Journal of Body Piercing — APP
The following pages feature articles from
issue 49 of Piercing Fans International
Quarterly, 1992. Over 25 years have
passed, but the art was as vital then as it is
today. Used with the permission of
Gauntlet Enterprises.
The following pages feature articles from issue 49 of Piercing Fans International Quarterly, 1992. Over 25 years have passed, but the art was as vital then as it is today. Used with the permission of Gauntlet Enterprises
Body modification can be thought of as a physical manifestation of conceptual thought. As our culture becomes more conceptually focused, many people now deal with body manipulation, although for most it is unintentional. We eat regardless of whether or not we are hungry. We sleep according to arbitrary schedules. We dress with little thought to the surrounding environment. We allow the mind, rather than the body, to control our physical actions. Because this behavior is so prevalent in our culture, it is understandable that it is being represented in contemporary art.
The act of piercing is about forcing my body to take a back seat to my thoughts and allowing my mind to decide what is going to be done in order to create work. The final product of my art generally takes the form of photographs which are displayed alone or included in an installation. The piercings are real, not photographic tricks. Viewers ask why I don’t retouch the photographs to make it “look like” the piercing depicted; I think it is vital that the manipulation is real. This is the point where the idea of performance and time enter my work. The action becomes a tangible, genuine form of conceptual thought. Moreover, the experience informs the work and the artist.
Recently, I did a series of work dealing with social stigmatization and penalization. I was researching legislation created to publicly identify sex offenders and reading articles written by policy-makers discussing the use of shaming as a plausible, economical form of punishment.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter and the incident a few years ago when the American teenager was caned in public for a vandalism offense in Singapore also seemed relevant to my investigation. It seemed that body manipulation was a natural way of dealing with these issues.
In one piece, a red plastic tag was attached to my ear with a labret. In big letters, it read “Sodomist” and beneath it was “Unlawful to Remove, Sec 602 VA Penal Code.” I wore this in public for several days. It gave me a greater sense of the ideas I was dealing with and helped me open up to possibilities for new work. It also seemed that it was an important way for getting this kind of art work out of the galleries and art magazines and into the daily lives of a broader audience.
In another piece, I had a piece of muslin sewn to my back on which was stenciled the word “fetishist.” Again, I wore it in public for several days. The clothes I wore for the piece consisted of blue jeans and a blue chambray shirt with the back cut open. It forced people to wonder about their own views of stigmatization and shame first hand—not just theoretically.
Was this person a sex offender? Who did this to him? Is this an art piece? Is this real? How would I feel if someone did this to my brother?
I enjoy getting pierced. This shouldn’t have any bearing on my art, and I would hope I would have created this work even if I didn’t enjoy the process. It is a kind of pleasure that is both physical and psychological. It gives me a strong, physical sense of mind over body when I watch someone taking a needle and putting it through my body. However, because it causes me so much pleasure, I am careful about deciding what projects to take on. I have to consider the roots of my need to do a particular project. Is there artistic merit in this endeavor? Am I using art as an excuse to do harm to myself? It can be a very fine line. To make sure I am on strong footing before undertaking a project, I allow several months to consider and develop the project before executing my plans. I also talk about the piece with other people before going forward. I make the final decision. However, I think it is a good idea to sound out projects thoroughly before hand, especially if they have a high element of physical, psychological, or even financial risk.
I look forward to including more body modification in my work. One of the greatest challenges for artists using this approach in their work is to avoid being regarded as a side show freak. I want to take the audience beyond shock and have them move into the more subtle, personal, and aesthetic dimensions of the work. v
PHOTO CREDITS:
For Fetishist: Piercing by Chance of Gauntlet, Inc. Photography by Lynn Borowitz.
© 1996 by Dave Tavacol.
For Sodomist: Piercing by Jo
of Body Manipulations. Photography by artist.
© 1996 by Dave Tavacol.
Article by Taj Waggaman
Photos by Peter Ross
The following pages feature articles from issue 49 of Piercing Fans International Quarterly, 1992. Over 25 years have passed, but the art was as vital then as it is today. Used with the permission of Gauntlet Enterprises.
No performance issue would be complete without including Julie Tolentino Wood.
