A Brief History of the Evolution of Body Adornment: Ancient Origins and Today

Rating:
Summary: blake's journey through the history of body piercing
Review: As beauty is often said to be in the eye of the beholder, so history, it seems, is in the hand of the chronicler. This rings true of Blake's first book, A Brief History of the Evolution of Body Adornment in Western Culture: Ancient Origins and Today.

The first half of the book contains brief biographies and photo essays of several people Blake has named as heavily influencing the modern Western piercing community, in addition to other lesser-known characters important to his own history. Two early pioneers discussed, both born near the turn of the century, are Ethel Granger and the Great Omi. A thorough section with both images and words from Blake's guru Fakir is presented, followed by tributes to mentor Father Daniel Jensen and Blake's adventurous grandmother, Dr. Naomi Coval. He pays homage to these inspiring people with obvious affection and respect, as they have made a huge impact upon his life. This section has been peppered throughout with archival and artful black and white photographs of the personalities discussed, as well as color pictures from his pioneering grandmother's world travels rescued from her archives. The result is an insightful collection of memoirs, anecdotes, pictures, and quotes that combine to tell the history of body modification in the Western world as it has inspired both the industry in general and the author specifically.

The book switches gears when Blake steps in to tell his own highly personal account of his introduction and growth within the piercing industry. This autobiographical section gives the very casually written perspective of the author as he travels through the early stages of his career as a piercer. Taking credit for many advances and extremes in terms of larger piercings, he discusses freehand piercing and coins the term "tribal surgery" to describe the methods employed by himself and his colleagues.

The second half of the book contains an abridged cross-section of ethnic and historical piercing practices and jewelry from around the world. Most pieces depicted are from Blake's collection in the form of the Nomad Museum in Oregon, while select items from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and other famous museums demonstrate the prevalence of piercing practices and jewelry on all continents throughout the millennia. This section is only a brief introduction and does not delve very deeply into history, as the title suggests, primarily focusing on collectible jewelry that has survived from antiquity - though some contemporary practices and pieces are also shown.

Being quite familiar with cultural body modification practices and ethnic jewelry myself, I was wondering what new information this work would present. Unless one has passed through Bend recently to see the Nomad collections, A Brief History showcases a scrumptious array of ethnic piercing jewelry unpublished until now, cataloged here for posterity. While the anecdotes and chronology presented were primarily a useful review for me, most readers will find this an informative and easy to read introduction to the ethnographic and historic backgrounds that deserve our respect for significantly paving the way to where the practice of body art now stands.