or sensational.


“Madison” piercing with monofilament weed eater line as a retainer, photo c. early 1990s.
Excerpt from the book African Giant, pre-1955 photo of Men of Mungonge Dance by Rehna Cloete near Kwango Congo. This is the type of image that might have inspired Mrs. Hamon. Left

 After the criminal and political scandals of the 1920s, much less information is available for Mrs. Jake Hamon. We know she traveled exclusively, including parts of Africa. However, it remains elusive from which peoples she drew inspiration for her throat pin piercing.

Then Ripley’s strange cartoon depicting “Mrs. Jake Hamon” with a throat piercing published in national syndication, December 15, 1933. As was the custom with the Ripley’s series, the following day, they released the details of whatever strange custom appeared the previous day.

“Vampire Bite” Piercings

So should this Ripley’s explanation be taken at face value? Did this throat pin really serve as a memorial to Jake Hamon, the selfish, politically corrupt, drunken, and child-abandoning adulterer?

I’ve been unable to find any additional representation of her piercing or information on her motivation or background story of the peoples she witnessed in Africa. Unfortunately, the Hamon Library in Dallas says they have no personal papers or letters for the first Mrs. Jake Hamon.

Forgive my digression, but this family’s colorfulness doesn’t quit  yet.

Georgia’s son Jake Jr. went on to marry a beautiful young woman named Nancy, an aspiring actress who had one role in a movie with Mae West, The Heat’s On. This marriage began the illustrious escapades of the second “Mrs. Jake Hamon.”

The couple were faithful Republican supporters and hobnobbed with presidents such as Johnson and the first Bush. After her husband’s passing, Nancy became a fabulously wealthy widower worth hundreds of millions. She is rumored to have said she wanted to live her life in such a fashion that her last check would bounce. She was a well-documented Dallas socialite, philanthropically shaping the city’s institutions, while throwing extravagant theme parties with elephants and performers such as Louis Armstrong. Of particular interest, she had lost her finger in a blendor accident. Carlo Rambaldi, the special effects artist for E.T., personally created her prosthetic finger with a graceful arc for cocktail parties.

I couldn’t make this shit up.

Point 82: Piercing-Christina Shull

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Interview by Sean Dowdell

Reprinted with permission from InkSpired Magazine Issue 52

Studio Name: Integrity Piercing

Number of Years Piercing: 16

Sean Dowdell: Why did you want to learn to do body piercing?

Christina Shull: Oddly enough, I had no interest in being a piercer. I found a studio that was willing to take me as a tattoo apprentice but only on the condition that I learned how to pierce as well. That was the only opportunity I could find for a tattoo apprenticeship, so I took it. I quickly realized that I did not have the creative ability to draw custom tattoo designs and I would have been a mediocre flash artist at best. Luckily, at that time I also realized that I had an unexpected passion for piercing and decided to give up on tattooing to pursue professional piercing. While I have developed strong feelings about not using piercing as a stepping stone for tattooing, I am fortunate that in my particular situation, it worked out well for me.

Sean Dowdell: When did you start body piercing, who taught you, and where?

Christina Shull: I started piercing in October 2000 in Wenatchee, Washington. My original apprenticeship was very minimal and left me seeking appropriate training and education. That search brought me to the 2001 APP Conference, where I made connections who led me to the two Seattle piercers, J.J. Moiso and Troy Amundson, who took me under their wings and mentored me for two years. During that time, I was actively seeking a better studio than where I was at but lacked the resources that the piercing industry now has. Through obtaining the APP’s Al D. Scholarship in 2003, I was able to relocate to Evolution in Albuquerque, where I received much-needed guidance from their talented team – Crystal Sims, Shawn Taylor, and Noah Babcock.

Sean Dowdell: What piercers do you look up to and why?

Christina Shull: I could fill the whole magazine with a list of who I look up to and why! I look up to everybody who has played a role in the inception and development of the APP, as it is an organization whose mission I wholeheartedly support. I look up to everybody who has been involved  in legislation and regulations, as their volunteered time has shaped the evolution of the piercing industry. I look up to the piercers who have innovated piercing procedures and the implements used, jewelry styles, and various concepts of business and customer service. I look up to every piercer who is representing the piercing industry on a professional level, as  the  collective effort of so many has lead to increasingly positive public perception and legitimizing the industry as a whole. In all, I have admiration and respect for the countless individuals who have contributed to the increasingly positive direction the piercing industry is taking. Since I feel that answer is very generalized, I will add that I really admire Brian Skellie. I hope  to someday possess as much  information, the willingness, and patience to share that information, as well as the amazing level of contributions to the industry that he possesses.