Julie is based in New York but was born in San Francisco in 1965. Now aged 30—turning 31 in October— she is truly bi-coastal. With a very full plate and a lot of integrity, Julie serves up plenty of goodies. She works with Ron Athey and David Rousseve, runs the Clit Club in New York, and is a student of many things, including acupuncture and yoga. Having Julie as part of the family is a pleasure, and
I was excited when I was asked to interview her.
With Ron and David, her family, and many friends in California, she keeps a nottoo-distant hand on the West coast. With the management of three companies (her own, David’s, and Ron’s), Julie is constantly planning a tour, event or performance. She tries to sustain balance in all her achievements, her body playing just about the biggest role in her life. Yoga, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, tattoos, piercings, and her latex glove fetish combine to help sustain this, her temple of creation.
Movement has been a part of her life from the beginning, and perhaps because of it Julie has always been a performer. Tattoos and piercings were a natural progression, still just expressions of her body. Most of Julie’s tattoos are commemorative; one of my favorites is the word “loved” on the back of her neck. It’s so great because when you read it you feel loved too.
Julie enjoys her piercings and the experiences that go with them. Crystal Cross from Primeval Body in LA pierced Julie’s vertical nipple piercing. Raelyn Gallina pierced her nostril. Brian Murphy of Gauntlet San Francisco pierced her triangle.
One of Julie’s more rewarding piercing experiences occurred when she and Brian were in London to do a performance with Ron Athey and company. The piercing took place at Alex Binnie’s shop, Into You, where Brian was training another piercer. Ron, Crystal, Pig Pen, and Darryl came along as onlookers. Julie said she wanted some- thing to make her feel like a princess, not a queen. She felt she knew all the queens. As it turned out the “princess” got a labret piercing with a tiny diamond.
1990, the year she turned 25, was very significant for Julie. This was the year she was introduced as part of Reality, David Rousseve’s New York company. She also started the Clit Club. Previously involved as an activist for gay rights and AIDS awareness, she worked with Act-Up and other organizations, championed womens’ rights, and worked to fight racism. She was also a primary caregiver—her first experience—for Ray Navaro, a dear friend suffering with AIDS.
During this time Julie describes herself as seem- ingly tireless. Every aspect of her life was a full time commitment. It was not unusual for her to wake up, go to class, from class to rehearsal, run errands, maybe take a nap, go to the club, and put in a shift as a caregiver for Ray at four o’clock in the morning. The next day was a repeat.
In November of 1990 Ray passed away. In his memory Julie had a flying dragon tattooed on her left shoulder. 1992 was the year Julie discovered yoga. She also met Ron Athey. For about a year they had spoken on the phone. They finally met at a tattoo convention. Both were a bit nervous about meeting the other.
When Julie was introduced to Ron’s work, it became clear to her that this was something she wanted to be involved in. She also felt a sense of protectiveness towards Ron and this work. The rawness and realness of what he was expressing as well as the special chemistry between them encouraged her to become involved as choreographer, performer, co-di- rector, and Ron’s manager.
In addition to working with Ron, Julie has done many solo pieces and collaborations. When I met her two years ago she was doing a performance in San Francisco with Diviana Ingravallo called “Through Our Blood.” Since then Julie and I have performed a very light piece together at the Clit Club. Our friend Patty Powers was stripping and gave myself and two others lap dances. Julie pierced us on stage. I guess that’s what we get for being “bad girls” with our cigars.
This past June at a club in New York called Pork, I was for- tunate to see Julie and her lover/collaborator Tjet Clark do a show entitled “Five Elements” (fire, water, earth, air, metal).
When I heard Julie was planning to incorporate acupunc- ture and body work into her already busy schedule, I asked if that meant she’d have to give something up. She replied, “Well, I’m not getting off the stage!” They just make sense to her and compliment everything else she does.
Julie’s blood runs through everything she is a part of. If you have the opportunity, see one of her performances at the Clit Club in New York City where she appears every Friday night. v
The following pages feature articles from issue 49 of Piercing Fans International Quarterly, 1992. Over 25 years have passed, but the art was as vital then as it is today. Used with the permission of Gauntlet Enterprises.
