Disintegration Issue #1

AFTERLIFE is beyond proud to announce our newest publication series, DISINTEGRATION: tattoo inspiration in print. Each issue includes in-depth interviews with today’s leading tattooers - conversations about art, tattooing and life - and essays by historians and artists alike. Our goal with Disintegration is to shed light on tattooing’s histories and lineages while also showcasing artists of all ages and backgrounds. By creating printed volumes that explore these aspects of tattooing, we hope to recreate the magic of the printed tattooing magazines and books of the past - publications that are increasingly rare due to the internet and social media. These past publications created a special aura around tattooing - a secret world that we hope to revive with Disintegration. We want to create a space for something brand new yet steeped in tradition. We want you to be able to hold a book in your hands and discover why and how an artist makes the work they do. What is your favorite tattooer’s story? What drives us? These are the questions Disintegration aims to answer. With Issue 1, we dive deep into our maiden voyage with interviews with Water Street Phantom, Gakkin, Victor J. Webster, and Tamara Santibañez. Also included is an amazing article by the one and only Mike McCabe about the last living Thom DeVita tattoos walking the streets of New York. Also, Chris O’Donnell and Timothy Hoyer have an incredible conversation about the emergence of Biomech, how it has morphed and changed over time, and where they think it could be going. We hope Disintegration brings you the joy it brought us making it!