'A whole is greater than the sum of its parts' - a phrase perfectly encompassing the work of Canadian tattoo artist Phil Berge.
Phil's 'animated tattoos', are unique and mesmerizing ink collages, linking strangers' skin to form a tattooed flip-book animation, which can take up to 28 different people to complete.
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"When I was a kid I used to do these little animations with my parents' camera and these figurines, I would do it all the time, and when I started tattooing I said to myself 'maybe I'll just try it'…" Berge told Newshub.
He enlisted the help of friends in exchange for a free tattoo and posted the results on the internet.
"People really liked it, so I did a bunch of other ones and they worked well and people liked them. I've been doing it for [almost] the last two years."
He now charges for the unique collaborative tattoos, some of which can take two to three months and many willing participants to complete.
"It's a little bit stressful because, let's say I have six frames to tattoo and I tattoo three of them, those three people are waiting for me to finish the other tattoos," he explained.
"I really have to do it and I cannot, not finish a project."
Although most of the people Berge tattoos are strangers, occasionally they meet.
"They'll run into someone in a bar or in a grocery store who has a similar tattoo and then that will spark a conversation," he revealed. "That's something I didn't think about when I first did the project but I think it ended up being pretty cool that that can happen.
"Maybe they'll become friends and maybe some people will marry each other."
Newshub.
