That which you call Illusion

Is Reality.

And the Master of Reality

Is called God.

That which you called Reality

Is Illusion.

And the Master of Illusion

Is called Artist.

                                                 R.E. Loomis

Self-portraits taken by Roland Loomis in 1944 at 14 years old, introduce us to his life and doings from birth in South Dakota (1930) to his death in California (2018). In his own words: “as a tiny effeminate that did not fit well in the social pattern, I saw the worst sides of humanity”.

Loomis’s childhood was linked to his mother and the Lutheran Church in the meantime while having self bondage and simulated tattoos over his body (all of which were erotic to him), he took his own pictures in privacy. Early on he started to clamp cloth pins on his body and liked the sensation of doing so.

Those still images B/W and in color,  and vintage footage are an abundant and nourishing source that allows director, producer, and editor Angelo Madsen to make this creative visual project that is a must-see for piercing lovers.

Film presents photographer and performance artist Fakir Musafar (named after a Sufi mystic that was misunderstood for using a piercing  and alter ego of Roland Loomis) as a pioneer of the  Queer Art Body Modification Movement that begun in America in 1970s, was  interrupted in the 80s by the AIDS pandemic and  took center stage since 1989 movilizing  a generation of artists, thinkers and seekers up to date.  He also was considered a founder of the Modern Primitives movement in those years.

Roland Loomis shares he, since early age, loved doing  magic tricks, circus things and stories of freaks, knowing this the Tod Browning’s  movie and Diane Arbus photographs resonate to me.

Body play beyond pain is a constant for the protagonist and others. They are fellow companions with  bodies, voices, experiences and feelings sharing their adventure and through the film,  we are allowed to learn from them, if the case.  Mortification of the flesh in a Judeo Christian way and ideas of suffering according to the Book of Job are also mentioned, as well as rape and abuse experiences.  It is said BDSM practices provide consciousness and freedom.

Film shows how piercing practices are a rite of passage.  We are able to watch how the protagonist, at the the age of 61, founded the Body Piercing School to keep the magic flowing and leading to a transformation: physical, mental and spiritual.

Nature, Sexuality and Spirituality are not separated, they are the same energy and deserve honor and respect.

We know piercing and tattooing are a business nowadays, although, they remark the body is the only connection we have to time.

In the present, each one of us has the gift of the body, and there is the Body Art.

Warning, film contains nudity, explicit sexual references and graphic content that may be challenging for some.