Tattoos are, without a doubt, awesome. Well, speak to my grandparents and they’ll tell you otherwise… But for an open-minded gent like me I find them to be a fascinating and beautiful form of ancient artwork. So, imagine my delight to be roaming one of the UK’s biggest tattoo shows, full to the brim with colour, exhibitions, 450 artists and even a fairground.
Tattoos and tattooists and tattooers everywhere
My father has a phrase that occasionally comes to mind, though not into fruition within my decision making, “nothing parts quicker than a fool and his money”. For a man who considers himself “anti-capitalist” I must admit even I am vulnerable to the savaging temptations of consumerism. Very quickly I was drawn to a vast range of tattoo-related products. A rug portraying a dragon and tiger battle royale, a pirate skull necklace and infinite tattoo shop merch, all of which could have drained my savings. But no, I composed myself and made my way over to “Pinball Alley”.
The alley consisted of a range of vintage pinball machines and arcade games, all of which feature annually at Glastonbury Festival on the “Pinball Pier”. Growing up in the 2000s I’ve often felt let down by modern day arcades. Just a few minutes of mild enjoyment playing a shoddy rip off of Sonic can easily set you back a fiver. But Pinball Alley offers something entirely different, the opportunity to play original pinball machines from the 70s and 80s along with classic arcade games. In my eyes, modern arcades have gone way too far. I don’t want to use a VR headset for 5 minutes, I’d much rather spend hours relentlessly smashing a metal ball around a goofy little maze.
Sat behind Pinball Alley was a “Beat the Bar” circus challenge, tempting passersby to try their luck hanging on a spinning pull up bar in exchange for a sticker. Now it might sound silly but, in the moment, I was ready to take this challenge very seriously and with my hands doused in talcum powder managed to win a coveted award sticker.
Tattooing from the flash
As to the main events, first up were the Tengu Taiko drummers, a curious bunch of performers specialising in Japanese Taiko drumming. I’m not sure how this is related to tattooing but that’s not to say I don’t appreciate their work. However, I was surprised when they removed their traditional Japanese masks to reveal the group are from a small village in Yorkshire. It was an enjoyable watch, but once you’ve seen 10 minutes of drumming you’d be forgiven for wanting to skip the following 20.
If you ever want to see a group of dancers throw fire around on flammable sticks whilst spitting and igniting fuel from their mouths, then The Fuel Girls are for you. I went into the show with a mindset of curiosity, expecting to be disappointed – I’ve never really been captivated by performances like this. But on this occasion, it was genuinely pretty awe inspiring.
Following the performance, I headed down to the main stalls. It was an intense set up with around 12 rows, each of which was hosting a plethora of tattooers specialising in a range of styles. For an event like this, the majority of artists tattoo exclusively from their flash, tattooing as many clients as possible throughout the day. A flash book is a collection of paintings, drawings or even just outlines that a tattooer has created in advance for clients to pick designs from. This means an artist can quickly trace out an eagle or a dagger and get tattooing with no need to create a new design.
Realism versus tradition
Tattoo culture is an interesting one. I’m only well versed to speak about traditional tattooing, of which there was a disappointingly low number of stalls, but I must admit to being impressed by the quality of styles on offer.
I was particularly intrigued by the work of Ben Nuthink. His work takes influence from traditional tattooing with thick, clean lines, however his designs are far more fragmented and blended than that of classic tattoos. Traditional tattooing is characterised by its simplicity and instantly recognisable boldness. Nuthink reimagines this with neon colours palettes and strange design concoctions of mashed up zombie faces and half robot, half panther heads topped off with a dagger sliding through their skulls.
It’s certainly not something I would get tattooed. But I can appreciate its uniqueness, especially when compared to the likes of “realism tattoos” of which, in my eyes, there were far too many at the show.
Realism, as the name suggests, is a style of tattooing in which the piece aims to accurately portray imagery as a design. This compares to traditional tattooing in which the design is simplified and essentially a bold cartoon.
Tattoo conventions can feel like a strange set up. Guests wander up and down the aisles and ponder the work of artists whilst the artists tattoo a client just a metre in front of them. There is no privacy, everyone is there to watch you being tattooed and in a sense that’s part of the fun. But if you’re not there to get tattooed, then a standard entry ticket of up to £38 could leave you feeling like it’s expensive entertainment.
Pinball Alley, the performers and even just window shopping flash books are all fun. But in complete honesty, you could easily see the entirety of the event in an hour.
That being said, I took much joy in being stopped by various tattooers to be asked “who did your tattoo?” whilst they stared at the ink on my arms, an ego boost I was more than willing to accept.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
