Body Mod Mood Board

I chose these images as they are all really different types of body mods and ones that I had never seen before. I particularly love the ones of the backs, the patterns look beautiful and the feathers coming out on the left image really makes a statement.

Low tech body mods

The first thing most probably think of when hearing the term body modification is piercings and though it may be obscure for some they actually date right back over 5,000 years ago! Yes, that's right. Mummified remains were discovered with earrings and then pharaohs were said to have belly piercings! Even more "extreme" piercings like the nipples go back to the roman days. 

 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/182184747401151019/

(Below right) http://thewildestkingdom.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/africa-tribal-piercings-httpfarm1.html

It's well known that different tribes in Africa had piercings like lip plates and "plugs" in the side of the nose but in the western civilization piercings were forgotten until the 1960's where it would resurface again. Ear piercings were extremely popular within the gay community across England and America and then through the punk rock community in 1970. They would use body piercing as a sign of difference. In the UK people believed that piercings were a form of consensual sadomasochism and tried to outlaw it but failed. By the 90's piercings had took off, even celebrities were endorsing them.  

(Left - 1970's/80's punk)
http://www.marieclaire.com/hair-beauty/history-of-piercings

Piercings today are extremely popular and common in most people, but why? For some it's for cultural purposes but for most it's a fashion statement. 

However, it's no longer just piercings and simple tattoos. The body modification world has gone to extremes and we are now seeing scarification, implants and even branding. 

A lot of judgement comes with these types of body modification, I feel it's mostly the older generation who didn't see much more than an ear piercing when they were younger that don't understand it and stereotype the people that do as weird or scary human beings. 

For me I think it's simply a fashion statement and for some a way of expressing themselves. People should be entitled to do whatever they please with their own body, do I think some are too extreme? 100% but who am I to judge? I have piercings and tattoos myself which some people may find too much but that's their opinion which they are also entitled to!

Left - Scarification
http://weheartit.com/from/www.totalmania.net

 We were asked if we think scarification is different to tattooing and my answer is yes. At first I saw it as a scar on your body either way but you can get tattoos lazered off whereas scarification is something that you can't undo and must be incredibly painful! 

Tattoo - Right

http://www.fulltattoo.com/cherry-blossom-tattoo-designs-women.html/simple-cherry-blossom-tattoo-designs 

Tattoo's will continue in the future, eventually it will be uncommon to find someone without and I also hope that people in everyday life begin to be more accepting of people with these weird and wonderful modifications. 

Changing the face with wax

Wax us a great way to change the shape of the face and it actually is really easy to use, it's extremely sticky at first but once it's on the skin area and you begin to mould it, it stays on pretty well.

I first used the wax to create these bumps on the temples of Terri-anne's head to almost represent horns. I struggled to get them symmetrical on both sides at first but once I took a step back and looked properly I got it right.

It was also a little difficult to get them completely smooth to make them look more natural and actually a part of her face.
I also added wax in between the eyebrows that I thought resembled something quite tribal, I think they way I painted it also gave it that look. Again, I would have liked it to have a smoother finish which is something I need to work on in the future. Looking back at the photos I could have smoothed the edges of the wax and also coloured them more as you can see the wax coming through.

 

Drawing - Week 2

This week we were to draw a scull that we had in front of us from the angle we could see it. Kevin taught us about how to sketch out the basic shapes first and then add in more detail. I find drawing really difficult but Kevin made it quite easy for me to understand how to create basic shapes.

He also gave us an image for us to draw upside down, it was surprisingly hard drawing it this way and I really had to think about it! My drawing skills obviously need a lot more work too!!

Technical Post - Scarification

Following Kierons lecture we had a similar practical to last weeks where we used different materials to create patterns on the skin. I had the idea to do raised circles using string and latex but the results didn't come out as I wanted them to. I had difficulty blending the edges into the skin to make it look more realistic and the string was a little too frayed in texture to look like raised skin. 

I used tuplast to create lines across the arm to look like scars which I'm semi pleased about. The colouring needs a lot of work which is something I usually find difficult to do especially when using products like latex and tuplast. I will continue to try out other materials and work on my blending and colour matching skills!

Guest Speaker - Kieron LeVine "Tribal Body Modification"

Today we had a guest speaker called Kieron LeVine come in to talk to us about Tribal Body Modification. I have heard of certain cultures doing it before but it was really interesting to go into depth about the different types of modification each tribe does and what it all means. 

Scarification 

Africa - Scarification is a process where patterns are created in the skin by cutting and raising scars. It has a variety of meanings, one of them being that it shows a woman can bare pain if she can go through this process. It was also a symbol of strength, fortitude and courage. Nowadays it is more common to just find this on elderly people in Africa.

http://www.tumblr.com/search/African+scarification - 15.10.14

Nuba - Here scarification shows a reflection of responsibilities. Women would have this process done after each child she had starting with the torso, breasts then back. Men have much more distinctive patterns though they do not have as many as women.

http://www.pinterest.com/debraleethomson/hiute/ - 15.10.14

Shilluk - This tribe has a unique style of scarification that is known as the "Pearling Process" which is done by using fish hooks under the skin. 

