The New York Review of Ideas » Q&A | June 2009
Man in the Mirror
Brian Kelly wants to tattoo his face on your body.
By Frances Pollitzer
And if you continue for long enough, two complete strangers might meet and discover they both have your tattoo. Has anything like that happened before?
That is actually one of my selling points of the tattoo. If you get tattooed, you could run into some person you have never met before and have something in common with them and could then spend hours talking about me. I think it has happened before too, there are several people running around Minneapolis with this tattoo. More often I hear from people I know without the tattoo who tell me how they saw someone somewhere in the world with my tattoo on them.
Can you describe what it is about you that would make strangers get your face tattooed on them?
I used to promote this tattoo quite heavily, but I mostly let the project take care of itself now. I don’t know why people get this tattoo. I guess to some it’s funny, it’s also cheap. Sometimes I think it’s only because friends of theirs have already done it.
Are you a persuasive person?
I would prefer to think of myself as cunning. I can be quite persuasive sometimes too. It does help that I am very good looking and quite friendly.
As opposed to quite good looking and very friendly. I have read that even before you started tattooing, you were a big fan of painting your own self-portrait. How did you become so remarkably comfortable with your own image?
I became so comfortable with my own image through sheer fascination with myself. Of course it helps that I am good looking—did I mention that already? It’s really photos of myself that fascinate me. What fascinates me about these photos is that I am the only thing I never get to see, except for in the mirror, but then it is always at one angle, unless I am somewhere with those foldout mirror things. Those fascinate me too. Photos of myself fascinate me because a photo does not match the self-image I hold in my mind. After the initial not liking how I looked in photos, this fascination with the unseen took over, and now I can look at photos of myself for hours!
That sounds like Dorian Grey! There’s another example of someone who got everything he wanted and died from it.
The Dorian Grey reference is interesting because I sold my soul to the Devil a long time ago. But then I stopped believing in him, so I think that makes the contract null and void.
Apart from the Brian Kelly army, do you have any ambitions in mind that you want to fulfill?
Sometimes I think of getting a PhD because it would be cool to have a title like “Dr.” or “Prof.” instead of “Mr.” But I think I owe too much money to ever go to school again. And it seems like a lot of work. The older I’ve gotten, the more my ambitions have fallen away. I’ve always wanted an honest week’s pay for an honest day’s work, is that too much to ask? Mostly I just don’t want to have to work very hard. The only other abstract ambition I have in life is to someday sell my identity.
Are you your own inspiration?
No, I am not my own inspiration. But maybe I inspire others. I like to read a lot of books and look at pictures and be aware of how buildings are redecorated in cities by vandals, artists, and advertisements. Nature does not inspire me at all, and I would much rather be indoors than out
Who or what else inspires you?
The Brian Kelly Army was directly inspired by Shepard Fairey, whose Obey image campaign was still somewhat new at the time. He is now less cool because he has become part of the “establishment”, but I still like his work. Seeing Steve-o get his own face tattooed on his entire back in the movie Jackass was the other part of inspiration. And the title of The Brian Kelly Army was a direct rip off of the Kiss Army, though the title came after I had already tattooed several people. I thought, “ If someone is going to go through all the work that Fairey did to spread his image around the world, why not do it for some sort of self-glorification?” And because I had just started tattooing, I took a cue from Steve-o and tattooed my face on my leg.
Any other artists?
I also like Andy Warhol, and used to offer to tattoo the image from the US postal service stamp of him for thirty dollars. But that first shop was pretty ghetto and all the customers would be like, “Who’s that? Andy Warhol? Who the fuck is that?” So then I stopped offering it and no one ever got it.
You’ve described yourself as a narcissist and an egomaniac. Still stand by that description, or would you describe yourself differently now?
I think people are everything and not just a few titles. While I may be a narcissist and an egomaniac, sometimes I am quite generous and thoughtful of others. I think nature has designed me to always place my own self-interest before others. The tricky part of acting in self-interest is that what might seem better for the self can sometimes be more of a short-term interest, which becomes negative in the long term. Depending on which acts you see me commit, the decision of which title applies will be made. And every artist is an egomaniac, why else would they think that the world really needed to see, read, or hear what they’ve made? There is already so much shit in this world, why would they think that the world needs their contribution? I’m not sure of what your definition of a narcissist is, and I used to have one myself, but I can’t really remember it. And since I’ve already described how fascinated I am by my own photo, I think it’s too late to dodge that label.
Psychologically speaking, narcissists have a need for excessive admiration and a tendency towards colorful self-adornment as well as many negative consequences, such as a tendency to anger and a need to devalue others. Do these resonate with you at all?
I guess that applies to me. I like myself, I like tattoos, and I tried to strangle a girlfriend once, but I was in a black out, so I’m not sure if that counts and when I came to, I let her up. I think the definition I’ve used for narcissism, which I acquired while in art school, is that of one consumed by self interest, fascinated by beauty, and fearful of aging. When these narcissists age, they are then inclined to seek out and try to possess youthful beauty. I try not to have the description apply to me, though it might. I attempt to live my life to the fullest measure of self-deception.
Has ‘wanting to be part of something’ motivated people to join your Army?
As I said, I don’t know why people get the tattoo. The last six or seven people hardly spoke English, so I couldn’t really ask them.
Does this project make you feel part of something?
Even without the Brian Kelly Army, I feel very much a part of the world. A very important part, at least as important as everyone else. The project is my opportunity to help make others a more interesting part. It sometimes makes me feel like a leader, but that is only a by-product of it being my army.
Why did you leave America?
I left America to go to grad school. But I only went to grad school to leave America. I just felt it was time to do something new. Kind of a “throw myself at the world and see if it drops me” sort of thing. When I moved to Germany from Ireland, I didn’t know anyone, and didn’t speak German, and still don’t. I don’t have a plan and I’m an illegal immigrant.
Will you go back?
I think I will go back to America someday.
Any other faces tattooed on your own body?
I have Elvis’ face on my chest, which I got in Memphis, and several women and skulls scattered all over.
Are you hiding another Brian Kelly behind the ‘mythical’ Brian Kelly you have created?
I am not hiding anything. But I choose which aspects of my personality to present at all times. I think everyone has multiple personalities and several different selves. The idea of one true self is false. Think about it. When you are with your parents, you try to act differently, maybe cuss less. At work, different, and even with different groups of friends. But I also think that the people surrounding a person supply identity. I am a different person in Berlin than I was in Dublin, New York, or Minneapolis. That is because people perceive me differently in these places, so who I “am” varies on location and on who is around me. This is because when others view me differently, they treat me differently, and I react differently.
Mythical heroes tend to suffer from a fatal flaw or weakness. True?
I sometimes think my teeth are falling out of my head. But I don’t think that is fatal, I can always use a straw. I guess that means I am not a hero.
What’s next for Brian Kelly?
I think I might live in Berlin for a while.
Maybe the recession will encourage new members, seeing as people are feeling cash-strapped and lost?
I think people in general are quite lost even when they have a lot of money. But when they have the resources to consume more they are able to drown out this feeling of futility by purchasing the next new thing that they don’t need. I do the same thing myself when I’m bored. But The Brian Kelly Army will take everyone. The last all-inclusive organization in the world. Give us your tired, poor, hungry, and insane. You’ll be in good company.♦