Mad Jack Kaplan/Guy Aitchison Flier, 1990s (Patreon)

Gallons of ink- both literal and digital - have been been spilled documenting body piercing legends from the West and East Coast of the United States and the UK, but when it comes to the Midwest, documentation has been few and far between.

(Ari interviewed legendary piercer David Vidra for his BSTA series. That can be found here.)

One of the piercers I've been collecting anecdotes about over the last few years- and for the record we haven't collected enough to do a proper article just yet - is the late Jack Kaplan who tattooed and pierced out of Chicago. Jack's surface piercing work was a mixture of revolutionary and inadvisable, which very much typifies the 1990s piercing scene. 

Until we can get a proper profile on Jack- here are a few quotes from the 1990s to accompany a flier from our archives for Jack and Guy Aitchison's shop. 

"My interests started to become the dream of a like in the body modification arts when I was about 17 yrs old, during the experience of getting my first professionally done tattoo. I knew when that needle touched my skin what my calling was for life. I sought knowledge about any and all body modification from that point on." -Jack Kaplan

BME: Does different care need to be given to surface piercings than to "normal" piercings?

Jack: Basically the only difference would be follow up care done by us in he shop to try and help people with problematic piercings, but that is ALL problematic piercings, not just surface piercings. I truly believe most of my success in that area comes from the simple fact that I really care and am willing to give my all, from the first time I talk to someone about what they want to subsequent visits through follow-up care. The attention that the "extreme piercing" have been getting recently, which has not all been good, can be viewed as public concern for what is not yet fully understood by the masses. I don't always agree with all the things I see being done, but who are we to question what other people want done with their bodies. I am by no means condoning everything that goes on in the body modification world, in fact quite the contrary, I have very definite opinions on a lot of things I see. I am however old enough and wise enough to keep my opinions to myself, unless something is so far out of hand that there is obvious danger to the individual.

BME: Do you see the APP or APT playing a role in any of this? (1)

Jack: No, I don't. I've sugested an ethics committee, but nobody seems to feel it is a can of worms they want any part of.

(1) Association of Professional Piercers, Association of Professional Tattooists. 

1952-1997

See Also:
1992: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-09-30-9203290156-story.html
1996: https://news.bme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pubring/people/A10101/madjack.html