Motivation and presentation may have changed, but the act of the artist using bodily fluids and perforated flesh as a vehicle of expression is nothing new. In the 70s, artist/groups such as Marina Abromovic and Coum Transmissions, later known as Throbbing Gristle, incorporated blood letting in their performances. In the 80s blood performances attracted greater atten tion. The artist Stelarc suspended himself from a crane over the streets of Copenhagen, held by giant hooks through his flesh.
Portraying the human body as “obsolete,” he gained international notoriety. The collaboration team of Ron Athey and Rozz Williams, known as Premature Ejaculation, was filleting and nailing themselves—and a few road kill—for Los Angeles audiences. On the subject of nails, performance artist Bob Flannigan would hammer the head of his dick to a board and then pry the nail out. AIDS activist/writer/ performance artist David Wojnarowicz utilized similar techniques when he stitched his lips shut as a visual testimony to the concept “Silence = Death.”
Through literature, music videos, high fashion, media sensationalism and governmental hysteria, the sub-culture of permanent and performance piercing has penetrated the mainstream. Don’t be surprised when Barbie starts sporting a “belly button ring.” Increased public attention, both negative and positive, has enabled cutting edge artists like Ron Athey to break from the underground circuit to “proper” performance theaters. Performing in established art environments with greater budgets, the artist can more accurately and elaborately bring their vision to stage.
Performance piercing in the 90s originated in the nightclub. At L. A.’s nightclub “Fuck!”, friends of the promoters included S/M practitioners, who started bringing their sex lives to the dance podium. Performers such as Elayne Binnie, Ron Athey and Crystal Cross were at the forefront.
Fetishism and exhibitionism were the primary motivations. Initial responses ranged from shock and revulsion, to admiration and lust. Most of what you see in nightclubs these days has become narrowly focused on shock value.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good shock more than anyone. However, one cannot rely on sticking needles through flesh to be shocking forever. At some point the shock fades. With repeated exposure even a strong image will lose its power. Just think of TV violence. Unfortunately for most viewers, there’s little variation available. Play pierced lips and ball dances are becoming as passé as navel piercings. It’s difficult to pinpoint where content and progression began to evolve with the individual performer. The process seemed to evolve unconsciously through the repetition of recurring fetish themes.
I was doing shows in nightclubs and as demonstrations for S/M organizations. I became detached; mechanical. The repetitive action of sticking needles through skin had become monotonous; perhaps I had just come to realize that action alone is empty. I began to incorporate my darker feelings into the pieces, creating a sort of psychodrama. Oftentimes I had preexisting relationships with my collaborators and assistants. When I allowed my feelings for the person to fuel the inspiration, the pieces developed depth. My work was now the expression and release of love, obsession, fear, insecurity and vanity. I used images of operating rooms, dungeons and dark basements. Bodily fluids, such as vomit, blood, piss, spit and tears are my favorite medium.
The first work of mine that contained any real substance was “Fuck Art…This is Love.” My partner at the time, Bud Cockerham, was an artist who is HIV positive. I delved into my unconscious fear of watching someone I love being reduced, wasted, and destroyed. I focused my anger at the idea of making love becoming synonymous with cross contamination. Intimacy was death. My anguish materialized. The piece takes place in a plastic-encased operating room. The
audience’s view is clouded and nightmarish. Masked , goggled and garbed head to toe in surgical scrubs, I catheterized him, infused his scrotum to monstrous proportions, sutured his lips shut, carved “HIV+” into his chest, and sprayed him and the enclosed room in his blood. In later performances this image was pushed and the ending changed. I introduced another character who is HIV-. Both drenched in their own blood, they make love through a polyurethane wall.
“Puff-n-Snuff” is playtime in my darkest fantasies. The piece is a tribute to the bogeyman, killer clowns, Texas Chain Saw Massacre and of course, Dennis Cooper. It’s a snuff (murder) fantasy. The killer clown has two victims in a basement, mummified and tied to ladders. Hundreds of pictures of one of the victims are obsessively scattered all over the walls. One of the pictures is placed over a victim’s face. The clown straps on a dildo harness equipped with a 10” steel knife and proceeds to fuck one of the victims to death. A sterile piercing needle is attached into a battery powered drill which the clown presses through the victims’ cheeks. The clown then uses a circular saw to rip through arms and gut the abdomens of the victims. The lights dim while the clown writhes in organs and masturbates with the intestines. Don’t worry; all mutilations, except the drilling, are stunts.
