Modern Primitives: Tattoo, Piercing, Scarification- An Investigation of Contemporary Adornment & Ritual (RE / Search, No. 12).

Modern Primitives: Tattoo, Piercing, Scarification- An Investigation of Contemporary Adornment & Ritual (RE / Search, No. 12).
First edition. 4to. 205pp with b&w illustrations throughout. Photo illustrated wrappers. San Francisco: Re/ Search publications, 1989.

‘An anthropological inquiry into a contemporary social enigma - the increasingly popular revival of ancient human decoration practices such as symbolic/ deeply personal tattooing, multiple piercings, and ritual scarification. “Primitive” actions which rupture conversional confines of behaviour and aesthetics are objectively scrutinised. In content of the death of global frontiers, this volume charts the territory of the last remaining underdeveloped source of first-hand experiences: the human body.’

A well illustrated resource that interviews the practitioners themselves including Genesis P-Orridge. Not for the faint-hearted.