When Shawn Porter was 16, he met Jack Yount, & when I was 15, I met Shawn Porter. I first met Shawn online in 1995, when the Internet consisted of Usenet bulletin boards, IRC and the www. was something rather new. He was part of my first introduction to heavy body modification and those who practiced it. When I was 22, I finally met Shawn in person, and he has honestly been one for most interesting & charismatic people I've befriended in all my 26 years on planet earth. I thought I'd get him to share a bit of his perspective for our GG readers...
Can you define what you really do as far as the body modification community goes? Or is Shawn Porter indefinable?
I think there's a strong difference between what I do for the body mod community and what I've done. I guess the primary reason people "know" me is for the SPCOnline site, which ran from 1995 until it's untimely demise in 2005. While we did some amazing stuff over the years- from being the first site to offer a personals section- being the only bodymod site with a "History" section and being the first bodymod media to run an article on the "Toe Cutter"- but we never offered the massive amount of media that BME was able to offer and our readers really only helped out when FORCED to.
When the site crashed in 2005, I used the crash as an excuse to back off of the ONLINE side of the modification community and to focus more on actual human interaction. The internet is only a small percentage of what's out there, and I think I sort of lost focus of the actual community over the years.
I helped get BME/Extreme up and running. I used to do a handful of surgical procedures a year on a very select clientele, before I found that the personal connection I needed to work on someone was far too emotionally intensive to deal with most clients.
What I currently do tends to be bringing the community together via events like the SCARWARS art events and the ModCon events I co-created with Shannon Larratt (of bme fame). I also host parties at my historic South Philadelphia Estate for the bodymod community that are more about debauchery than procedure. Sometimes we need to back away from the needle/scalpel and have a good time. I like to get people OFF of the computer and into the real world.
I'm sort of like the Morpheus to your Neo. I cheerlead for those who deserve it, curse those who don't and help people become happier people. It's a good position to be in.
What is the strangest modification that someone has asked you to perform on them?
The ever popular butcher knife penectomy. (Penis removal) That's one of those fantasy things where... you know... the guy jacks off every night thinking about it and probably gets some sexual thrill out of even contacting someone about. I usually just send them the number of my therapist and tell them he's done an amazing job with me.
How often did/do you try to use your fame to get you laid?
Yoda said "Do or Not Do - There is no try." I have a winning smile and more charm than Lucky's - but I'm also smart enough to know that it's ok to use what you have. And hell - if my "fame" will get me tail, by god in heaven I'll exploit that.
How do you think the modification community has changed over the years? Do you miss the early days when things were more underground, or are you happy to see heavy modification become more mainstream and less "scary"?
The biggest change has probably been the youth culture's appropriation of the scene. When I befriended Jack Yount in the early 1990s - my age was atypical and kind of a novelty to the majority of people he introduced me to. There was a different vibe back then- much more sexual than aesthetic. Very underground. No one was really pushing the boundaries of piercing - which goes both ways, you know. Certainly we've moved forward with interesting work, but the simplicity of a perfectly placed nipple is a little more substantial to me than a wrecked, inflamed surface piercing on your taint that you got because your hack piercer wants something "extreme" in his portfolio.
I miss the mystery of it. I miss the fear factor. I'm glad for our advancements, but I miss the sexuality, the brotherhood and the simplicity of the old days.
Explain your fascination with the saints and religious figures, most of your tattoos are a mix between a god and a cartoon, are you a catholic school kid gone bad? Did the priest touch you in your no-no spots, Shawn?
I wish. Give me a man in a cassock who speaks latin and I'll give you an altar boy who'll make him happy. Sadly, however - not the case. I've always had issues with mortality. One day I'll fall asleep and never wake up. My belief system doesn't have a happy ending. There's no streets of gold where slow witted big assed girls in dirty white cotton panties will put out for me for all of eternity. There's no Heaven, Shangri-la, Nirvana or paradise where I'll never be sick, grow old or cease to exist.
So I have a soft spot for the ways that we, as humans, have fooled ourselves into thinking that things will be better in the end. The different belief systems, the same old stories retold and adapted for a different culture. Some people would argue that the persistence of these legends is indicative of a greater, deeper truth. I say it's a sure sign that every culture known to man consists mainly of weak witted saps. But the art is pretty, so... Amen.
If you could take back one modification you've done to yourself, which one would it be, and why?
There's no do-overs in this scene. There are piercings that are taken out, scars that fade and occasionally tattoos that get covered up - but this is ME, and good or bad, I don't question any modification that I've ever sat through.
You are a prolific horror film collector, can you recommend anything better than "shark vs. zombie" for our readers?
Is the implication that "shark vs. zombie" isn't one of the most BADASS versus that one could have? You have a shark, which is fucking AWESOME, and you have a zombie.... fucking awesome. And they're fighting. I don't think I understand the question. That having been said - The 1970s were an amazing time for cinema in general- the horror that came out of that period - The WICKER MAN, The SHINING, The CHANGELING, The EXORCIST- all deserve second (or first for you youngins) watches.
And finally, can you describe what is known as a "Philly snowstorm?"
Sweetheart - next time you come to Philadelphia, I'll remind you.
