Body of Reverbs (B.O.R.)
"New ceremonies for contemporary bodies"

2014-present.

B.O.R. is a contemporary ceremony and post- tattoo practice started by Michele
Servadio in London in 2014 and since performed in theaters, galleries, churches and
clubs, rural and desert settings across Europe, Middle East and Americas.
Turning tattoos into sounds, B.O.R. uses tattooing as a musical instrument,
translating the vibrations of the needles on skin into sound and amplified by a sound
artist through synthesizers and sound effects. The tattooer and the musician
symbiotically advance in a progressive loop, while the receiver is subjected to visual
and auditory sensations which operate deeply into its subjectiveness. What emerges
is a deeply haunting and layered sound that transfixes audiences.
Performed in front of a crowd, the tattoo itself is abstract and spontaneous. This is
because it is the experience, the connection between body, sound and space that is
central, not the result. Each performance is unique because it is the result of all the
different vectors involved: the space, the musician and mainly the needs of who is
getting tattooed. It can be a strong, loud and brutal process, or a very dilated
approach, careful actions, in very specific parts of the body.
The performance always starts with a body assessment to identify the right places to
tattoo and understand what kind of experience we are going to deliver.
B.O.R was born out of the necessity to bring tattooing back to its archaic identity, at
a time when it has become a mass consumed product. The aim is to create a total
art practice with tattooing at its centre.
Since its birth in 2014, B.O.R has launched New Rituals for Contemporary Bodies
LP+ Book, featuring recordings of two performances from 2016 with Years of Denial
and Hexn, along with a booklet chronicling its journey and writings from veteran
tattooists, commentators and academics.
The group recently released a 7” with Zen Hex, the recording of a session in the
Judean Desert.
In 2019 they released a set of 4 flexi discs with Coward Records.