My recent work has gotten lighter, even playful. In the piece “Man’s Ruin,” co-creator Brian Murphy and I brought to life the elements of the traditional tattoo flash of the pin-up girl sitting in a martini glass framed with playing cards and dice. The image pays respect to vice and the sorrow it brings. The piece is staged as a game show hosted by a Las Vegas devil boy and devil girl. Flashing lights, blaring trashy rock, outrageous costumes and props set a dream-like mood. We tempt the contestant with the vices of sex, money, drugs, liquor and vanity. Every time he reaches for his desire we “hook” him. The viewers are the game show’s audience. Their cheers and cries egg us on to hurt him more. One by one, fishhooks pierce his finger webs, cheeks, scrotum and legs which are then strung up to a frame in the image of giant dice. The game continues until he dies. The show ends with rock-n-roll drag-queen nurses body bagging and toe-tagging the loser.
Owning my feelings and fantasies, confronting social taboos and phobias is my work’s passion. Catharsis became the mother of invention. The audience doesn’t always understand the artist’s motivation or the message; with art that isn’t always relevant. Whether awe-inspired or repulsed, rarely is one unmoved. v
by Kenny Hughes
Photos by Kendra Jane B.
January 18, 2001 was the night where my performance art journey began and in many ways it’s what brought me to where I am today. My piercer at the time (and little did I know, soon to be mentor of a failed apprenticeship) asked me if I wanted to head to Houston to see some body suspensions. I’d already been doing research on the subject for many years via the internet and various publications, but never had the pleasure of witnessing a suspension in person. To say that 19 year old me was thrilled about going is a bit of an understatement. Entering the renowned #’s Night Club that night for the first time would leave me forever changed.
It wasn’t long after entering that I began to recognize faces that I had been stalking on BME over the last several years. These people may as well have been celebrities to me at the time, and actually just like today, I was too much of a weirdo to introduce myself. Soon there was some guy in a lizard suit on stage playing with fire and walking on glass… but it was no suit. This was my first time seeing the Lizard Man in person. We didn’t chat that night, but later he would help me and other members of the troupe with fire manipulation. Then there were the Jager Tour visits; that’s another story though. With a bit of a lengthy wait between sets, which would become a bit of an unfortunate trademark, I was a witness to the birth of CoRE. This was also my introduction to performance art in person.
The performers slowly came out and took their respective places. There were four separate suspension points for this mobile that represent the four elements: earth, water, air, and fire. I was enthralled by the tedious job of rigging the suspendees to their rigs. Nothing at all compared to the breathtaking rigging that can be seen today; it was nothing short of captivating. Soon we could hear the all too familiar gut-wrenching noise of the chain hoist over the music, but this only meant one thing it was time to take flight.
The suspensions that night were vertical (Suicide), horizontal face-down (Superman), horizontal face-up (Coma), and knees. I found each one more exciting than the previous. The swinging, the stretching of the skin, and the blood, all mixed with the performance; the makeup, and the music all held my attention until the last person was cut down.
I got so much more out of that night than I ever thought possible. I just expected to go see some guys hang from hooks, but unknown to me at the time, the performance aspect brought it all to another level. Until you witness it yourself (in person) for the first time, you will never comprehend the gamut of emotions that can run through you as you are a part of such an event. It can bring laughter and extreme happiness and then make you cry for no damn reason like you never have before. For the following decade of my life I had the extreme pleasure of making observers feel this way with some of the best people I’ll ever have in my life.
A few months later, the same friend took me to Taurian to visit with the director of CoRE and, at the time, the Vice President of the APP, the incomparable Steve Joyner. Steve had already had a big influence on me, and that only grew in the years after as I had the pleasure of working directly with him. This man has done more for the piercing industry than what seems possible for a single person and he will never be equalled. If there was some otherworldly super hero for piercers it would be him. Even though we may have our differences from time to time, it is an honor to call him a friend and colleague. This visit is also the first time I met the skinny, dreamy, dread-locked Byriah Dailey. Byriah was the owner of Taurian, the head engineer for CoRE, and would many years later become my mentor in body jewelry manufacturing and piercing. He is still to this day my favorite person on this planet and the best piercer I know. If I owed my career to any one person, it would be this man.
