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Back Street Heroes Mantra 2003 ReviewMarch 2004 Issue: 239 When they were planning the first event last year the chaps and chappesses of Mantra decided to move away from the traditional tattoo convention format. Instead they wanted a festival that would appeal to a wider audience, with a range of entertainment as well as the usual stands and tattoo competition. Fortunately the venue, Cheltenham racecourse, is big enough (so far, anyway) to accommodate their ideas, which is just as well as the 2nd Mantra body Art Festival proved to be a weekend so stuffed with entertaining diversions that it was impossible not to enjoy yourself even if you tried ( not that I did see anyone trying…). A substantial queue had formed a couple of hours before the doors opened, including one bloke who had arrived before dawn. It wasn’t this early riser was worried that the entirety of Cheltenham Racecourse might be sold out before midday; he had a good reason for his keenness. One of the weekend’s working artists was Paul Booth, who is internationally renowned for the macabre slant of his artwork. Booth’s studio, The Last Rites Tattoo Theatre, is based in New York’s East Village so he rarely works in the UK. Early Bloke was therefore determined to get an appointment with his hero and, as Booth has a studio waiting list of around two years, you can understand why he arrived at 6am. The spacious surroundings of the racecourse’s new function suite were a contrast to Booth’s usual working space back at Last rites. There he prefers to wear black gloves and work in near darkness which wouldn’t necessarily inspire confidence in me were I looking for a tattoo artist, but his reputation and results are proof that his unorthodox methods work. You might expect that someone who runs a tattoo studio in which the countertops are coffins and body parts float in jars of formaldehyde would be a tall, cadaverous individual with a touch of the grave about him. But Booth more resembles a Halloween pumpkin than the living dead, albeit quite a scary pumpkin. He was not the only American artist at the show; others included Lane Turowski and Adam Bomb from Smooth Tattoos, Bob Tyrell, and Chris Blinston from the wide open prairies of Nebraska. From even further afield were Tangarotuane from New Zealand and Hori Hiro of Japan who, along with Mr Nu from Thailand, demonstrated more traditional ways of tattooing. Representing Europe were Marco Bratt from Holland, Irene from Luxembourg, and Tommie 777 and expat Brit Darren Stares from Germany. Naturally the UK tattoo community turned out in force to show Johnny Foreigner what they could do, and there was as fine a showing of British artists as you could wish to find. Even if you only have a passing interest in skin art you will recognize some of the names: Woody from Woody’s Tattoo Studio, the lovely Fiona Long of Feline, the equally lovely Mandie Barber of True Love, the legendary Lal Hardy of New Wave (sporting a beautiful necklace with a greyhound’s head that looked as if it might have exhausted the contents of an entire silver mine) and Southend’s finest, Tom Ptolemy. While the queue was growing outside (and Early Bloke was getting more and more nervous about getting his slot with Paul Booth), Mantra had arranged for entertainers to keep everyone amused, which was a particularly nice touch and one that was appreciated by people with children. One of Mantra’s ideas was that the festival should be somewhere that families could visit, unlike many tattoo conventions that enforce an over-18s rule. As well as a crèche and a magician for the very small ones, there were BMX and skateboarding displays, ‘Can you tell what it is yet?’ painting by Urban Graffiti and woodcarving, while stiltwalkers, celebrity look-alikes, jugglers and clowns mingled with the crowds. If you didn’t fancy a go at the paintball shooting gallery or making a balloon animal, there was a display of hotrods and lowriders to drool over, with a couple of bouncing sedans bringing the spirit of downtown Los Angeles to genteel Gloucestershire. Towering over the cars was a gentleman on a unicycle who goes by the name of Lucky Diamond Rich, a loony Australian who holds the record as the most tattooed man in the world. With no piece of skin unmarked (as far as I could see) this does give him the curiously charred appearance of something that’s been left on the Barbie too long. Each to their own. Throughout the weekend there was a full line-up of bands, playing everything from Swedish rockabilly to heavy metal, and even Tom Ptolemy laid down his tattoo machine to pick up his guitar for a while. The musical side of the event is important to Mantra and one they would like to see grow in the coming years. But, of course, the heart of the Mantra Body art Festival is – and always will be – the tattoos. As well as public entries there the art of over seventy artists entered so competition was fierce, and I really didn’t envy the job of the judges. With so many fine tattooists at work, picking just two ‘Best Done at the Show’ pieces must have been incredibly difficult. The final choices were a beautiful pair of lizards by Lal Hardy (worn by Saffron Dene) and a unique piece by Lane Turowski and Adam Bomb. A blend of celtic and organic, it looked as if it could have been designed by the lovechild of Mickey Sharpz and Guy Aitchinson. Now eternally resting on the arm of Paul Minsell, it is an excellent piece of work. Although it might sound a bit of a cliché, everywhere you looked you saw people of all ages smiling and enjoying themselves. The Mantra crew has done a splendid job in making this a show to be proud of, and although Mark and Paul of Mantra were busy all weekend, I hope they got a chance for a few minutes to see just how much their hard work was being appreciated. But there was one man who was happier than anyone else. As he sat down and watched Paul Booth pull on his black gloves, the biggest smile of the weekend by a mile belonged to Early Bloke. |