When filmmaker Claudio Marino asked us to sponsor his beautiful documentary about legendary tattoo artist Little Swastika, Ink, Blood and Spirit, we were honored. Little Swastika may be a controversial subject because of his reappropriation of the swastika as a symbol of peace, luck and harmony and not as representative of a dark time in history, but we appreciate this point of view and have so much respect for his artistry with ink and gun. He has a completely unique style, using human skin as a canvas to be painted with his inks, using patterns and blocks of color rather than self-contained pictures, and even completing mural projects across several people. Claudio’s documentary explores his life and his creativity in a moving way, bringing us closer to this influential skin artist with stunning cinematography and by allowing Little Swastika to tell his own story. Ink, Blood and Spirit will be screening starting April 25th with dates so far in Sweden, Belgium, Latvia, the U.S., Finland and the Czech Republic (see dates below). Stay tuned for updates on the IBAS Facebook page and if you are able to, head out to one of the screenings – take our word for it, this is a documentary that any of our readers will love!
Ink, Blood and Spirit – Teaser 1 from Claudio Marino on Vimeo.
Ink, Blood and Spirit – Teaser 2 from Claudio Marino on Vimeo.
Barking dog
April 17, 2014 at 3:31 pm
He cutted off his fingers? What a dildo.
Douglas
April 17, 2014 at 9:34 am
I want to start by saying that I love everything that you guys do here and sponsor but Little Swastika did not “reappropriate” the swastika as a symbol of peace. Despite the fact that Adolf Hitler perverted this ancient symbol to mean hatred and suffering millions and millions of people have and will continue to look at it as a symbol of peace. This has been true since Hitler was in power. I do not as a whole disagree with your statement but find it to be a little narrow, giving one man the credit for changing the way the swastika is viewed, and not crediting all of those that have continued to use the swastika as a religious symbol since Hitler was in power.
Again, I don’t want to discredit you or the point you are trying to make I just thought that idolizing Little Swastika for his swastika work is a little ignorant.
Keep posting cool shit and educating people.
thanks
CVLT Nation
April 17, 2014 at 11:59 am
Hey Douglas, sorry for the confusion; I didn’t mean to make it sound like I thought he was the first or only one to do this – I definitely understand that he isn’t. I meant that in his personal use of the swastika for his tattoo work, he was not using it to reference Hitler but to reference its use for millennia by other cultures. So many people see this symbol as nothing but a representation of hate and racism, especially in the German culture. So in that way, I see him as reappropriating it.
Thanks for supporting the site!
Mark Jermyn
April 17, 2014 at 4:13 am
Would love to show this in Manchester. Been working and learning about the history of the swastika for a while.