After some discussions of future piercings and other things we grabbed some fliers for an upcoming CoRE show and were on our way. It was after that second show that I contacted Steve again and discussed what I had to do to become part of the troupe. I was quickly invited to come to their meetings and see how we all got along. It wasn’t long before I was doing my first suspensions both privately and for performances.
Soon CoRE was travelling across the country and at times other continents to perform for the world. From small art galleries in Paris to performing in front of well over a hundred thousand people at music festivals and yes, there was that one night at the Playboy Mansion. One of my personal favorite shows was one where we were battling fire breathing robots. This also happened to be the occasion where a reporter asked Kali, everyone’s favorite S&M body piercer turned Christian revivalist, if he was crazy, to which he replied, “yes, and I have the papers to prove it.”
All of this became the jump start to my piercing career. I’ve had people from the other side of the world contact me and tell me how I’ve helped them accomplish things in their lives that they never thought possible. It was always my intention and still is to this day to show the world how beautiful you can be. By pushing our own boundaries in life and art, we inspire others to explore their own. With enormous amounts of blood, Houston, Texas sweat, and tears this is what performance art is to me.
We are CoRE.
The following is a blog post on the International Suspension Alliance website entitled “We Are CoRE” dated 9/13/2010:
““I try to remove bricks off the wall of society. In my lifetime, I will probably remove one brick from that wall, and that’s the whole point of this.” –Steve Joyner
Trying to write about Constructs of Ritual Evolution, or CoRE as you might know them, may be one of the most challenging subjects I have taken on. I think a lot of that comes from the fact that what they are doing on stage is more about what you personally take away from it than anything else. It’s emotion; it is about making you think. The beautiful pictures here can’t begin to do justice to watching the real thing and no amount of words could tell you what you would experience seeing it in person. I’m just here to tell you who they are and what they do. As for the rest… well, you would just have to see them yourself to figure that one out.
With an anniversary right around the corner, CoRE is coming up on ten years of performing, educating, and evolving into what it is today. What they are may be the trickiest question to answer. Are they performance art or suspension, actors or educators? The simple answer is all of the above. For as much as they put into entertaining the crowds on stage, just as much is put into their work with the suspension community. With links on their website to educational resources and their classes that range from cross contamination and aftercare to suspension safety, saying that education is an important part of what they do would be a drastic understatement. They take time to attend suspension conventions worldwide, traveling everywhere from Dallas to Israel to share what they know and with the classes he has taught through the Association of Professional Piercers and Professional Piercing Information Systems, CoRE’s founder and director Steve Joyner is a familiar face among both the suspension and piercing communities. Even the live show is a chance for them to teach through their actions on stage. Steve worded it best when he said that whether or not you consider yourself an educator, every time you step on stage, the people in that audience are taking with them what you have done.
As for what to expect from CoRE’s live show, it tells us stories that could be taken differently by each person in the audience. Like any good work of art, it is made to reach you on a very personal level. They have worked to bring us something far greater than just people hanging from hooks, what they do on stage is nothing short of breathtaking. Having a cast of performers that range from elegant belly dancers and contortionists to bold and daring fire-breathers and suspension artists, CoRE’s show encompasses a unique blend of rituals, suspensions, and stage performance. Their well coordinated use of light and sound to compliment the acts on stage adds yet another dimension as you watch the show. With a rehearsal schedule that could rival Cirque du Soleil’s, this certainly isn’t just a group fooling around on stage. Every act is carefully prepared, edited, and rehearsed with special attention to the safety and well being of all of those involved.
I am so excited to see what the next ten years has in store for this remarkable group of people. I know we will continue to see many more shows coming up for CoRE in the future and if you have the chance to see them live be sure not to miss out on the opportunity to witness a spectacular performance by this one-of-a-kind theatrical group. You can keep up with upcoming dates, news, and educational events on their website We Are CoRE.
Thank you so much to everyone in CoRE for what you have given to all of us, both inside the suspension community and out. A special thank you to Patricia and Steve for being such a huge help in writing this article.