Sean Dowdell: I know you are an owner/ operator of your business. What made you decide to go out on your own and open your business?

Christina Shull: After 10 years of living outside of my home state, I wanted to move home to settle down close to my family and friends. My hometown has never had a high-end piercing studio, which gave me the opportunity to come home and open a business that my community was in need of. After years of working for and guesting in some of the best studios across the country, I had a lot of ideas about what my ideal studio would look like, the experiences clients would receive, and how I wanted my business to be perceived by my community.

Sean Dowdell: What challenges have you had being a female piercer, and with being a female business owner?

Christina Shull: Honestly, I have never felt that I have had challenges as a female piercer and business owner. If anything, I  feel that as a female, I have an advantage with my clients and when seeking past employment in the piercing industry. In many places where I have lived, found that there were many clients who preferred a female piercer for certain situations. In my current area, over 90% of my clients are female and  I find it advantageous that they feel I might relate to them better as a female.

Sean Dowdell: What do you think are (if any) problems within the piercing industry?

Christina Shull: One of the biggest problems that I see in the piercing industry is a lack of consistent professional standards. I feel that it is hard to be thought of as a professional industry when the majority of the industry does not meet acceptable industry standards. In most states, no training or education is required to obtain a piercing license, if the state requires a license at all, and that, unfortunately, leads to a large variance between studios in terms of quality, experience, and service. I believe that as more of the industry chooses to meet current industry standards (appropriate sterilization standards, jewelry materials and quality, studio setup, training, and education, etc.), the piercing industry will continue to be seen overall as more credible than in the past.

Sean Dowdell: Where would you like to be in 5 years (pertaining to life and business)?

Christina Shull: I have a lot of plans in the next five years! I chose to grow my business in a very slow but steady pace, but after three years of being the only piercer, I am ready to expand my staff and studio hours. I plan to add a second full-time piercer and complete a full apprenticeship for my receptionist, who has been working counter for eight years and has earned herself   a quality apprenticeship. Once I have a full staff and my business is able to run without me piercing full time, I would like to pursue an education as a CPA and offer industry-specific business consulting and accounting. I feel that the piercing industry lacks industry specific help when it comes to planning and running a business, and   I would love to fill that void. As far as personal goals go, I am working on finding a good work-life balance. I have struggled over the years to find a more healthy balance between the two aspects of my life, and moving back to my hometown was a big step in working towards having more balance between business and personal life. My five-year plan involves working towards having a personal life that brings me as much satisfaction and happiness as my professional life does.

Sean Dowdell: I had the pleasure of getting to hear you teach at APP conference this year. I really liked your personal approach to the community that you serve. Can you tell me a little about your perspective on that?

Christina Shull: Thank you, Sean! While I feel that stereotypes about body art businesses and professionals have been improving over time, I feel that we still have a way to go before we are seen as a professional industry. When I opened my studio, it was important to me to break the local stereotypes for body art businesses and be perceived as other local businesses are. I also have firm beliefs about being an active part of my local community and be able to give back to the community. My approach has been to be as involved as possible. My business is very active with the local Chamber of Commerce, we are Better Business Bureau members, we donate lavishly to any local fundraiser or event, we sponsor local events and programs that we support, we hold fundraisers for local causes that we feel strongly about. The Integrity Piercing brand has become a household name that is synonymous with local community, even with people who have never stepped foot in our establishment.

Sean Dowdell: What do you love about teaching other piercers both inside and outside of conference?

Christina Shull: I love being a part of the positive evolution of the piercing industry! The better we become individually, the better we are as an industry. I am very honored that the APP has had me as an instructor for over ten years, and has given me the opportunity to be a part of the profession of the piercing industry. Also, going back to my rough start in the industry, I will always be thankful for the piercers who had a monumental part in shaping my career and I am   truly grateful for the opportunity to help other piercers who are now where I once was. I love being able to give back to the industry that I adore so much.

Sean Dowdell: What changes would you like to see in the piercing industry?

Christina Shull: I would like to see more forward momentum towards the adoption and implementation  of currently accepted industry standards. While we now have more studios offering higher standards, the majority of the industry is still not offering clients the best. I hope that the future brings more studios wanting to offer clients the best possible experience, education, and jewelry.

