Meet Scott Campbell
December 3, 2008 on 4:03 pm | In -Yale Breslin, Art, Other-NewMedia |
Scott Campbell, a Brooklyn based tattoo artist, recently compiled some of his archived work (both past and present) to create a book of his accomplishments to date. With the help of friend Terry Richardson (who managed to shoot some of his subjects and their ink) - Campbells book will consist of a working collective of his career, thus far. By lending his craft to the skin of Marc Jacobs and Heath Ledger, Campbell provided me with 2 never before seen shots of Ledger himself showcasing his recent body art. For an in-depth Q+A….read below.
(Scott Campbell in his studio. Photo by Todd Selby)
You recently collaborated with photographer Terry Richardson to showcase individuals such as Lily Cole and Marc Jacobs whose bodies you have inked. How did this collaboration come about?
For the past 6 months, I’ve been pulling together images of my work for a book I’m putting out. Everything from tattoos and drawings for tattoos, to paintings and sculptures. I feel like when people talk about tattoos, they often refer to their permanence, but as an artist, tattooing can be a frustratingly ephemeral medium. I’ve been tattooing for 11 years, and of the thousands of tattoos I’ve done in that time, all I really have to show for it is a handful of poorly lit photos of body parts, and some amusing anecdotes. In order to have some more substantial documentation of my work, I organized a photo shoot at the studio, and Terry agreed to take photos. I’ve been a fan of Terry’s work for a long time, and I’m honored that he was interested in taking pictures for it.
Tell us a little bit about Saved Tattoo. What does it mean to you?
It’s funny, a lot of people assume that “Saved” carries religious connotations, which I don’t really mind. I’m not religious at all, but i grew up in the south around bible beating Baptists, and rattlesnake wielding Pentecostals, so I see a certain nostalgic romance in the association. But really, Saved Tattoo just came from a few friends trying to find a way to put food on the table, without having to sacrifice our dreams. Hence, we were “saved” from having to get real jobs.
How did you get involved in the art of tattooing? What differences do you see in the ways of expressing ones self through the art of tattoo vs other mediums?
I love tattooing. Most of my clients inspire the hell out of me. It’s always a satisfying moment when you decide that a painting or drawing is finished and you get to lean back and look at it and consider how you feel about it. It’s a whole different thing when your work jumps out of the chair with tears flowing, and hugs you with all it’s might, thanking you for what you’ve done. It’s pretty amazing. The emotional exchange between a tattooer and client can at times be exhausting, but I am constantly inspired by the people I tattoo. Every client is a different story. A new girlfriends name wrapped around a rose, a picture of a smoking pipe with “Pappy” underneath. The awkward dorky guy who pushes up his glasses and unbuttons his shirt to reveal a giant snarling wolf head staring back at you. Tattooing is a true folk art. As a medium, it did not evolve because of aspirations of artistic integrity, it evolved as a craft because people had a visceral need to assert control over their physical being. Maybe it’s borneo tribesmen getting tattooed as a rite of passage into manhood, and their society recognizes that they earned those tattoos, and they pay him the respect that they command. Or a a 16 year old kid in a garage who hand-pokes the Misfit skull into his arm because with all the severity of adolescence weighing upon him, he found truth in a punk band. As an artist, tattooing is an amazing medium because whatever the image or message, the emotion that the tattoo carries is amplified by knowing that that image is a part of someone. It is a part of a larger story. When working in other mediums, I only hope that the grit and romance of tattooing carries over. I’ve carved little stories into the skin of thousands of people. Whether it’s with needles or brushes, it’s always about storytelling. These hands don’t know how to do much else.
Most memorable inking experience to date?
There’s no way I could ever crown one tattoo experience as the most memorable. There are so many stories that are are precious to me for different reasons. Some were sweet and endearing, others we’re horrifying, and I’m glad to have survived them. I covered up a tattoo that a Russian soldier received against his will in an underground prison cell 30 years ago, after being captured by Afghani soldiers. He had never showed that tattoo to anyone other than his wife and I. I had a cracked out tweeker storm into the shop and try to slit my throat because he thought I had put subliminal penis’s in his tattoo. I’ve tattooed supermodels and Hells Angels. I’ve been humbled by the honor of tattooing memorial tattoos on Heath Ledger’s mother, father and sisters at his house the night before his memorial services. I’ve sat in a shop in Ibiza on an August afternoon tattooing an endless line of sunburnt and drunk English tourists….. to even mention these stories without elaborating is almost an injustice…. how many pages do you have for this interview?
Approximately, how many different tattoos have you given during your career?
Wow, I don’t know how I would calculate that…. I’ve tried to estimate at a number…. 3 to 5 tattoos a day… 6 days a week for 10 years….. minus a few days for travelling…. I think a more accurate measure would be all the weird bumps on my knuckles and callouses on my hands from so many hours of holding that machine… or the spot on the bottom of the steel machine that’s been worn smooth by years of rubbing against the top of my hand… those say more than a number.
You are cited as being the official tattoo artist of Marc Jacobs, an individual recognized for his fashion career as well as his unique choice of tattoos. Is it a collaborative effort working with him? What’s the experience like from idea formulation to ink execution?
Ha! I wouldnt call myself his “official” tattoo artist. You could say that I’ve done most of Marc’s tattoos, and I am certainly honored that he places such confidence in me, but I think part of what makes Marc such a powerful creative force, is how comprehensive and open his tastes are. I don’t think he would ever have an “official” anything. What continually impresses me about Marc is his ability to approach anything; a painting, a pair of shoes, a photograph, a tattoo, even people he meets, completely objectively, and without any pre-judgements. He will look at something, take it in, and give a sincere emotional reaction to it. It sounds like such a simple thing, but it’s so rare to find people that have the energy to see things like he does. With as much stimulus as the world throws at us, it’s so easy to get lazy and start categorizing things and forming generalized opinions. It’s exhausting to give everything we experience such thorough consideration, untainted by judgement. I’ve learned a lot about an artists responsibility to be honest. Even if it’s impossible, we are obligated to try to give everything our untainted consideration. Even artistic works that one might consider distasteful are valid, because it is someone’s voice, and the uniqueness of each persons voice deserves an honest audience. I’ve seen paintings that I dislike so much that I can’t even look at them. Although I would never hang it in my house, I still have to respect the fact that the artist, deliberately or accidentaly, succeeded in smearing pigment on a piece of paper, and pulling an emotional reaction out of me with it. I might not like the painting, but the fact that the image has the power to incite emotion is amazing, and there is still something for me to learn about myself from that painting.
