Guinness World Records 2018

Body Art

SUPERHUMANS

A tattoo machine pierces the skin up to 3,000 times

per minute, penetrating to a depth of around 1 mm.

BODY MODIFICATIONS

Most body modifications

Rolf Buchholz (DEU) had undergone a total

of 516 body mods as of 14 Mar 2017. They

include 481 piercings, two subdermal “horn”

implants and five magnetic implants in the

fingertips of his right hand.

The record for most body modifications

(female) is held by María José Cristerna (MEX).

María’s 49 body alterations include transdermal

implants on her forehead, chest and arms, and

multiple piercings in her eyebrows, lips, nose,

tongue, earlobes and belly button. As of 8 Feb

2011, her tattoos covered 96% of her body,

making her the most tattooed woman.

Victor Hugo Peralta (URY) and his wife Gabriela

(ARG) have the most body modifications for a

married couple – 84 – as verified for Lo Show

dei Record in Milan, Italy, on 7 Jul 2014. Together,

they have 50 piercings, eight microdermals,

14 body implants, five dental implants, four ear

expanders, two ear bolts and one forked tongue.

Most piercings in a lifetime (female)

Elaine Davidson (BRA/UK) had been pierced

4,225 times as of 8 Jun 2006. She enhances

her exotic looks with tattoos, bright make-up

and feathers and streamers for her hair.

Q: Tattoos were officially

banned in New York City

from 1961 to 1997. Why?

LARGEST TATTOO MACHINE

Ray Webb of NeoTat (USA), and Burnaby Q Orbax

and Sweet Pepper Klopek (both CAN) created

a tattoo machine 4 ft 3 in (1.29 m) tall, 2 ft 9 in

(0.83 m) deep, 1 ft 0.59 in (0.32 m) wide and

weighing 152 lb (68.94 kg). A scaled-up version

of a NeoTat tattoo machine, it was measured

on 30 Aug 2015 at the Hell City Tattoo Festival

in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. Orbax used the

contraption to tattoo Pepper’s leg (above right).

LONGEST TATTOO SESSION (MULTIPLE PEOPLE)

“Alle Tattoo”, aka Alessandro Bonacorsi (ITA), carried out a 57-hr 25-min

30 - sec tattooing session in Limidi di Soliera, Italy, on 3 Jan 2017. He

completed 28 tattoos in all, including representations of a Minion (above

left) and the Hindu god Ganesha (above centre), as well as abstract patterns

(above right). For another of Alessandro’s world records, see below right.

MOST BONES

TAT TOOED ON

THE BODY

As of 27 Apr 2011,

“Rico”, aka Rick

Genest (CAN), had

139 bone tattoos on

his body. The count

was verified on the

set of Lo Show dei

Record in Milan, Italy.

Rick is tattooed in

the style of a corpse

across much of his

body, hence another

moniker: “Zombie

Boy”. He created

most of the designs

with Montreal tattoo

artist Frank Lewis.

LONGEST TATTOO SESSION (TEAM OF TWO)

Giuseppe Colibazzi tattooed Danny Galassi (both

ITA) for a duration of 52 hr 56 min at the Tattoo

Fantasy parlour in Civitanova Marche, Italy,

from 17 to 19 Jul 2016. Colibazzi has more than

30 years of experience in the tattooing business

and has been streaming tattoo sessions live on

his website for many years.

5000 bce

Henna body

painting

emerges

in India

HISTORY OF BODY ART...

3000 bce

Nose and tongue

piercing becomes

3200 bce widespread

Ötzi the iceman is tattooed –

his 61 designs represent the

oldest existing tattoos

c. 1000 bce

The practice of Chinese

foot binding is introduced

200 ce

The Paracas

of South

America

practise

cranial

deformation

MOST FLESH TUNNELS IN THE FACE

A flesh tunnel is a hollow, tube-shaped piece of body

jewellery. Joel Miggler (DEU) has had his face decorated

with 11 flesh tunnels, as verified in Küssaberg, Germany,

on 27 Nov 2014. Joel’s face adornments range in size from

3 mm to 34 mm (0.1–1.3 in).

A: Because of fears that tattooing

could spread the hepatitis B virus