Famous tattoo artist gives fans surprise designs

Описание: (10 Oct 2016) LEAD IN:
Getting a tattoo can be a nerve-racking experience, but what if you couldn't see your tattoo artist or know what was being inked onto your skin?
That's what American artist Scott Campbell has been offering a lucky few people in London. Some fans are prepared to wait days to be selected and get one of his permanent designs.

STORY-LINE:
It's a lottery with a difference and an exercise in blind faith.
The winner is about to get a free tattoo by someone they can't see and with a design they have no say in.
As she claims her prize, this young woman appears more nervous than triumphant.
"I thought I wasn't going to get picked. Oh my God," she says.
Entering the gallery where all the action happens and putting her arm through a hole in a temporary wall, the participant is slightly apprehensive.
"Im scared," she whispers.
Hidden behind the wall is US tattoo artist Scott Campbell.
He's brought his 'Whole Gallery' project to London as part of the annual Frieze art fair, after successful runs in New York, Los Angeles and Moscow.
"You know, I've been tattooing for twenty years and there is really nothing my hands know how to do better than tattoo", he says.
"So I'd always fantasised of what if I had a scenario where I could tattoo with the same freedom as I would paint on a canvas."
For three days, participants are selected every hour - up to six a day - via a random lottery.
Cameron Ward has never had a tattoo before. But the 24-year-old has just had his number picked.
He's not as nervous because has confidence in the artist's work.
"Nope, no idea (what is being tattooed). I can just feel some scratches and that is it," says Ward as the buzzing of the needle begins.
"I'm not worried, I like (tattoo artist) Scott's work and I trust him. That's the point of the exhibition, right?"
New York-based Campbell has gained a solid reputation. He has tattooed a long list of celebrities such as Orlando Bloom and Penelope Cruz, and clients from the fashion world.
Some of his famous designs are hanging on the walls of the gallery where that hidden tattooing is taking place.
But for participants like Ward, Campbell's designs will be free of charge.
Onlookers begin to gather around Ward as work on his tattoo nears the expected one-hour mark.
They speculate on what the design will be.
Eventually, Ward is prompted to remove his arm from the hole and he reveals on his forearm the flower and skull design that's distinctively Campbell's.
The response to his work, says Campbell, is positive.
"Almost every single person (who was tattooed at his events in New York and Los Angeles), you know, at some point pulled me aside and was like; 'Hey man, I just want to say thanks, because obviously I got the best one.' You know, its like, I love that dynamic, that everyone thought that theirs was the best", he says.
"It definitely has a similar feel to a palm-reading or a horoscope dynamic, where someone reads their horoscope and they're like; 'Oh my God, that's so me.' And it's like, well, were you that before you read it or are you that now because you read it."
Hopeful entrants outside believe the experience is something more than just the simple purchase of a tattoo.
"The concept is a really cool concept right - put your arm in the hole and get a free tattoo," says 20-year-old sports coach Devaniel Gayle.
"You have no choice what ends up on your arm, but it's about having some faith in humanity, so."
Such sentiments have people waiting around the block in the hope of being the picked in the hourly draw - some have been waiting here for all three days of the event.

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