Tattoos on the Playa

couglite · Post by **couglite** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:12 am

I am not quite sure where to pose this question, but for some reason I am feeling the need to get another tat while I am there. Is this even worth considering? Does anyone offer it? Do ya think it might be remotely safe? Probably stupid questions, I know.

LeChatNoir · Post by **LeChatNoir** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:44 am

I've never seen anybody actually doing tattoos on the playa and it seems like it'd be a really, REALLY bad idea to try it there. Its a very harsh and dusty environment. You know when you cut a piece of drywall and that fine dust gets everywhere?

â€¦that's the same stuff that's blowing around at 60 mph and invading every crack and cranny of you and your stuff.

And I can tell you that open wounds on the playa seem to just not heal, in fact the dust can crack your skin open from being so alkaline, and care should be taken to help avoid this problem. Therefore even getting a tattoo before the event seems a bad idea.

BUT!!!

There are plenty of places on your way back from the playa that would love to help you get the perfect ink.

ETA:

This is assuming someone actually was gifting tattoos with clean, sterile equipment in a safe environment with a health department permitâ€¦ which would NOT be issued for such a thing, Iâ€™m pretty certain.

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 12:53 pm

Taking a fresh tat to or getting a tat on the playa would strike me as being a very bad idea.

For pretty much all the reasons LeChat listed.

I put off getting my leg worked on for 2 months prior to my trip out just to ensure it was fully healed so I could cover it with sunscreen.

Which is another thnig. Fresh/healing tattoo vs sunscreen = a no go.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 1:51 pm

UV on a not yet healed tattoo is something the artist I go to strongly recommends avoiding. There's also the questions of would the artist doing the work be willing to schlep all of the necessary sterilizing and sanitary equipment out there to insure that the work is done correctly? If for some reason there's a need for follow up or if you have questions, can you contact this person again? Do you have any idea about the artist's background and experience? On and on it goes...this ain't like going to Sturgis and having one of the true mobile shops do the work. I've yet to see any tattoo artists on the playa with that level of sophisticated equipment, ie; autoclaves and other sterilization tools.

I understand the desire behind the question but for something that's permanent I'd be very damn picky on who did it and where I got it at. Otherwise what seemed like a good idea could turn out looking like a Russian prison tat instead of what you really want.

couglite · Post by **couglite** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:25 pm

Thank you all! you bring up things I hadn't thought about. I will go with getting one on the way back... I thought it might be a stupid question...

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:53 pm

The only stupid questions when it comes to permanent body modification are the ones you do not ask.

misfit · Post by **misfit** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 9:28 am

myself and others do henna tats on the playa, if your interested.....

Xak · Post by **Xak** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:23 pm

There was someone (theoretically) tattooing people on the playa last year. I went with a friend to check it out and he had pulled up shop and left. They were however in the what when where guide.

Pink Daddy · Post by **Pink Daddy** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:41 pm

I would be interested, just so I could say that I got the tattoo at Burning Man. It would suck having to keep it covered the whole week.

Then again, I am a little masocistic...

ragabashpup · Post by **ragabashpup** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 1:54 pm

After working at a tattoo parlor for a year and knowing how hard it is to keep a parlor sterilized I would never even think of getting one on the playa. NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER! That's just me though. I am also really picky about where I get my ink done in the default world as well.

gidget · Post by **gidget** » Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:23 pm

Find an artist on playa to draw something on you / for you while you are out there, then get it inked when you get home. You "got" your tattoo on the playa, technically...

Intubater69 · Post by **Intubater69** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:20 am

misfit wrote:myself and others do henna tats on the playa, if your interested.....

Misfit, you answered a question I was going to post, Are you going to be with a theme camp? Or?

Finnegan · Post by **Finnegan** » Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:23 pm

Branding would seem more appropriate for the event. SSSSSSSSizzzzle.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Sun Jul 13, 2008 3:16 pm

If you aren't getting trepanned, it's all just playtime anyway.

