By Kate Harrold
THIS MAN has spent over NINE-THOUSAND-POUNDS tattooing his entire body black after becoming ‘fascinated with the pain’ ā and now plans to cover his TONGUE and remove his NIPPLES.
Carer, Yannick Rick (25), from Chur, Switzerland, has always had an interest in tattoos but this intensified when he was 19 years old. After seeing a man on the beach with full body tattoos, Yannick decided that this was a look he wanted to sport himself.
Since then, Yannick has spent Ā£9,200 (ā¬10,000) achieving the look which is known as āblackwork.ā Whilst this now covers the majority of his body, Yannick originally committed to covering a single arm in 2016.
Happy with the outcome and fascinated by the pain, Yannick visited a tattoo parlour known as the āBrutal Black Project,ā and spent a further three days undergoing tattoo work on the rest of his body. Since the project started, Yannick has spent 400-hours under the needle.
Yannickās unusual look garners stares from strangers whilst online, people have remarked that the tattoos are āugly,ā and have asked if Yannick is āmentally ill.ā Fortunately, his tattoos have not affected his job although residents at the care home have told him to wash his ādirtyā hands or asked if the tattoos will shower off.
For Yannick, his weekly tattoo sessions have made him feel much more in touch with his body. They also provide him with a sense of invigoration ā claiming itās his version of retail therapy.
Yannick is planning to start work on his palms and the soles of his feet soon before moving onto his mouth and tongue.
āWhen I was nineteen, I saw a man at the beach with tattoos covering the majority of his body. I started researching different designs and I came across blackwork,ā Yannick said.
āI decided I wanted to have a fully black arm. A friend of mine introduced me to a tattoo artist who could do this and within three sessions, my arm was black.
āI was fascinated by the pain and the healing. I knew I wanted to do something more extreme so I underwent a further three days of blackwork.
āIt cost around ten-thousand euros and took around four-hundred hours.
āMy friends and family were a little bit surprised at first but they knew it interested me so itās normal to them now. So many people are fascinated by what I do and want to know the meaning behind it.
āOnline I get the odd negative comments from people. Some people think itās shocking or ugly, as theyāll ask if Iām mentally ill. Funny looks tend to be the main response.
āAt the retirement home I work at, residents ask me what the black is. They think my hands are dirty, or theyāll ask if itāll go away once Iāve had a shower.
āI guess it does make it more difficult to find a job, but Iāve been able to manage and Iām finding that people are more and more accepting of tattooed people.
āDating hasnāt changed. Sure, there are women who donāt like this extreme look but some find it interesting.ā
Yannick was able to keep his tattooing costs down as he learnt to create some of the āblackworkā himself. Heās since developed an interest in body modifications and now has several scars too.
Known as scarification, the decorative scars are created with a scalpel, and plastic wrap is used to delay the healing process to increase the effect. Heād like to continue this exploration of body mods by removing his nipples.
āI first tried to create some scars myself but they got infected, so I went to a professional,ā Yannick said.
āYou can feel the scars through the blackwork which I really like. If I feel bad or down, Iāll go and get a new scar or tattoo. Itās become my hobby.
āIād like to tattoo my palms and the soles of my feet next followed by my mouth and tongue. Then, I want to remove my nipples and get some white ink.
āI feel so much more in touch with my body. I know which areas are more sensitive and which are not, and Iāve learnt how to make certain areas of my body feel better.
āItās the greatest thing Iāve ever done to my body.ā
For more, see @theevilblackout.
