Off to APP 2018

It's that time of year again, when the Infinite piercers and select staff head to Las Vegas for a week of lectures, classes, and roundtable discussions, mixed in with social events for body piercers and body modification industry professionals at the Association of Professional Piecers annual Conference and Exposition. From July 15 through 20, 2018, we are off to APP 2018!

We'll be catching up with our peers from all over the world, along with representatives from most of the companies we order jewelry from during the year. Not only is the week full of continuing education for the staff, but it's home to the APP's jewelry exposition, the biggest gathering of body jewelry manufacturers and distributors in one place. We'll be coming back loaded with an amazing amount of new stock, including special, one-of-a-kind pieces we don't have the opportunity to buy any other time of the year. For us and many shops like us, the year begins and ends with the annual APP Conference and Exposition.

Even with our regular piercing staff away, Infinite will still be open for business as usual. Infinite favorite, Paul Espinoza will be here piercing and taking care of all our clients while we're gone. Conference week has become Paul's annual guest spot at Infinite, and our regular counterstaff will be holding things together while Paul works his gentle magic with our Philly regulars. Paul will be covering shifts from Saturday, July 14 through Friday, July 20, 2018. 

As I wrote about previously, this year I'll be teaching an updated version of the Male Genital Piercings class with former Infinite piercer Kellan Smith, who recently opened The Powers That Be in Vancouver, Washington. I've previously taught the class with Elayne Angel in 2014 and 2016, and this will be the first year I'm teaming up with Kellan. I'm excited to share a little bit of the knowledge that the Infinite staff has gathered over the two-plus decades we've been doing genital piercings at the studio!

There are so many events to look forward to this year. Paul King will be presenting part two of his XXX History of Piercing series with Pierced Men in Porn. He'll be continuing on from last year's lecture on women who were early body modification enthusiasts working in adult fils—and it was definitely a standout class. Another highlight for many of us attending this year will be two lectures by performance artists inspired by body modification, including Ron Athey. Athey has a decades-long history of work where he uses body modification, S&M themes, and elements of theatre and opera in his performances in order to challenge conceptions of sexuality, gender, and art. He will be part of a panel discussion this year titled Body Probe: A History and Theory of the Use of Piercing in Performance Art.

In other Infinite news, this time of year is doubly exciting as we have a new t-shirt design—actually, two new designs—just in time for APP 2018.

Good Piercings for Good People T-shirt

After the cover of the iconic 1984 album Bad Music for Bad People from psychobilly legends the Cramps, this t-shirt is straight-up '80s punk. The original emaciated ghoul has been updated with additional piercings, with the new tagline Good Piercings for Good People along the bottom and studio information on the back, left shoulder.

Pretty Hole Machine T-shirt and Muscle Tank Top

An homage to the seminal album that ushered in the ‘90s, Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine. (Our design is actually based on the 2010 re-design from Rob Sheridan, for any old-school fans who are keeping track.) Infinite Body Piercing in digitized text across the front, with an update to the classic NIN logo, with shop Website, on the back. We have this one available as both a t-shirt and a muscle tank. 

Both these designs are available at the studio, and from our Website. We will also be traveling with quite a few in Las Vegas, so if you see one of us at the expo carrying an oversized duffel bag, you may be able to convince us to part with one of our new shirts.

Those of us going will be traveling home between Friday and Saturday, July 20 to 21, to resume piercing shifts and to relieve Paul after a week of seeing clients by himself. Once we get home we'll immediately start work on organizing our jewelry purchases to get them out on the shelves at the studio and in our online store. Keep an eye on our social media for updates on new products. If you're looking for unique jewelry items, the end of this July is going to be the best time to be a customer at Infinite Body Piercing.