Reprinted from Inkspired Magazine issue 22, 2014, with permission of the publisher.
Story: Sean Dowdell
Photography: Sean Hartgrave
Number of years piercing: 27
SD: What do think is something positive that the comes from the piercing industry, if anything?
SJ: It is adding cultural diversity to our society. It can give individual meaning as an outlet of expression to people.
SD: What would you like other piercers to know that they might not know about you?
SJ: Not a damn thing! Just kidding…! know that I have worked hard to push our industry but at the end of the day, my door is open to anyone who would like to talk to me about piercing. I love teaching and talking to everyone and learning myself. I’m more sensitive than people think. I don’t like arguing or arrogance.
SD: Being a veteran piercer, what advice do you think that most new piercers should be aware of as they climb into our industry?
SJ: Piercers need to SLOW DOWN. Take the time to learn A-Z correctly. They need to go through a real apprenticeship and take it for what it is meant to be.
SD: Is there anything you wish to learn or get better at in the piercing industry?
SJ: Oh yeah! There will always be more techniques and newer equipment. I would love to learn to do hand poking tattoos. I am on my way to learning as well!
Photos by Jodi Harris
by Kendra Jane B., The Point Co-Editor
Auris Jewelry was a first time vendor on this year exposition floor and as a new Gold company from Russia, it was great to see that they had entered the Magdustrial for an innovators award. What is even better as first time attendees and entrant is winning the technical award for this year.
Kendra Jane B: Can you introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to APP this year?
Auris Jewelry: Auris Jewelry’s core is three people. Myself and Vlad-1 are the owners of St Scalpelburg Piercing Boutique, with the intention of creating a new piercing jewelry line for its customers, and Vlad-2, who is a jeweler and owns a goldsmith manufacturer. Together we want to make this world more shiny. Where to start if not APP, the world’s biggest and best.
KJB: How long has Auris been a jewelry company?
AJ: We started looking for a jeweler to make our designs in 2014. We found Vlad-2 in 2015, so we can say we’ve done piercing since that time. But series models only started in 2016.
KJB: What was it like breaking into the gold market in Russia? Tell us about your company.
AJ: Besides the Advanced Journal of Surgical Pathology (AJSP), there is nothing high end in Russia. Only cheap gold designs from the ‘90s which are externally threaded, wrongly sized, and not even nickel free. Since 2013 St Scalpelburg has offered Russian people jewelry from BVLA, but long wait times and higher price points were very difficult in our market. We decided to build our own brand which can fulfill our customers’ demands in about one month and it works. As you can see, not only for our shop customers, but for other shops all over the world!
KJB: Why is it so important for piercers in your area to have access to high end jewelry?
AJ: Well, besides safety and quality, selling good jewelry is crucial for our industry. The more money we make, the more money we spend on advertising our professional industry ideas, and the bigger educational conferences we can hold, etc.
KJB: What inspired you to create the Magdustrial?
AJ: Well, the idea belongs to Vlad-2, our jeweler. He says that when you are focused on a specific area, you try to project onto this field everything you encounter—whether those are rocks from a specific place or technological newcomings. One day Vlad got his hands on a pair of neodymium magnets, they were small enough to be feasible for applying to piercing and strong enough to keep tension. Some time after, he discussed the idea with Vlad-1 and me. We decided that it might be an interesting idea to upgrade our existing chaindustrial with magnets instead of separate chains. The idea was so fresh and fascinating, so we started working on the design. You’ve all seen what it became!
KJB: Tell us about the process of creating this piece?
AJ: It was pretty much the same as any other piece. Interactions, one by one, until we found a design suitable for magnets and it looked bright enough.
KJB: What are your future plans for your company?
AJ: Ohoho, there are tons! We’ve got a number of ideas for new jewelry styles we want to introduce to the public. We want to cover all countries where people work with high end, so we are pretty much on the road all this year.
Of course, we are quite a young company now, so we are establishing business processes first. But the biggest dream is to move all the manufacturing, employees, and facilities to a nice warm place like Thailand or Bali.
KJB: What is the piercing industry like in Russia compared to North America or European markets?
