Renowned tattoo artist Scott Campbell is a favourite of the A-listers having done ink for Orlando Bloom, Josh Hartnett and Penelope Cruz to name a few.
However, for his latest project Whole Glory, Campbell offered to tattoo strangers for free – but there’s a catch – they had to be willing to let him tat whatever he wanted on their arms.
In fact, they wouldn’t even be able to see what he had done until it was finished. Lucky participants were chosen via an in-person lottery, they then had to stick their arms through a hole in the wall and let the artist work his magic.
In an interview with the New York Times Campbell said:
I think there is a bit of magic there in the exchange, the drawing-a-card-out-of-the-deck dynamic. As a tattoo artist you never have absolute freedom in what you create. Your canvas always has an opinion on what is going on them, which is great because sometimes you get inspired by the person, and the piece becomes a reaction to them.
He went on to say:
[However] it can also be a hindrance, because with any medium, it’s always purer if you are unaware of the audience. You can get lost in the work without worrying what people will think.
In total Campbell did around 25 tattoos for the project with each one taking up a sizeable amount of space on their wearer’s forearm. Many of the artworks displayed his wry sense of humour with one receiving an ironic skull with a “trust” headband.
While another got a warning of “no bad news.”
As Campbell posted each new tattoo to his Instagram page, he included the same caption on the photo: “Thank you for your confidence.” Damn right!
