FEATURE ARTICLE — September 2002
INTO YOU—THE BEST OF BRITISH TATTOOING
by Tim Coleman
Alex Binnie is an unusual man. I first met Alex in 1985 while shooting a TV documentary on tattooing. He was getting work from the late, great British tattoo and piercing
pioneer, Mr. Sebastion. After a shocking moment during which Mr. Sebastion revealed his heavily pierced and tattooed genitals for the camera, I turned to Alex and asked him why he chose to have the arch angel Gabriel tattooed
on his back. Without missing a beat, Binnie offered this immortal line, "Because I'm turning my body into an icon." Since then, Alex has turned himself into one of Britain's best tattoo artists and his London studio,
Into You, into one of the most creatively brilliant in Europe.
Into You is located near Smithfields, London's historic meat market. At night, this elegant Victorian building undergoes a surreal transformation when teams
of men in blood-stained coats can be seen carrying slabs of frozen meat. During the day, the area is home to many of London's printers, designers and photographers.
When I arrive at the studio, Alex was in his office
and in a dilemma. "I don't know what to do," he says. "Shall I be a whore or not?" A tabloid newspaper had offered him money for a picture he took of Britney Spears. In it, the superstar smiles brightly and
shows off her new Binnie ankle tattoo. "Do you think I should sell it?" he asks, waving the Polaroid in the air. The tabloid has offered him ₤500 ($750). Hesitating a moment, Binnie abruptly throws the photo
into a drawer. "No way," he barks, realizing how close he came to making a bad decision. "I'm not being a whore for ₤500," he laughs. "If they offered me ₤5,000, okay. Maybe I could be a
whore for that."
Overcoming this temptation, Alex offers to show me around the studio. As well as being one of the best shops in Britain, Into You is one of the most beautifully decorated. Photographs, paintings and tattoo paraphernalia adorn every surface. A separate space adjacent to the reception area and run by the studio's resident piercer, Blue, is for merchandising cool clothing and tattoo-related products. A golden arch supported by two pillars separates the reception area from the inner sanctum where the artists work. At the front desk, Zoe, all blond pigtails and Americana ink, helps customers with their requests. Besides Alex, six other artists work at the studio. The list reads like a who's who of British tattooing: Xed Le Head, Duncan X, Ian Flower, Steve Herring, Miles Better and Mo'o Coppoletta.
A STUDIO WITH A MISSION
Emerging through the golden arch like the prodigal son, Alex ushers me into his
office and explains the philosophy of the shop. "Part of the intention behind opening Into You, in 1993, was to bring custom tattooing to the masses. Basically, we are a street/custom shop. We mainly do high-end custom
work, but you can still walk in off the street and get whatever you want." Around 80% of the clients come for custom work, while the rest tend toward small, traditional designs.
SPEAKING HIS MIND
Not one to suffer from inhibition, Alex has often found himself in trouble. "Can we
please avoid controversial subjects?" he pleads. "I got a bunch of death threats for speaking my mind about the issue of start-up kits, so I'm in no mood to court additional controversy." The dispute arose when
Alex publicly stated his opinion that tattooists who were against the sale of start-up kits were a bunch of hypocrites. In his view, these tattooists didn't really care about health issues or that the kits encourage underground
tattooing. Binnie believes the real issue was about an older generation of tattooists trying to control access into the business by a younger generation.
"Tattooing attracts the young," he says. "It's a vibrant street art like graffiti. If kids can get a hold of start-up kits they are going to. I don't want to encourage that, but it's inevitable. Let's face it, some of the best tattooing is done in unlicensed conditions by young artists who are really passionate, tattooing away in someone's bedroom at three in the morning."
Alex did plenty of late-night tattooing himself, back when he first started tattooing from his London home in 1988. Prior to this, Alex completed his college degree in video and performance art, later working in a teaching hospital as a medical artist. "I got to observe many operations," he explains, with relish. "There is so much blood and mess in operations, and photographs can't clearly show all the details, so they use medial artists like me to make graphic notes."
GETTING STARTED
During the mid-'80s, as a mutated off-shoot from the punk scene, a number of bands were
pioneering so-called industrial music—an avant-garde assault on one's senses in which a wall of industrial noise and a cacophony of atonal music was directed at audiences in an exercise in mutual sadomasochism. One band
actually projected footage from a human autopsy as accompaniment to their music. It was the height of bad taste, or great art, depending on your perspective and age. One of the leading exponents of the industrial scene was
Genesis P-Orridge, founder of bands like Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV.
"It was an interesting time," recalls Alex, nostalgically. "A time of funny hair, piercings and too many drugs." R-Orridge, who already had a reputation for highly controversial and shocking performance art, helped promote Alex's tattooing. "He put me in his newsletter, and many of my first clients were part of the underground scene. I used to offer people a really sweet deal: as much tattooing as you could take in one sitting for ₤10. Since this crowd was too cool to go to a traditional tattooist and didn't have much money, I was kept really busy." Eventually, Alex began working from an unlicensed studio, not far from where Into You is located today. In 1991, he left London for L.A., tattooing first at the Gauntlet and then Body Electric on Melrose. "I had an amazing time. Tattooing was really kicking off in L.A. back then. The whole scene was smaller, with far fewer conventions. It was still possible to know everyone. In the States, I was seen as this English novelty. I met a lot of very cool people. Let me tell you, it was a welcome change from tattooing a bunch of English football hooligans!"
ALCOHOLIC BRITS
Binnie admits that the British tattoo world has been slow to evolve compared to the U.S. and
parts of Europe. "Britain has always had a tattoo culture, and that has held us back. There has always been a local tattooist in practically every town in the U.K., and, basically, these guys are very resistant to change.
Their attitude has always been, "Look, I'm making a good living doing the work I do. I don't need to learn anything new." In places like Italy, where there hasn't been this traditional culture, you get a bunch of
young, fashionable guys who get all fired up over tattooing. They want to be artists, and so they push the envelope." Additionally, Alex thinks the Brits are just plain lazy. "I don't think we have the same sort of
work ethic as Americans. Some of those guys are up all night drawing. They really want to see how far they can go. Most British artists come into work in the morning with a hangover," he laughs. "Part of the problem
is, the British drink way too much."
Nevertheless, Binnie admits that tattooing is a privileged occupation. "Let's face it, being a tattooist isn't that hard. It's like being a drug dealer; people keep handing
you lots of money for doing very little. The difficult part is producing consistently good work. Very few people can do that. Most get bored and do something else, or they want a lot of money and start doing conventions."
There is no doubt, Binnie has been consistently excellent over the years. Today, his clients come specifically for the "Binnie look," instantly recognizable, distinctive and powerfully graphic. As the years
roll by, however, Binnie confesses to wanting to slow down a bit. "I only work two to three days a week. I'm responsible for running the shop, and I have a wife and two kids as well. I'm still doing mostly custom work. It
would be nice to do smaller stuff. You can have it finished in a day and get a sense of completion. I fought long and hard to get into a position of being able to do just custom work, so it would be foolish to complain, now
wouldn't it?"