http://www.paulbanksphoto.com/viewcategory/1 - 15.10.14

Luba -Scarification for this tribe is used as a way of encoding who people are and more patterns get added as they get older and wiser.

http://www.bookdrum.com/books/heart-of-darkness/9780140186529/bookmarks-51-75.html?bookId=284 - 5.10.14

Yoruba - Like some other tribes, there marking are used to show resistance to pain. The markings they practice are called "Kolo" markings which are short, shallow and closely spaced cuts are marked into the skin.

http://www.prm.ox.ac.uk/scarification.html - 15.10.14

Omo Valley - They still scar themselves to this day and as with many tribes they mean nothing. 

http://www.randafricanart.com/Scarification_and_Cicatrisation_among_African_cultures.html - 15.10.14

Piercings

Africa - As well as scarification Africa is famous for the large stretched lip piercings. The holes are done using wooden pegs and women make the lip plates themselves.

http://lauradutoit.hubpages.com/hub/Have-Mursi-on-the-Lip-Plate - 15.10.14

Makonde - They also have lip plates, the difference is that they are thicker. You can also get double lip plates which include the top lip as well as the bottom.

http://www.piercingtime.com/piercing/lip-plate/page/15/ - 15.10.14

Neck Rings

Ndebele - You receive a neck ring in this culture once you are married, it's not so much a body modification as the neck isn't physically stretch it's just a trick of the mind. The number of rings depict the wealth of the married couple, this is only seen now on the older generation and not very common in the younger people anymore.

http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/LY004596/ndebele-woman-wearing-traditional-neck-rings - 15.10.14

Skull Binding

Mangbetu - Practiced by the older generation as it was banned in the 1950's. Skull binding implies an expansion of knowledge and at times is exaggerated by doing different hairstyle that elongate the head.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Mangbetu-vrouw_met_schedeldeformatie_TMnr_60033946.jpg - 15.10.14

Tooth Modification

Japan - Women coat their teeth in black lacquer by chewing a seed called Betel. It's said to be a sign of oral hygiene and is still something that is done today. You can even buy the seeds on e-bay! 

 http://www.dentaldynamicsonline.com/japanese-teeth-blackening-ohaguro - 15.10.14

Indonesia - Here they chisel the teeth which is intended to keep spirits at bay.

http://idigculture.com/beauty-rituals-teeth-chiseling - 15.10.14

Techinical Post - Texture

Today we played around with latex and fullers earth along with a mixture of materials like string, split peas and pasta to create shapes in the skin. This session was helpful for us to discover which materials worked best for the look we wanted to create and to just experiment with what we could create. 

You will need:

• Fullers earth
• Rice
• Latex
• Any other materials you want to create texture
• Paints to colour over the top once you are finished

I used latex, split peas, string and gold paint to create this pattern on the arm. I dipped the string in the latex then laid on Terri-Anne's arm in the shape I wanted. I then put a tiny dot of latex on the back of some split peas and put them in between the curves of the string.

It was a simple design but I'm surprised with how great the effect looks after putting some paint on it. Once I pulled the string off it left bare skin from where that section wasn't touched with paint so I would like to try laying the string in different patterns to see how it looks.

Introduction

Here I am in my second year and in my chosen option of Special Effects. I have been a huge fan of sci-fi movies since watching Star Wars with my mum as a child and it's that genre of film that really sparked my interest of being a SFX Artist. I'm always so blown away by the amount of creativity and hard work that gets put into the characters the artists create, during my first year of university I discovered the TV show Face Off and from then on I have been utterly mesmerized by the industry.

I touched on basic special effects 2 years ago when I did a hair and makeup course at West Thames College in London and also during the first year of my current course at Southampton Solent University. I love creating the wounds and bruises but now I'm keen to take SFX to the other angle of morphing the human body. I'm also lucky enough to have had the chance to work as an assistant alongside my incredibly talented friend on a recent war film and at a special fx workshop. It was an amazing experience that gave me such a buzz and constantly pushes me towards this route of makeup.

My eyes have already been opened to the possibilities of human transformation and it's made me think about attention to detail. False nails, eyelashes and dying your hair are all ways of transforming your body so it doesn't necessarily have to be a huge change. It was really interesting to find out about Lucy McRae and Bart Hess and see how they get materials and experiment to see what creations they can come up with. Special Effects is thinking outside the box and these artists are proof of that.

http://lucyandbart.blogspot.co.uk/

One of my favorite movies of all time is The Matrix, prosthetics are used in this film to create the characters plugs on the backs of their heads and down the spine. This film also includes several transformations in the characters as they are constantly going back and forth from The Matrix and the real world where their appearances are different in each place.  

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/114208540522111516/

Levi Van Valux was mentioned in this first session and I was really drawn to the image below right, it made me feel a little disturbed seeing a human hair covering every inch of his face but fascinated at the same time. Every single piece of his work is so detailed and unlike anything I have seen before that I can't take my eyes away from them! 

http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/levi-van-veluw/#_

I found another article that related to transformation about 3 artists that create artwork from domestic objects. It reminded me a little of Lucy & Bart as they also create art from materials they can find around the house, shops or markets.  

http://www.heraldsun.com/lifestyles/entertainment/x1071194069/Three-artists-who-transform-found-objects