Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Has anyone (here) had a conversation with these people? What motivates the self mutilation?
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I've talked to Justin quite a bit about it, though not really about his motivations. He's the bartender at my local watering hole, and he just fills me in on what's going on in his outside life whenever I stop in for a drink. Most of my conversations with him are about upcoming performances, and tours that his troupe (I think it's the CoRE Suspension Group (
http://www.wearecore.com/), but I can't double check from here because the site is filtered for "violence" at my work) has been invited to go on. Two years ago they went to Paris for a film festival.
I think generally it's the shock value, though I wouldn't be surprised if the pain gets them off too. My guess is that a lot of the people who get involved with it were/are cutters, and they've fallen into a group that appreciates pain. I think that there's also a theory of transcending the pain, and just seeing how far they can go. Justin is one of the nicest people I know, and he's not particularly scary looking, though he does have a piercing through the cartilage of his nose, and another one between his front teeth. I haven't asked about any that I can't see. He doesn't have any tattoos. He also comps a lot of my drinks.
Say what you will about the art value of doing stuff like this, but I think the photographs of the spears in his back (I think they're adorned with feathers) are really beautiful. Unless you knew how the spears were attached, you'd think that he was just wearing a harness.
