Tattoo artist, JC Sheitan Tenet who wears his heart on his sleeve lost his lower right arm 22 years ago worked with artist and engineer Jean-Louis Gonzalez (known as “JL Gonzal”) to create a prosthetic tattoo machine.
According to a Facebook post, Gonzal used pieces of a typewriter, manometer, various pipes, as well as Tenet’s existing prosthesis to give the artist the dexterity to create tattoos.
On June 4, the two debuted what they claim is the first-of-its-kind prosthetic at Tattoo Motor Show 2016, a convention in Davezieux, France.
A video of Tenet inking his first tattoo with their kickass collaboration was posted to Steampunk Tendencies’ Facebook page on June 7 and the video has since racked up more than 1 million views.
Tenet posted the completed tattoo that he drew with his prosthetic (a woman embracing a skull) on his Facebook page — though he did admit to Mashable he used his left hand for the majority of the tattoo and used the prosthetic mostly for shading.
Tenet met Gonzal who is known for making mechanised taxidermies and skulls at various tattoo conventions. Noticing Gonzal’s unique talent, Tenet asked him if he could mechanise one of his old prosthetics he had to lie around the house and thus, the partnership was born.
At the moment, Tenet uses his shoulder to move the prosthetic gun, which both artists insist is a prototype, or “kinetic sculpture,” and is not practical for everyday use yet. But Tenet told Motherboard that he hopes in the future he’ll be able to incorporate wrist and finger movements while using the prosthetic.
In regards to how Tenet felt using the prosthetic for the first time, he told Mashable: “I had to relearn to use my right hand 22 years after the loss; it’s terrifying and amazing at the same time.”