Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.06.2013, Qupperneq 34

The eighth annual Icelandic Tattoo Convention attracted 1,900 people. 34The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 8 — 2013 Tattoo
Blood, Sweat, Tears And Ink
A busy three days of tattooing, rockabilly music and fandom
by Tómas Gabríel Benjamin
The Garden Of Creativity
Held under a tent in Bar 11’s beer
garden for the second year in a
row, the arrangements are tailored
to tattooing and observing—the
people getting their skin decorated
have comfortable seats and bench-
es, and the eighteen international
artists have lots of working space.
The tattooing happens behind two
long tables, and a wide aisle be-
tween them offers spectators a
clear view of the action.
It’s hardly summer yet, but the
attendees at the Icelandic Tattoo
Convention are showing as much
skin as possible, showcasing the
story told on their flesh. The major-
ity of the people are in their twen-
ties and thirties, though the crowd
is pretty diverse. Lopapeysa-wear-
ing hipsters stand next to jocks.
Punk rebels with dyed hair stand
next to short-haired rockers. And
leather clad bikers stroll up and
down the aisle. They’ve all come
together in their star-eyed adora-
tion of tattoos.
Festival organiser and owner
of the Reykjavík Ink parlour Össur
Hafþórsson says Iceland is an at-
tractive destination for international
artists. “We Icelanders may think
it’s mundane,” he says, “but there’s
something exquisite that attracts
tattoo artists.” Amongst those art-
ists is the super busy Jason June
from Three Kings Tattoo in Brook-
lyn, who has attended the event ev-
ery year since it was founded. Jason
says these conventions are great for
small countries like Iceland, as they
“bring the upper echelon together
for everyone to see.”
With a record number of tickets
sold, Össur attributes the popularity
of the festival to shifting attitudes
towards tattoos. “Years ago you’d
only see outlaws and gang mem-
bers with tattoos, but today they are
a lot more acceptable. The other day
I heard of a guy who got a full sleeve
tattoo, covering shoulder to wrist,
and when his grandmother saw it
she said: ‘Wow, you look like one of
the football stars!’”
Warped And Shitty Ideas
Össur and I end up by Dave Wood-
ard’s booth, and I join Dave for his
cigarette break. Dave believes ac-
cessibility to designs has made tat-
toos more mainstream, but unfor-
tunately this exposure often leads
people to want designs similar to
the ones celebrities have. “And
they often have very shitty and un-
imaginative tattoos,” he says, “like
George Clooney’s full sleeve tribal
tattoo in ‘From Dust to Dawn,’
Brad Pitt’s wrist piece in ‘Ocean’s
Eleven,’ or David Beckham’s full
sleeves in real life.”
John Niederkorne of Tattoo Art-
ist Magazine joins the conversa-
tion and tells me about a growing
trend called getting a “warped tour
bodysuit.” It involves people tat-
tooing their neck and hands, so as
to look like they are fully covered in
ink, when actually the rest of their
birthday suit is in its original co-
lours. We joke about people’s reac-
tion to discovering the truth about
these posers as Dave gets pulled
back to work.
John is impressed by how many
people are lining up to get a tattoo at
the convention, but he believes the
Icelandic scene still has some grow-
ing up to do, showing me his maga-
zine which showcases some of the
most talented artists stateside.

Demons And Dicks
As a line starts growing by John’s
booth, I join Andy Perez from Three
Kings Tattoo. Andy doesn’t display
much of his art, as he doesn’t want
to enable window shopping, opting
instead to design tattoos with cus-
tomers on the spot. He’s been to all
kinds of conventions, from small
ones like the Icelandic one with
fewer than twenty artists, to colos-
sal ones where there are up to three
hundred tattoo artists. “Those
larger conventions are more about
celebrating the lifestyle and show-
casing the art than about getting a
tattoo,” Andy says.
With the larger conventions you
also get more of the weirdoes, such
as one guy in Philadelphia who got
Roman numerals tattooed on his
penis. Andy tells me in intricate
details how his artist friend got the
job done, and in full view of the rest
of the convention. Fortunately, we
don’t run into those kinds of ex-
hibitionists at Bar 11. The tattoos
I see being made find a home on
people’s arms and legs, with the
occasional chest or back piece be-
ing done.
I see a friend of mine, Lárus,
who tells me he’s decided to get
a small tattoo on the inside of his
wrist. A few hours later, however,
Lárus is on Andy’s bench and I see
a full demon mask coming to life
on his shoulder. With Lárus’s fasci-
nation with the Japanese ‘Oni’ de-
mons, Andy must have encouraged
Lárus to dream bigger.
Painful Pleasures
As I find myself drawn to the work
of Sofia Estrella Olivieri, her as-
sistant Nína strikes up a conversa-
tion with me. Nína is a healer and
a health product grocer by trade,
in her 30s, and is adorned with
large and colourful tattoos. She
tells me Sofia works really hard at
these conventions. “Like the oth-
ers, she’ll show up early and work
late,” Nína says. “Many of the vis-
iting artists will be tattooing from
noon to midnight.”
Sofia is finishing a seven-hour
tattoo as we speak, and the man
she’s working on looks like he’s
running on fumes. His new inside
forearm tattoo is getting the final
colour shading, bringing an im-
pressive skull themed piece to life,
one that fits the leitmotif decorat-
ing the rest of his body. Every time
Sofia lifts the tattoo machine, he
clenches his fist, arm shaking from
exhaustion, and his sweaty face
grimaces when the needle enters
his skin again.
Next to him a young woman
seems unsure of how to react as
the base of her neck is being inked.
Her brow furrows, but her mouth
smiles, as if simultaneously on the
verge of crying out and laughing.
Whilst the clients show a rainbow
of emotions, the artists stoically
get on with it.
Come Saturday, the final day
of the festival, the tent is close to
bursting with people. The booths
are busier than ever, and the tat-
too machines are buzzing so loudly
that it becomes all but impossible
to hear your own voice. As the hour
grows later, the tattooing slows
down, people start trickling out of
the tent and into the main bar for
drinks and live music.
The following day the tent is
gone and the beer garden is empty,
cold and lifeless. A lot has changed
for the convention in the last three
years, and I look forward to seeing
what the future holds for tattoos
and the culture around them in Ice-
land.
I remember going to the Icelandic Tattoo Convention in 2010, my heart pounding from a mixture of excitement and fear. Com-
ing back three years later, I could see my former emotions reflected in many of the attendees. Furthermore, I could see that the
eighth edition of the annual festival, which attracted 1,900 people, had come a long way.
Why’d You Get That Tattoo?
by Shea Sweeney
“Because
I have
restless
leg syn-
drome.”
“Because
it’s
COOL!”
“Because I
thought it was
a beautiful por-
trait of her. I’m
not obsessed with
Amelia Earhart
or anything…”
“Lopapeysa-
wearing hip-
sters stand
next to jocks.
Punk rebels
with dyed hair
stand next to
short-haired
rockers.”
Photos: Shea Sweeney