First published 20 years ago, Modern Primitives is still called "the bible of the tattooing-piercing underground." Here is a celebratory reprinting, complete with a new introduction by original editor/publisher V. Vale.   Interviews with 15 tattoo and body modification artists. Modern Primitives examines a vivid contemporary enigma: the growing revival of highly visual (and sometimes shocking) "primitive" body modification practices – tattooing, multiple piercing, and scarification. "Bible of the underground piercing and tattooing world" -- Fakir Musafar: By the time he was twelve, Fakir had begun a systematic, personal exploration of virtually every body modification and ritual practice known to man—all done clandestinely until the ‘80s. Since the release of the 1985 film Dances Sacred and Profane (in which he did the primitive rituals of a Sun Dance and a Kavandi Bearing), Fakir has given numerous lectures accompanied by slide shows, “live” demonstrations of rituals and practices, and showings of Dances Sacred and Profane for which he is the booking agent. He has published a series of publications titled Body Play , and has been featured in several videos by Charles Gatewood and others. Fakir is now world-renowned for his workshops, performances and publishing. What follows is a condensation of conversations conducted 1982 to 1986, and is representative of his philosophy and thought to that date. Ed Hardy : One of the foremost practitioners of the ancient art of tattoo is Don Ed Hardy, a philosopher, historian, painter and innovator who, on a global scale, has greatly advanced the cultural credibility of his profession. As editor of Tattootime he chronicled and disseminated little-known mythology, anthropology, history, and photo documentation about tattoos. He also spotlights current innovative trends both in technique and content. His goal: to raise artistic standards and extend the range and complexity of symbolism depicted, while reinvestigating and preserving past traditions. Monte Cazazza: A founding theoretician of the Industrial Culture movement, Monte Cazazza has continued producing videos (having recently completed a successor to True Gore ); music (with his band the Atom Smashers); media studies (Marshall McLuhan being a perennial favorite); film screenplays; and other project/collaborations with Psychic Television (PTV) and artist Deborah Valentine. Genesis and Paula P-Orridge were known for their music and video projects under the names Psychic Television (PTV) and The Temple of Psychic Youth (TOPY). Previously, Genesis had been a prime innovator in the Industrial Culture Movement, producing dozens of albums as part of the groundbreaking quartet, Throbbing Gristle, as well as releasing recordings by SPK and others on the Industrial Records label. In the following interview Genesis and Paula reveal motivations and philosophical imperatives for their tattooing, piercing and scarification explorations. EXCERPT from Monte Cazazza interview: RE/Search: Why do people tattoo certain symbols on them? Is there a collective unconscious? Monte Cazazza: I think a lot of people at this time in history have tapped into something primal or basic. Sure there are fakes in every endeavor, but there are also people who are serious astronauts of inner space. Even though some of Fakir Musafar’s practices might appear somewhat sensational, you can’t say he isn’t serious about what he’s doing. If you’re put in a centrifuge and spun around, and hung upside-down, maybe things do happen—who knows? Obviously, these practices have been going on for thousands and thousands of years—why? There has to be some kernel of basic truth there. That’s not saying to build your whole life around one practice, but obviously there’s something going on… Obviously, the Number One problem today is identity . Identity is nourished by privacy as well as the converse situation of an alliance in action, and both of these are hard to maintain in modern society! Privacy is almost a totally outmoded possibility. If you don’t have any identity, you try to re-create your life in such a way that you think you have some. How do you do that? Tattoo some weird design on your stomach—you try to get more control over your life. The problem right now is: you’re not supposed to have some kind of weird, unique identity. There are no rites of passage; you become a teenager and your hormones are running rampant and what do you do? There’s no one to talk to or anyone who really understands that your situation is shitty, and that you have no rights. So kids give themselves a mohawk or pierce their nose because they’re trying to establish some identity for themselves—preferably one their parents don’t approve of. Since they don’t fit into the status quo, they do something other than what the status quo dictates. These days, who is getting all these tattoos and piercings done to themselves? It isn’t just Hell’s Angels anymore; it’s eve