I also hope to see more piercers seeking out the best possible training and education, as well as more studios treating their technicians as skilled workers deserving   of better pay and benefits. I hope the future will allow for professional piercing as a long term career that can provide a comfortable living and retirement.

Sean Dowdell: Tell me something positive that you feel comes from the piercing industry?

Christina Shull: I love that the piercing industry helps our clients live a better life. Whether we are helping someone feel more comfortable with their body, to celebrate a particular moment or achievement, or overcome a fear, we are providing an outlet for personal growth and self-improvement. Having an impact on my client’s life, regardless of the extent of that impact, is something that I consider to be very sacred and wonderful.

Sean Dowdell: What would you like other piercers to know that they might not know about you?

Christina Shull: I don’t think there is anything that I haven’t publicly shared about myself. I try to be as honest and forthcoming with the industry as possible.

Sean Dowdell: Being a veteran piercer, what advice do you think that most new piercers should be aware of as they climb into this industry?

Christina Shull: I hope that any piercer will never get too comfortable with what they think they know. Even with 16 years of piercing, I am always open to new techniques, ideas, and ways  of doing things. By always  being open to new things, I have kept my job interesting, I am always improving, and I have never had to worry about experiencing burnout. Staying open minded and not becoming stagnant has enabled me to continue bettering myself as a piercer  and business owner.

Sean Dowdell: Is there anything you wish to learn or get better at in the piercing industry or in business in general?

Christina Shull: I am constantly looking to improve my piercing techniques, my customer service skills, and my knowledge of business. I do not want to ever get to a point where I feel that I don’t need to keep learning and growing. As a somewhat new business owner, I feel there is so much that I can learn about accounting and running a business.

I am looking forward to what the future holds as far as learning more about what I can do to run a business that puts first both the needs of my clients and my staff.

Point 82: Sarah Wooten

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By Elayne Angel, Rings of Desire, Reprinted from The Point Issue 64

President’s Award

One of my favorite things about serving as APP President is that I have the “job” of bestowing an annual award. There aren’t any formal or established criteria for me to follow, and in some ways that makes it even harder to reach a decision on the winner. That said, when I came up with the idea of naming this individual, I knew it was absolutely the right choice.

I wanted to make it clear during my brief speech at the banquet that it shouldn’t only be the super-sparkly, outgoing, attention-getting folks (such as myself) who are noticed. I wanted to recognize someone who is hardworking and highly participatory, but in a quieter, more behind-the-scenes way than some of us.

This person studied photography at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1992-93. They have been a professional piercer since 1998 and an APP member since 1999. This piercer worked in a studio as an employee for eight years, until 2006 when that business closed. They opened their own studio in 2007. This person is incredibly devoted, dedicated, consistent, and cares deeply about doing quality work.

This recipient has served admirably on the Conference Committee since it formed in 2008; she also volunteered at our annual events before that. She handles a task that is surely one of the most daunting and difficult with grace and compassion: She wrangles all of us speakers and our handouts and PowerPoint presentations so they are ready for Conference. Her patience and diligence are beyond measure. I’m a little embarrassed to admit she’s even had to goad me at times to extract my presentation materials.

Not only is this woman a wonderful piercer, a respected colleague, and a fantastic employer, she is also an amazing mother.

She has aptly been described as “The APP’s best kept secret.” This woman has earned my deepest respect and is so deserving of recognition for her efforts on behalf of the industry and this organization.

My selection for the 2013 recipient of the President’s Award is Sarah Wooten.

Thank you so much Sarah for all that you do. You earned this award so quietly and gently, yet thoroughly. Congratulations!

Preferring to make receiving the award a positive and pleasant experience, I did not require her to address the audience at the banquet. I am aware that this woman of many talents does not have public speaking high on her list of favorite things to do. So instead I suggested that she write something for The Point and here it is:

“I am feeling honored, humbled, and a little overwhelmed with having been chosen to receive the 2013 APP President’s Award. I like to joke around that I have some sort of obsession with volunteering, but the truth of the matter is that it’s one of the most rewarding aspects of having a career in this industry. I strongly believe that the APP has done an immeasurable amount of good for piercers, both for our industry and for our community. To me, the ability to give back by donating my time and energy in such a direct way is really gratifying. Being a part of the Conference Committee allows me to work closely with people I respect and admire, and to help create this wonderful educational event that benefits fellow piercers. I had no idea in advance just how much hard work goes into each year’s Conference, but the result makes the effort more than worth it.

