tattoos
September 12th 2007 01:36
I’ve always been fascinated by tattoos. Novelist Angela Carter had a quote that said something along the lines of “Tattooing is the first of the apocalyptic arts, for its materials are flesh and blood.” It ended up being inspiration to a supernatural Gothic erotic thriller that I wrote a few years back.
The art of tattooing stretches back thousands of years, and will no doubt continue to be an integral part of both the civilized and non-civilised world for many, many more moons. It is the most personal form of artistic expression available, more so than any kind of haircut, jewellery, or body piercing.
I think tattoos demand an element of the arcane, the esoteric, the egocentric, so as to maintain an air of mystery, yet still be provocative. Just as prehistoric cave paintings provide that combination of history and art, of a foreign language infused with familiar iconography, tattoos are, by nature, exclamation points of art, but they should have a question mark beside them too.
I word of warning to those about to scroll down who might be easily offended: the latter images depict tattoos over and around female genitalia.
With tattoo designs there are always exceptions to the rule, always contradictions. I admire the full body tattoos, but they freak me out as well. Occasionally there are cute ones that work for me, like the doggie with the flora, but on the whole I prefer the graphic design tattoos like the Aztec or Pacific styled ones. However I'm very partial to the dragon tattoos. There seems to be something instrinisically mythical about them. But a grin spreads from ear to ear every time I look at Willy Nelson ... how hippie can you get?
... and just to be contentious, I couldn’t resist posting this sketch poking fun at all those “ewes” that get tattoos across the small of their back:
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