2008 Woodie Awards
Plattsburgh Ink
Under the needle
Jessica Bakeman
Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: FUSE
Originally published: 10/4/07 at 10:00 PM EST
Last update: 10/4/07 at 10:56 PM EST
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It seems the only thing that human beings like better than art is pain.
Tattoos and body piercings are popular art forms that prove pain is addicting.
"People will start out saying, 'I'm only going to get one,' and then they are on their third," Jerimy Blowers, Plattsburgh State health educator, said.
Blowers said people may become addicted to tattoos and piercings due to the endorphins released when pain is inflicted.
"For some people, the experience can be really wonderful. How can pain be so good? Pain coupled with the body producing feel-good chemicals get a person feeling high," Blowers said.
So how exactly does tattooing work?
Vincent Tricozzi, owner of Vincent's Professional Tattoo and Body Piercing located at 39 Clinton St., provided a clear explanation: "The machine for tattooing works both electrically and magnetically," Tricozzi said. As he described it, the needles go up and down at least ten times per second, putting holes in the skin. The ink falls into these holes.
A single tattoo may have thousands of holes.
Piercing is also more technologically advanced than people might think.
"We do not use any guns," Angella Clemons, the piercing artist at Vincent's, said.
Instead they use a clamp to hold the skin in place, and then they put a needle through it.
A large portion of the piercing customers at Vincent's are college students. However, as far as tattoos are concerned, their clientele is made up of mostly "repeat clients or avid collectors," Tricozzi said.
Kristen Neverett-Brown is the owner of In Living Color (located at 85 Margaret St.).
She said that while her tattoo clients are not overwhelmingly college-age, she does work with many students, and these relationships usually last throughout the students' four years at PSUC.
At Body Art (14 Margaret St.), manager and tattoo artist Ryan Cogswell said that about half of his clients are college students.
Tattoos and body piercings are popular art forms that prove pain is addicting.
"People will start out saying, 'I'm only going to get one,' and then they are on their third," Jerimy Blowers, Plattsburgh State health educator, said.
Blowers said people may become addicted to tattoos and piercings due to the endorphins released when pain is inflicted.
"For some people, the experience can be really wonderful. How can pain be so good? Pain coupled with the body producing feel-good chemicals get a person feeling high," Blowers said.
So how exactly does tattooing work?
Vincent Tricozzi, owner of Vincent's Professional Tattoo and Body Piercing located at 39 Clinton St., provided a clear explanation: "The machine for tattooing works both electrically and magnetically," Tricozzi said. As he described it, the needles go up and down at least ten times per second, putting holes in the skin. The ink falls into these holes.
A single tattoo may have thousands of holes.
Piercing is also more technologically advanced than people might think.
"We do not use any guns," Angella Clemons, the piercing artist at Vincent's, said.
Instead they use a clamp to hold the skin in place, and then they put a needle through it.
A large portion of the piercing customers at Vincent's are college students. However, as far as tattoos are concerned, their clientele is made up of mostly "repeat clients or avid collectors," Tricozzi said.
Kristen Neverett-Brown is the owner of In Living Color (located at 85 Margaret St.).
She said that while her tattoo clients are not overwhelmingly college-age, she does work with many students, and these relationships usually last throughout the students' four years at PSUC.
At Body Art (14 Margaret St.), manager and tattoo artist Ryan Cogswell said that about half of his clients are college students.
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