AJ: It is only just starting to grow. We have only 10–15 shops ordering high end titanium on a regular basis at the moment. The general public is still not ready to pay that much for a piercing; although we did a huge educational job by mass-advertising with St Scalpelburg the past five years and now people are starting to believe that they can sell high end jewelry and earn money from it.
I would say it is pretty similar to South America at the moment, but we are growing fast.
KJB: Can you tell us a bit about your involvement with the RuAPP and the conference you just had?
AJ: Of course! Auris Jewelry, along with Industrial Strength Russia, became corporate and administrative sponsors of the first and second RuAPP conference in Moscow. The first was held in January, second in August and this time we involved foreign speakers and attendees. Thanks a lot to APP who generously sponsored Brian Skellie and Cody Vaughn coming to RuAPP! The conference had 105 attendees which shows us that piercers in Russia are eager to learn and make Russian piercing all it can be!
Regarding involvement, RuAPP, Auris Jewelry, St Scalpelburg and the Russian piercing industry in general are mixed into one because we (Vlad Bodmodov and I) are doing all these activities at the same time.
KJB: Can we hope to see you next year?
AJ: You kidding? We would love to be there again! Next time we will be better prepared.
KJB: What is one piece of advice you would have for aspiring jewelry makers?
AJ: I’ve got a little bit different type of answer for that. After APP and RuAPP we went to Brazilian GEP where we met RARO jewelry who had their debut at the Conference. Lukas, their designer, told us that our jewelry along with Charly Pastrana’s Sacred Symbols, has become an inspiration for them.
I was so happy to know that we inspired those people to create a neat product! For me, inspiring people is one of the best things in the world.
Therefore, if I wanted to give advice to people who want to make jewelry themselves… well, do what you want to wear for yourself and don’t copy. When it comes from your heart you can easily see the difference. That’s why I love what Charly from Sacred Symbols does. The rest just takes time.
Hope to see you soon at Conferences all over the world and have you in the Auris Legion one day. Together we can wipe styleless jewelry from this world.
by Caitlin McDiarmid, APP Administrator
2018 is over and the planning for 2019 is well underway, with only 10 months between conferences.
I was extremely proud of this year’s crop of Al D. Scholars. Not only were they exceptional workers, but they really crammed in as much education as possible with their busy schedules. They made friends with each other and with the larger volunteer group. By the end of the week, they understood fully the gift of service and working with a team which had now become their family.
Our Al D. Scholars this year were: Anji Amarjargal (San Francisco, CA/Mongolia); Àngel Armengol Docio (Barcelona, Spain); Zakk Boyer (Fayetteville, NC); Becky Crossan (Stockton-on-Tees, UK); Txas Norris (Oviedo, Spain); Debbie Moore (Cork Ireland); Jon Salzer (Atlantic Beach, FL), and Daniel Wright (Liverpool, UK). Thank you for your courageous work and your willingness to be open to what seems like a chaotic mess (the volunteer experience), but has its own rhythm and makes beautiful music if you let it.
I want to thank LeRoi and Tether for contributing to the Al D. Scholarship fund; and PunkMedics for sponsoring five full “Forever Learning” Scholarships in Rick Frueh’s name; and NeoMetal for sponsoring one “Live Long and Prosper” Scholarship in Mark Siekierski’s name.
Once again Piercers contributed to the No Excuses fund and sent Maggie Kellett and Victoria Rothman to Conference.
This year we invited back a few of the scholars from previous years who had received outstanding reviews: Jess Farrar, Nicole Holmes, Alicia Lowe, Erica Martin, Saku Penttilä, Michelle Rose, Cas Willems
We had volunteers, who have been with us for a bit, return to continue in service: Dae Jedic, José Carlos Calvo, Charlie LeBeau, James Biggers, Jason Heeney, Nathan Lee Grosvenor
The following love volunteers completed training, enabling them to become official volunteers this year: Megan Naito & Vivi Madero
Our AV crew was: Brian Moeller, Allen Falkner, Lani Soleil, Jesse Enz, Aiden Johnson, Paul Rainer, Shana Gyure, Michelle Rose
The AV shifts might be short but these folks handle one of the most pressure filled roles of Conference and we thank them for their hard work.