“I’m incredibly thankful for the recognition. It makes me want to work harder and to do more. I’d also like to take this opportunity to encourage others to consider volunteering in some capacity. There are so many different ways to reach out and give something back, and I promise you’ll be glad that you did.”

Well said, Sarah!

Point 82: Alicia Cardenas

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By Casey Hosch, Sol Tribe Custom Tattoo & Body Piercing

Casey: Who are you?

Alicia: My name is Alicia Cardenas. I am a professional body piercer, tattooer, modification artist, and business owner in Denver, Colorado.

CH: How long have you been in the industry?

AC: Since July of 1994, so 24 years.

CH: Tell me a little about your apprenticeship.

AC: It was a very non-traditional apprenticeship under a woman who was very involved in the BDSM community. Her name was PJ and she was a Fakir Intensive graduate. She ran a tattoo/piercing/ dungeon shop in Denver called Bound by Design. My apprenticeship was very traumatizing! It was an unethical fast track to ritual in piercing. I don’t have any regret regarding the way I was taught, but would never do that to someone else. I consider myself to be a lifetime apprentice, forever learning especially in and around my involvement with the APP. I apprenticed for about 3 months. I went from never touching a client to full time body piercer in that three month period. Benefits of such a difficult apprenticeship are that I learned very quickly what I did and did not want to be involved in. I learned boundaries by  having  my  boundaries  pushed too far. I learned respect from not receiving any. I learned that even women can be abusive to other women. I learned that there is no amount of money that can replace trauma.

CH: Can you comment on the duality of science versus ritual, the importance of both in the piercing industry? With such a short apprenticeship, when did you experience/delineate both sides?

AC: When I started in the industry, there was very little science involved. We didn’t even package tools in disposable pouches. Tools went from autoclave into drawers and we used glutaraldehydes (cold sterilization) to disinfect. There were no regulations, no standards, and even the APP was merely beginning. There was only ritual and it was based (because of my teacher) in BDSM. Quickly I learned that this was not my way, sexually that is, but that I liked the ritual aspect of it. The intention and layers of emotion and spirituality called to me. The science and aspects of mathematics like measurements and clinical practices came much later and also intrigued me. I definitely helped bring the science to it after I became involved with different movements to get the industry regulated. The NEHA Body Art Code that all states use as their model codes, that was me in 1999.

CH: When you started, what was it like being a woman in a male run industry?

AC: DIFFICULT!!! I had to work twice as hard for half as much. I learned quickly to work with the shortcomings of my male counterparts, so we could  thrive as a team. I basically learned to wipe everyone’s ass to make myself an asset. I protected myself by laying down boundaries, basically telling all the men that I would not sleep with them to make my way to the top.

CH: How long have you been a business owner?

AC: Since 1996. I opened Addictions Tattoo Company with Chris Chrome in ‘96. In the summer of 1997 I opened Twisted Sol with Mike Nichols, and in 2009 I opened Sol Tribe with Kevin Strawbridge. Now I am the sole owner of Sol Tribe. So 21 years.

CH: I find it interesting that all your business partners have been men? Touch on that and why you have decided to go solo.

AC: I guess that is true. I have had many different collaborators over the years and many of them are men. My experience around male counterparts has been all over the spectrum. I have grown from having known them, I have emulated aspects of them, and I have outgrown them. I no longer wish to collaborate with anyone on a business level mostly because I work circles around people. I work hard and I have a lot of raw experience (I have fucked up a lot). I am, however, extremely grateful for all my partners even the one I don’t communicate with anymore. Each person I worked with has given me gifts of which I would not have gained on my own. I consider all my partnerships to have been successful.

CH: Who helped you on your journey to being the boss?

AC: My mother is my greatest influence and taught me to run my own show. She helped me open Twisted Sol the same year she passed away. I was always a bossy girl though, so it came very naturally to me. Turns out that bossy just means you are a strong leader.

CH: Why was it important to you to own your own business?

AC: If I didn’t own my own business, I would want to work for someone like me. Until that someone comes along I will continue do this (run my business). It’s important to follow your dreams and allow your visions to be realized.

CH: What change have you seen in the industry in the last 20 years?

AC: OMG! It’s almost unrecognizable. It’s heartbreaking… there is what I see as serious lack of ethics and respect in the younger generations of piercers. I have observed that many are no longer concerned with our history or lineage. BUMMER! Social media has changed the world and has certainly changed our industry. In my opinion you can have a huge following, do mediocre work (but you just happen to be able to take a decent photo of it), be a nightmare human who is cruel to others and to clients, and still be a sensation. Some things are going to need to change, and people are going to need to stop hiding behind their screens and learn to be good humans again.

