UK Edition
Want a free tattoo from celebrated artist Scott Campbell? Just put your arm in this hole…
World-renowned tattoo artist Scott Campbell, who has tattooed the likes of Marc Jacobs, Sting and Robert Downey Jr, will be giving free tattoos to members of the public in London next month.
There is, however, a slight catch: recipients have no say in what their tattoo will be. Instead, they must put their arm through a hole in the wall and let Scott, sat on the other side, do with it whatever he pleases.
Discussing his Whole Glory project, which takes place in Covent Garden from October 7 to 9, Campbell said: “Anyone who wants can stick their arm through a hole and I will tattoo it. I apply whatever design I feel the appendage needs, and the recipient has no insight as to what it is until it is completed and they pull their arm out of the hole.
“There is no communication and no contact other than the tattoo. It’s a chance for people to not take their physical selves so seriously, and take part in an exchange of faith that will literally change who they are for the rest of their life.”
He'll be doing six tattoos a day, with recipients selected by a draw.
Campbell runs Saved Tattoo in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, whose client list has included stars such as Heath Ledger, Josh Hartnett and Penelope Cruz.
When the exhibition ran in New York last November, Campbell explained in an interview with the New York Times he felt there was "a bit of a palm-reading aspect to it".
"I don’t really know the person, but I’m physically touching them, reacting to them subliminally," he said.
"I have a bunch of designs sketched out. Some of them I’ll pull from books of mine, other ones I’ll make up on the spot.
"The freedom is the most exciting thing to me, so I’m trying not to plan it out too much. I’m doing this large painting that has a bunch of drawings and sketches and things on it, so you’ll get a sense of the world that it’s coming from, but no, it could be anything."