piss and ink: a scott harrison interview

supercult: When/where were you born?

scott harrisson: Altus, Oklahoma, 1965.

sc: What is your earliest memory of a traumatic experience?

sh: Playing with a beach ball in my grandparents living room in Newark. I
tossed it backward over my head behind me and kicked it like I'd seen
the Harlem Globetrotters do on TV. It hit the overhead light fixture and
big shards of glass came down on me. One slashed my arm right in the
bend of the elbow and the gash opened up like a giant eye full of blood.
Had to get stitches.

sc: Do you ever use that mental image as a point of reference?

sh: Only when I read "Story of the Eye" by George Bataille.

sc: When you worked at Burger King, in the late 70's, did it bum you out that all of your friends were out banging sluts, and you were deep frying potatoes?

sh: I've only had one kitchen job. I think it was in seventy-eight or seventy-nine, and I only lasted a day and a half.

sc: I heard that you once knocked out a woman for calling you a "stinking jew kike bastard". What was that all about?

sh: I've never hit a woman in my life. Usually I like that kind of talk from women.

sc: What do you plan to do once your green card expires, and you're forced
to head home to Israel? Do you think you'll still tattoo?

sh: I'll probably go back to shlepping.

sc: Why do all jewish people eat so much deli food?

sh: It's the pickles. The vinegar recalls the bitter persecution by
anti-semites like yourself and Hitler, and by large, overbearing, hairy
wives with wide, watery vaginas.

sc: As a jew who smokes a lot, do you find you're a cultural

minority?

sh: First of all, that "Crack Skills" tattoo I have refers to the female genitalia. And therefore, the answer to your question is "No. It's part of our proud cultural heritage that is shared by a few other swarthy minority cultures in the melting pot."

sc: What's your problem with people who ride skateboards? I heard you think it's for homosexuals and blacks.

sh: Some of my best friends ride skateboards. I don't have a problem with people who ride skateboards. I just think that the popularity of skateboarding among
adults is part of a larger trend toward the nfantilization of the
American male. The "hot dog" mentality, and Teen
Beat graphic design have unquestionably subverted proper tattoo
aesthetics among talented young artists. I have to say, though, that
while I used to feel that this was a problem, now I realize that they're
probably more docile and easier to deal with than the amphetamine and
shotgun crowd. It is uncomfortable, though, when they think that their
media-mandated herd ethos applies in any way to my life.

sc: If you got beaten up in front of your mom by a dude on a unicycle,
would you tell anyone?

sh: I was that dude on the unicycle. Tattooers of my generation rode
unicycles while wearing clothing that was inappropriate for the
weather.

sc: Can you shed a little light on the suspiciously ironic fascination some
people have had recently with unicorns, castles, wizards, dungeons,
warlocks, and all things majestic?

sh: Fear and denial. If those twenty something ironic hipsters were to actually point themselves toward meaningful and relevant preoccupations, they would be forced to accept that the entire cultural machine that
keeps their sensitive, Fauntleroy buttocks propped up on unicorn pillows is based on slavery, murder, and lies.

sc: You made this prediction a few years ago. How did you know? Are you responsible?

sh: As far as tattooing goes, it seemed like a natural progression from the
preoccupation with Americana tattooing. Just as it happened in the first
go round, traditional tattooers discovered that they could apply the
formal qualities of the Coleman style to more diverse imagery. Of
course, since a lot of the current generation of "trad" tatters are
involved with the imagery in a self-conscious, mediated, way, their take
on the seventies classics is similarly superficial. I tell people that I
just do "normal' tattoos, now, and I find that it's easier to do tattoos
in the traditional style, than if people hear I do "traditional"
tattoos, because then they always expect some kind of twisty cartoon
thing with red outlines in it, i.e. a drawing OF a traditional tattoo,
not the tattoo itself. What really confirmed my theories about the
unicorn retro, was that gay men in New York were taking interest in that
stuff. That's pretty much a sure sign that three years later, the
commuters will be picking it up at the mall.

sc: What rappers are you into these days?

sh: I like Devin the Dude a lot. L'il Kim, Missy, Master P., TRU, Baby,
Scarface, Brand Nubian, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Tupac, of course Dr. Dre. The
classics. I pretty much like most rap. That "Laffy Taffy" song is
wicked.

sc: Rumor has it that you won't wear shorts. Whats that all about?

sh: Prolapsed rectum.

sc: If you HAD to pick one Supercult girl to pee on, which would it be?

sh: Do you mean: a) as an expression of boyish joie de vivre during a

post-coital shower, or b) SMACK! "Open your mouth, you nasty bitch! OPEN IT!"?

I haven't really looked at the whole site, I mostly just looked at the girl with the awesome big nipples and the ice viking tattoo. I'll go look now...

Well judging from the thumbnails, I'd say they're pretty much all candidates for category b for sure, and I don't really have time to go through the site looking for subtle clues as to who would have those
special qualities most desirable for category a. I've got grown-up business to attend to, gentlemen. Speaking of which, all you short pants onanists should go to www.headbandbrothers.com and buy one of my new t-shirts. They're perfect for playtime, and for mopping up jism wasted on ill-timed Ron Jeremy reaction shots. Good day.

Atlas Tattoo
4543 N. Albina Ave.
Portland, OR 97217
(503) 281-7499

interviewed by: seth ciferri