Tattoos Transform into Moving Images with Ink Mapping

GIFs and Screencaps by the author, via

Have you ever imagined what an animated tattoo would look like? What if the black ink carved into your skin could suddenly materialize into a moving image? Well, say hello to Ink Mapping, Video Mapping on Tattoos. Portuguese video-mapping twins Oskar & Gaspar, known for projection mapping on the human face, brought the tattoos of artists Eduardo Cavellucci and Igor Gama to life in the first ever live tattoo video mapping event in Lisbon this year. They used a projector on human canvases to transform body art into dynamic spectacles. Using the models’ tattoos as a base, Oskar & Gaspar build augmented labyrinthine visuals, from a black snake slithering up a model’s’ torso, to a manta ray floating across his thigh, to a mosaic mandala back tat spinning like a top. The video’s production team stressed that no post-production was used during the editing process of the short film, so the images you see below were all shot in live action.

Check out some images from the event, and the video itself, below:

Ink Mapping: Video Mapping on Tattoos, by Oskar & Gaspar from Oskar & Gaspar on Vimeo.