CH: Let’s talk cultural appropriation. What is cultural appropriation?

AC: WOW. That’s a huge subject, and almost an article of its own. Let’s just say cultural appropriation is taking something, or using sacred symbolism, that is not culturally yours, for your gain. And using it without acknowledgment or education or even sensitivity of its original intention. Now having said that I would like to introduce a new phrase we should all become familiar with and that is cultural fascism. Cultural fascism is trying to control other people’s creative and free expression around cultural experience.

CH: Recently there was an ad from a jewelry company that didn’t sit well with a lot of folks due to the idea of cultural appropriation? What are your thoughts on that?

AC: It’s Cultural Fascism! Social justice warriors who are using social justice as a weapon to destroy people without knowing the entirety of the story. In my opinion, this is a huge subject and deserves a lot of attention. In this situation things went way too far. If your attempt to right a wrong (point out cultural appropriation) results in you threatening to harm someone over it, you have gone way beyond doing the work based in justice and you need to reexamine your work and vision.

CH: How does that affect you as a woman of color?

AC: Watching a bunch of people work out their decolonization and indoctrination is no longer interesting to me, especially on the internet. What America needs to know is that we, as a culture, were raised with white supremacy at the core of our values. And it’s going to take a lot more than a black president to pull us away from that. I am sad that we get caught up with what other people are choosing to do with their bodies when we still live in a world where people don’t have clean water and healthcare. Everyone needs to check their privilege and be rooted in the abundance we have come to know and stop taking it for granted. As a woman of color I am still distraught that there are not more women or women of color in our industry. I am horrified that a huge amount of the women in our industry still are on the outskirts of the industry and are heavily undereducated. I am mystified that people of color are not encouraged to start career paths in tattooing and body piercing. An industry with balance and diversity makes for a far richer industry (society). PERIOD.

CH: What advice would you give a young woman for success in the workplace? Or how do you continue to support women in the workplace?

AC: I continue to support women in the industry by investing in them. Teaching them and empowering them. My shop is an example of that! It’s run by badass women.

CH: Who have you trained? What is your experience around training others?

AC: I have trained only three people with full on apprenticeships, and only one is a full time piercer. It’s not a job for the weak. It takes constant growth and attentiveness. I am lucky to have trained you and consider our apprenticeship together to be one of the most thorough trainings I have ever witnessed, which only has half to do with me!!!!

CH: You trained me, the interviewer, what was that like as a whole? Why did you pick me?

AC: I picked you because you called and emailed me like 40 times. You being gifted in customer service was huge. I trained you because you would not take no for an answer and in this industry you have to fight for what you want. You were a natural born fighter. I am grateful that you carry on my legacy, not only in the moment of clean and effective piercing, but in a warmth, compassion, and effectiveness in touching other’s hearts.

CH: How do you achieve your work/life balance?

AC: I don’t! hahaha!!! I still live, work, and screw up my personal life constantly. But I would say having a system in place for self-care is what I am currently working on.

CH: Has being a mother changed any facts or opinions of the industry for you?

AC: Being a mother changed everything. Suddenly I had two kids, the shop and my real kiddo. Everything I learned in piercing has prepared me for parenthood. Compassion and patience. My child has expanded my conscientiousness.

CH: Where do you see yourself in the next five years? 10 years?

AC: I will always do body art. ALWAYS. It’s a lifestyle, not a job. But I imagine I will focus more on artwork and parenting and let you (the interviewer) run the shop until my kid can help you run it. I’d like to disappear into the woods and make a retreat center for healing. I would also like to sing in a mariachi band someday! 😉

CH: Who are some of your influences? Shout outs!

AC: Professionally—Women in the professional piercing industry who have inspired me include Elayne Angel, Gigi Gits from Kolo Piercing, Crystal Sims from Evolution, Ericka Smicenski from Somatic, Kristin Otter from Metamorphosis, Christiane Lofblad from Pinpoint in Oslo. And the anthropological efforts of Erika Skadsen. My favorite piercers also include Luis Garcia, Derek Lowe, Casey Hosch, Aaron Foster, Danny Yerna, Ryan Ouellette, Courtney Jane Maxwell, Chris Jennell. And on a personal level, Dave Field, Ana Paula Escalante, Caitlin McDiarmid, Beverly DeOlivera, Monica Larrea, Theresa Preston, Corey Lolley, and Casey Hosch.