under your skin
Body art studio, London, UK.
- LONDON -
[the practical project]
Biohacking is a world wide phenomena, with increasing number of people joining both physical and online presence. While many might associate Biohacking practice with large tech metropolitan areas the reality is that many of them not only are not living in the capitals of large countries, often they are not even residents in major urban areas. Where the Biohacking community seems to bond both online on a global scale (e.g. world wide Facebook groups, conventions etc) and in more local scope with each region having a notable core rooted in geographical components. (e.g. hackspaces, meetups, etc)
The London Biohackers scene is much influenced from the states and there is an apparent interest to create a stronger community in the UK making London their centre.
Nevertheless, throughout my research it was very apparent to the community and in my own experience how the UK and particularly London makes a really strong actor in the acceptance of microchip implants; the UK is one of the larges countries to have adopted contactless payment, which is essentially an NFC infrastructure.
Moreover, London in particular has a strong connection to the biohacking practice
because of TFL (Traffic For London) system avoiding cash all together in the city and using Oyster cards for all their infrastructure, which is essentially an RFID microchip system.
"IT"
""it was [fitting the implant] my extream progration for my intrests, I suppose. I mean at first I put an oyster card in nail polish remover to separate the microchip out from the plastic and made it into a ring, it looked really chunky but it worked!" (IT, Biohacker, London.)
"IT"'s story is often heard in the community. Where nearly everyone I made contact with told me a similar one. Were the use of Oyster cards shaped Londoners Biohackers interest and perception as well as the people they interact with.
"C"
"it's so much easier to explain to them. They know this, they use it. they might not be keen to fit it in (laughing) but a lot of the time, after you explain a bit, they get it. " ("C": Biohacker, London.)
Furthermore, like any subculture, I found that London Biohackers accumulated different sematic to different practices from the US. For instance, in US the brunch of Biohackers who are dealing with technology and body modification often refer to them themselves as Grainders. Where in London, due to the popular gay social network and dating app Grindr, it did not filtrated to their terminology and many haven't even heard about that term.
