ModCon: The Secret World Of Extreme Body Modification

by Shannon Larratt

In May of 1999 members of the heavy modification set made their way from around the world to attend an event that was to become infamous. They came from as far away as Japan and varied in age from eighteen to their early seventies. No matter how far they travelled or what age they were this would be the first time for most to be surrounded by this many people with a shared interest - extreme body modification.

Practitioners and participants who have dedicated their bodies and lives to fields such as tattooing, branding, implants, subincision, amputation, castration, scarification, nullification… this event was only for the serious and as such it was invite only. It goes without saying, none of those invites were too media.

"ModCon: The Secret World of Extreme Body Modification" is the first peak for most into this most secretive of worlds. It is the culmination of three ModCon events held over a three-year period and documented by its organizer, Shannon Larratt. A life long contributor to the community and publisher of BMEzine.com, Shannon is the world's foremost authority on the subject of extreme body modification. As well as containing comprehensive and informative information on the subject, "ModCon: The Secret World of Extreme Body Modification" also contains stunning images by photographer Phillip Barbosa whose contributions to the community include a complete visual documentation of every ModCon event as well as helping organize the I Was Cured suspension group in Toronto, Canada.

Genres: Nonfiction, Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2002

Reviews

[Lee Kofman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is shocking even by my standards. As much as I appreciate the daring, every time the book enters my mind I see its photographic images of blood spraying out of nipples and severed testicles. My tolerance was severely tested by this book yet my world was expanded by it. Still, while I appreciate the graphic honesty of interviews with say people who severed their own body parts, I’m still unsure why they had to do this, why their desire was so pervasive.

[Analia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice photos but very little info and for the most part too technical, if you are interested in body modifications I would recommend Larrett’s 2 other books better, they are comprised of interviews he did with different people in the community and go more in the depth into why they do it and how their lives are (or aren’t) affected by their modifications.

[Zak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passionnant pour quiconque s'intéresse aux modifications corporelles extrêmes (certaines images sont objectivement gores).

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not for the light reader, but it is very informative and interesting to read.

[Allison Thurman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating but they don't kid when they say "extreme"

[gravegirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

good for people that are into extreme body modification as an art form... I enjoyed the book hard to find but a keeper