View source for Underground

If a modification artist is said to be '''underground''', it generally means that they are working without recognition from their "governing community."

An ''underground [[cutter]]'' is a surgical practitioner working without the approval of the medical community. A slight variation on that would be the ''underground doctor'' who is recognized by the medical community, but also does work "underground"&mdash;typically this includes doctors willing to quietly perform [[subincision]]s, [[castration]]s, [[amputation]]s, and so on, with relatively few questions asked. Often, these procedures take place outside of their mainstream studio (ie. in a hotel room, or a [[medical fetish]] club), or often in a studio in a country like Mexico with less restrictions on doctors' actions.

In terms of [[piercing]] or [[tattoo]]ing, calling someone an underground artist usually means that they're not sanctioned as qualified by any studio and are working out of their home (or out of a bag).

[[Category: Reference]]