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Friday, January 16, 2015

Why would anyone want an eyeball tattoo?

Jason Barnum

The sentencing of a convicted criminal with an eyeball tattoo in an Alaskan court has drawn attention to an unusual form of facial decoration - one that is less than a decade old, but winning new converts all the time.
Jason Barnum, 39, who pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a policeman, has ornate tattoos on his head and part of his face - teeth on his cheek, an eyeball in middle of his forehead. But even more dramatically, the white of his right eye has been tattooed jet black.
Arguing for the prosecution, Anchorage Police Department Chief Mark Mew urged the judge to take a look at Barnum's face which, he said, showed the convicted criminal had "decided a long time ago that his life was about being hostile to people".
But, in tattooing his eyeball, was Barnum really expressing hostility to the rest of society? And if our eyes really are the window to our soul what else might a tattooed eyeball say about its owner?
The man who first experimented with injecting ink into an eyeball is a US tattoo artist who goes by the name of Luna Cobra. Far from wanting to look evil, the original goal was to look like the blue-eyed characters from the cult science fiction film, Dune.
"There used to be a private body modification convention that happened every few years in Canada," Luna Cobra says.
"That year, an old friend had Photoshopped a picture of his eyes to look blue like in Dune. I told him, "I think I can do that for real."
The next day, Luna Cobra took a syringe and practised on three brave volunteers.
"I'm aware of how insane that sounds, but I've been doing this type of thing for my whole life so I wasn't coming from nowhere with this," he says.
His technique, which he has modified over the years, involves injecting pigment directly into the eyeball so it rests under the eye's thin top layer, or conjunctiva.
A single small injection has enough ink to cover about a quarter of the eye. It takes several injections to completely cover the sclera, which is then coloured for life. He has done it for hundreds of people - in blue, green, red and black - from Singapore and Sydney to London and the US.
"If you want to amuse yourself by decorating your eyeball, why not do it?" he says. "I do a lot of things that look like tie-dye or 'cosmic space'. I think it brings a realm of fantasy into everyday life."

Kylie Garth with blue eyeballs 
Kylie Garth says the response to her eyes has been uniformly positive
 
Looking a little out-of-this world is something that appealed to Kylie Garth, a body piercer who works in Luna Cobra's Sydney studio. Before deciding to change the colour of her eyeballs, Garth had experimented with a number of body modifications including face tattoos, piercings, elf-like pointed ears and a bifurcated tongue.
"It was mentally intense," she says of the several injections needed to colour her eyeballs a delicate blue-green, a colour she refers to as sea foam.
"It feels like somebody is poking at your eye, then it feels like strange pressure and then it feels you have a bit of sand in your eye, but there's no pain."
One customer who might disagree with this is a Polish rapper, Popek, who was filmed having his eyes tattooed green by Luna Cobra in London. A couple of days later he experienced a painful burning sensation in his eyes that prevented him sleeping. Fortunately, it was temporary - he was later reported to be considering going back under the needle to darken the tattoos - but opticians warn about a risk of damage to the eyes, and even loss of vision.
Garth says the reaction to her eyes has been universally positive.
"It's thinking about getting a needle in your eye that makes people say, 'I can't believe you did that.
But I've never had anyone say my eyes look scary," she says.

The same can't be said of darker tattoos, however.
"I try to keep people away from it, especially if they have a dark iris," says Luna Cobra.
About one person a week contacts him to inquire about eyeball tattoos - and many want black.
"I tell them you're going to look frightening forever to the majority of people you encounter. You might find people have trouble connecting with you or looking at you because they can't follow your iris."


Popek shortly after procedure
  Popek the Polish rapper began to feel a burning sensation that kept him awake
Over the past few years, some US prison inmates, who already use tattoos to signal their crimes and gang affiliations, have attempted to colour their own eyeballs. An episode of the US reality TV programme, Lockup, shows two inmates who try to tattoo their eyeballs blue and red using smuggled-in instruments.

Luna Cobra says that what started as an experiment between friends, and fans of Dune, has run out of control. He's also heard that it's fashionable among Brazilian teenagers and in some Russian sub-cultures - and worries that people could be being harmed.
"It's shocking. We had no idea anyone else would do it. And now everyone's obsessed with it," he says.
"We often felt like we released a beast into the world and now all these people will be damaged," he says referring to the many ways the tattooing process can go wrong - from using the wrong ink and needle to injecting too much pigment or going too deep.
"It's a shame because I think it's something really beautiful, but it's taken an odd course."

Shaun Robinson arrives at the premiere of Summit Entertainment's 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2' at Nokia Theatre L.A 
A different effect can be achieved with coloured contact lenses
For its part, the American Optometric Association unequivocally condemns the practice, saying it puts the patient at risk of infection, inflammation and blindness. Such is the concern that several US states have debated banning eyeball tattoos.

Garth, who says she is one of only a handful of women in the world with both eyeballs tattooed, says anyone considering the procedure needs to be absolutely sure they are making the right choice.
"It's not like you're going to get a little tattoo on your wrist," she says. "This is the most permanent body modification you can get, you can't take the ink out of your eye."
That may explain why eyeball tattooing is still rare art. But, despite the risks, its popularity is growing. Before long it may not be that uncommon to come face to face with a stranger whose appearance is literally eye-popping.

3 comments:

  1. Aunty and Genie ,
    This is only two of the questions Kathy says she has more and will get them to me . Aunty , I did as you said , I deleted them so no one could read them on my blog .
    Poppa said it was nice for me to do this and he hope the two of you support me and I will tell you what else he said later .
    Your sweet niece


    Dear Maxy ,
    Please tell me when did alcoholism became a disease ? A disease is when the body is ill and not functioning properly .
    According to Webster's dictionary , addiction is the quality or state of being addicted , and continues that it is a "compulsive need for and use of a habit forming substance (as heroin , nicotine , or alcohol) characterized by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal .
    So why do alcoholics have a disease and those who abuse drugs are addicts ? Why do we tolerate the double standard ?
    An Alcoholic's Wife



    Dear Maxy ,
    A dear aunt passed away about six weeks ago . Unforfortunately , I could not attend her out-of- town funeral dur to the expense and my own health issues . But I knew she loved a partular flower and I had the florist send some to the funeral home .I have heard nothing from the family , although even a short note would have been appreciated . How do I check to see whether the flowers arrived on time ? I am uncomfortable calling the family . Can I check with the florist ? Have we all lost our manners in this day and age .
    Dumfounded Niece

    ReplyDelete
  2. Howdy my darling niece,
    Thank you ever so much for the help . Gil said he will email you , he thinks he know the problem , and he's going to down lown one on my PC , he has all of them on his , Yahoo / Bing / Explorer / Google / Chrome ETC. I guess it's nice to know how to split your screens and mulit-task Hahahaha !!!
    Tell Kathy to send them on .
    Drop by , I brought you a gift .
    Your loving aunt .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello Nee,
    Thank you very much for the questions. It was most kind of you to help your old Aunty and me. ( She will get me for calling her old...HA!) I have tried, and haven't figured out yet why we are being plagued with this problem. I sure hope Gil can fix it.
    Much appreciated,
    Baffled Genie

    ReplyDelete

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