Encylopedia of Body Adornment.pdf - Print My Tattoo

246 STALKING CAT
ears, tongue, and lips are tattooed; a split tongue, sharpened teeth, a large septum
piercing, nipple piercings, a penis piercing, large ear plugs, and subdermal
implants over his eyebrows.
A PhD candidate before he began performing, Sprague decided to modify his
body for an art piece that would explore the idea of what it means to be human. He
chose to transform himself into a reptile, and began his transformation in 1994.
Lizardman has been featured on “Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” and has appeared
in a number of other television shows. He has toured with a number of bands and
carnivals, and currently hosts the Jagermeister Music Tour, writes a column for
BMEZine.com, and works as a solo artist.
See also: Animality; Freak Shows; Freaks; Primitivism
Further Reading: Potts, Annie. “The Mark of the Beast: Inscribing ‘Animality’ through Extreme
Body Modification.” In P. Armstrong and L. Simmons, eds., Knowing Animals. Leiden:
Brill, 2007.
STALKING CAT
Born Dennis Avner in 1958, Stalking Cat has spent much of his life transforming
himself into a tiger through a series of radical body modification procedures.
Avner, who is part Native American, says that he was told by an Indian chief
to “follow the ways of the tiger,” and decided to transform himself into his totem
animal, like whom he already behaves, occasionally hunting his own food and
eating raw meat.
He began his transformation in 1981 at the age of 23, and now has tiger
stripes and fish scales tattooed on his body and face, a modified hairline, surgically
pointed ears, surgically flattened nose, silicone injections in his lips, cheeks,
and chin, six subdermal implants inserted into his brow, eighteen transdermal implants
which act as whiskers above his lips, a bisected upper lip, and a full set of
fangs. Most of Avner’s work has been done by Steve Haworth although he has
also traveled to Mexico to have some of the work performed by cosmetic surgeons
there. He also wears green contact lenses with slits as irises, and detachable bionic
ears, but hopes to get another set of transdermal implants, in his head, to act as
permanent cat ears. He also plans to attach a permanent pelt to his skin.
Stalking Cat was featured on “Ripley’s Believe it or Not!,” “Larry King Live,” the
film Animal Tragic, and a number of other television and radio shows.
See also: Animality; Freak Shows; Freaks; Primitivism
Further Reading: Potts, Annie. “The Mark of the Beast: Inscribing ‘Animality’ through Extreme
Body Modification.” In P. Armstrong and L. Simmons, eds., Knowing Animals. Leiden:
Brill, 2007.
STIGMATA
The term stigmata today refers to both the marks or bruises on the body of Jesus
Christ from his crucifixion, as well as mystical marks or bruises on devout
Christians, which are thought to correspond to the wounds of Jesus.