Julie Taylor had some additional challenges with the new location of our Registration. She met them head on, and along with the Volunteer Underground and other volunteers, was successful at getting both new and returning attend- ees down to the Event Center on our busy first days.
The Super Volunteers are our most experienced volunteers – and it shows. I am continuously impressed how fast they breakdown the 10 plus pallets and get everything sorted and organized for Conference. I’m continuously so happy that I don’t have to micromanage my team – that they have grown into brilliant mentors in their own right.
Our Classroom Supers: Seven Wolfe, Ryan Clark, Mike Mc, Marita Wikström, Zach Fitzgerald
Our Booth Supers: Casey Hosch, Danny Greenwood, Mark Montgomery, Ken Seyler, Dianna Brown, Andru Rogge, John Robberson, Andre Berg, Jezebel Voulé, Jacob Spjut, Kenny Hughes, Luz de Luna Duran
Our Registration Supers: Kendra Jane B., Theo Sheffler, Anna York, Badur Ramji, Stephanie Hill, Ismael Vargas Guerrero, Logan Wright (trainee)
Shorty is both a general volunteer and is the exclusive assist on the app. This year was the first that we didn’t have a paper program and Shorty’s an integral part of the success of the app.
I need to thank my Conference Managers: Will Spencer & Gus Diamond they were exceptional and took on even more work – as we all missed having Sarah Wooten as part of the mix.
Thank you Rob Gold for managing the Volunteer Underground this year – it’s a lovely thing to see how many different ways people can be of service.
Ed Chavarria and Luis Garcia – you continue to serve this organization in many ways and I consider you my friends and mentors.
Special thanks to Darrin Walters for not only bringing and paying for Ronald’s Donuts every morning… but taking me to the doctor to check my peepers.
Cale Belford is the Mentor to the Mentors – the leader of the group and the Mentor Program – and continues to do an amazing job. I heard more positive comments about the Mentors this year than ever before – thank you for making Conference a more welcoming and supportive event. A special thank you to Cale Belford for giving her all to the program.
This years’ Mentors were:
Aaron Solomon, Adam Richins, Aiden Johnson, Anna Beall, William Barron, Becky Dill, Blake Williams, Boge Gonzales, Cale Belford, Christy Lillard, Cozmo Whitest, Desi Arellano, Devyn Porter, Fernando Chavez, Gregory Charles, Hall Boyer, Jeremiah Currier, John Robberson, Johnny Velez, Josh Parkhurst, Julie Taylor, Kelly Carvara, Kris Heming, Krystal Klos, Lena Cemal, Mark Montgomery, Matte Erickson, Mike Mc, Nathaniel Tinker, Pablo Perelmuter, Pat Pierce, Perry Doig, Rich Hartwick, Rob Gold, Rob Hill, Ryan Clark, Shawn Porter, Shelby Richins, Jay “Stray” Johnson, Tanner Bennett, Tobias Vallone, Vanessa Jo, Whitney Thompson.
To John Johnson, I am not sure how the Conference Committee will do with- out you, but I am happy to have you back in the trenches. You did all the crappy off-site stuff this year – thank you, thank you, thank you.
To Jezebel Voulé, thanks for doing all the extras – your help keeps me sane and your friendship means more than you know.
Everyday I thank my blessings and two of those are Kendra Jane B. and Marina Pecorino. Without their work for the APP I would be drowning and unhappy and so incredibly tired. This year I came into Conference well rested and with an ease I haven’t experienced in a long time and it was largely because of these two lovely women.
Next year we move to a new hotel and I was thinking about how most of the volunteers have never known anything other than Bally’s. This pondering led me to look at a short list of volunteers who have volunteered for ten years or more for the APP. I was happy to honor the following people at the Banquet Dinner: John Johnson, Tiana McGuire, Jezebel Voulé, Anna York, Will Spencer, Gus Diamond, Seven Wolfe, Mark Montgomery, Ed Chavarria, Elayne Angel, Bethrah Szumski, Paul King, Darrin Walters, David Kelso, Sarah Wooten
They have served the APP for 10 years or more as Volunteers, as Committee Members, and as Board Members. I honor you. I thank you. And the whole of the organization has benefited from your dedication and service. The 10 year volunteer pin presented to you at Conference is a token of our appreciation.
