Modern primitives
Modern Primitive or Urban Primitive ( English for "modern primitive" or "urban primitive") describes representatives of a subcultural movement in developed countries that deal intensively with body modifications and practice them. They are based on the initiation rites of traditional tribal cultures, but adapt them with modern knowledge, means and procedures. These include, for example, piercings , tattoos , suspensions , the deformation of the waist by wearing tight corsets , scarifications , brandings, implants or splitting the tongue .
The motivation of the modern primitives often arises from spiritual or sexual inclinations or is viewed as initiation ; but often only for aesthetic reasons, the desire to differentiate themselves from the average person or the tendency towards the bizarre.
Some fans of the movement also dedicate themselves to special “topics”, such as the artist Catman , who has made his body look like a cat by means of piercings, tattoos and a split upper lip and appropriately ground teeth. Erik Sprague , known as the Lizardman , based his modifications on the appearance of a lizard.
The artist Fakir Musafar is considered to be the founder of the movement .
The documentation Modify from 2005 reports on the culture .
Well-known representatives
Even before the term “modern primitives” and the corresponding subculture became established, people from western cultures were known who used similar methods to shape their bodies and who preferred to make a living as side show artists , such as the one in the 1930s and 40s Years under the pseudonym "The Great Omi" performing artist Horace Ridler .
At present, several people are known to the public as modern primitives due to various body modifications.
Lucky Diamond Rich is considered the most tattooed man in the world. He is a street and side show artist. The most pierced woman in the world according to the Guinness Book of Records is Elaine Davidson from Brazil.
Dennis Avner , known as the Stalking Cat , based his numerous modifications, which so far cost him more than 100,000 dollars, on the visual appearance of a cat and, among other things, had himself tattooed over a large area, his teeth sharpened, the hairline changed and implants for changing the shape of Insert eyebrows and forehead.
Erik Sprague with the pseudonym The Lizardman had his entire body tattooed with the motif of lizard scales in a total of more than 650 hours. He also wears numerous piercings and implants as well as sharpened incisors and a forked tongue.
Paul Lawrence , known by the stage name The Enigma , is a musician and performance artist from Seattle. His trademarks include implanted horns and the well-known full-body tattoo made from puzzle pieces.
The performance artist Katzen is considered the most intensely tattooed woman with a uniform tattoo theme worldwide. Her body is completely tattooed with the pattern of a cat's fur . She also wears whisker-like piercings to get even closer to the appearance of a cat. Together with her former partner The Enigma, Katzen ran the musical fakir show Human Marvels . With him and Mike Patton , Jane Wiedlin and Karen Black , she appeared in the 2004 film Firecracker by Steve Balderson , which was released on DVD on July 4, 2006. Katzen has its own tattoo parlor in Texas .