Rat Bastard · Post by **Rat Bastard** » Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:27 pm

My wife is a tattoo historian as well as having a lot of ink from all over the world. She's even given herself one with a needle by hand. I told her about someone doing tattooage at BM and her jaw hit the ground. She's been around the tattoo scene for 20 years. She also knows that it's virtually impossible to have a sterile environment for it to be done. Aside from spending the rest of the week with alkaline dust impregnating itself into the open wound.

I suppose if an artist had an RV with a clean room like media mecca has for it's computers it could work. If you do get one, get it on the last day. Then you don't have to worry about keeping it coverd the whole week.

It's your skin and your health. Getting a gifted tattoo is your business. Just make sure you have 1st use needles and everything is sterile. If you wouldn't lick every area of the artist's space that they're doing tattooage in, then I wouldn't do it. There's nothing worse then an infected tattoo.

Get one now so when you get to BM you can say, "look at my Burning Man tat. Isn't it cool?"

chiefdanfox · Post by **chiefdanfox** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:52 am

I don't have any tattoos, but last year I got a scrape on my hand, near my wrist on the top, the day before I left for the playa. It was small, and something that would have normally been essentially healed in two days. It stayed raw the entire week, and left a scar. I normally heal rapidly, without scarring much. FYI, the alkaline dust is most likely going to complicate things in ways you probably don't want experience.

Post by **AntiM** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:57 am

MyLarry uses bag balm, to heal cuts and scrapes on the playa. Oddly enough, playa dust does not stick to it.

EB · Post by EB » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:05 pm

I'm sorry, I thought this was a Herve Villechaize thread.

Cassidy · Post by **Cassidy** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:14 pm

No, if that were the case he would have said he wanted to get a "little Tattoo".

I hope this idea isn't insulting to tattoo artists, but couldn't someone take those fine-tip sharpies and do "tattoos"? I think it'd be kinda neat and less-invasive. Would sunscreen make it bleed or wipe off? Well, I guess now I have an experiment to do this weekend.

Bobzilla · Post by **Bobzilla** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:27 pm

I couldn't even find someone to do a piercing last year.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:07 pm

What do you want to be pierced with?

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:09 pm

Cassidy wrote:No, if that were the case he would have said he wanted to get a "little Tattoo".

I hope this idea isn't insulting to tattoo artists, but couldn't someone take those fine-tip sharpies and do "tattoos"? I think it'd be kinda neat and less-invasive. Would sunscreen make it bleed or wipe off? Well, I guess now I have an experiment to do this weekend.

There were some body painting places and a Bad Tattoo Artist.
He was quite popular.

oheric! · Post by **oheric!** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:20 am

[img]http://twitpic.com/50j5[/img]

skibear · Post by **skibear** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:53 pm

I'd think the TEMPORARY stick on tattoos (good for up to 5 days)
would be great -and safe.

They're available at a lot of places online. They could be gifted
out on-playa.

hth

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Jul 22, 2008 10:27 pm

You can get them custom made too.
I've seen them out there.

flipper · Post by **flipper** » Sat Jul 26, 2008 12:58 pm

[quote="skibear"]I'd think the TEMPORARY stick on tattoos (good for up to 5 days)
would be great -and safe.

They're available at a lot of places online. They could be gifted
out on-playa.

hth

[/quote]

Yeah, those and just simple rubber stamps. Over at the carcass wash that's the third or fourth most common "off limits" request

ninthlord · Post by **ninthlord** » Thu Aug 13, 2009 1:42 pm

I got my Burning Man tat in April before we went to the playa. I must have had a hundred people asking if I got it there. To the best of my knowledge, I explained, only henna was offered there. I couldn't IMAGINE getting inked in those conditions. Good luck!

benenergy · Post by **benenergy** » Fri Aug 14, 2009 12:45 pm

I'll be doing airbrush neon temporary tattoos, by request. Kind of like henna, but with UV reactive colors that last several days.

I was planning on getting some (UV) tattoo work done this weekend. It sounds like I should wait until after the event.

Playa Tom · Post by **Playa Tom** » Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:32 pm

Go ahead and get a tattoo. Just have it done on a part of your body you don't mind losing in case something goes wrong.

Tattoos on the Playa

Tattoos on the Playa

Sharpie tattoos?

Re: Sharpie tattoos?

It's Burning Man, get branded. :)

ink