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Comment
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Carrie
Unregistered User
(1/16/02 7:51:27 am)
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tattoos
Good morning all. I was re-reading Diane Ackerman's "A Natural History of the Senses" last night and her commentary on tattoos got me thinking. Terri had once mentioned that many fans were getting Froud's work permently engraved on thier bodies. And Ackerman was discussing that Tokoyo University has more than 300 human skins framed. They all are examples of the work of grand Japanese tattoo masters and the owners donated their skins after death. It made me wonder who skinned them and what that must look like - a chamber of skins -- "lives at full stretch, defined by needles and ink, so many people who wished to become their own text." Photographer Sandi Fellman discusses her attraction to tattoos as "Beauty created through brutal means," "power bestowed at the price of submission," "the glorification of the flesh as a means to spirituality."
I have the Greenman on my back. And even though a rarely catch a glimpse of it, it has become a part of my natural body. Not often do I wear anything in public that would allow it to be seen, but when it does peek out and someone comments on it, I am as taken aback as if they said, "Wow, you have long hair," or "gee, you're tall," or "hey, you have ears."
I just like the idea of the human skin being a textbook. Birthmarks, skin discoloration, wrinkles, age spots, scars...they all say something don't they? Or should I say the way we react to the body in its many forms says something about us?
Comments?
Carrie
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Charles Vess
Unregistered User
(1/16/02 8:07:48 am)
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Skin art
Carrie, I remember sitting at my table selling art at the San Diego Comic Con a number of years ago and being approached by a huge hulk of a man. He proved to be genial as well as jovial. A nice conversation was begining when he paused, looked down at me, and said, "I think I have something you should see". Whereupon he began to unbutton his shirt. I sat there nervously wondering what was going to happen next. His shirt fully unbuttoned, he pulled it apart to reveal a painting that I had done tatooed across his entire chest and stomach. Lord, I still don't know what I think of that sort of thing...Since then I've seen several STARDUST paintings tatooed on various bodies and even drawn a few faeries at the specific request of a fan that wanted the image tatooed somewhere on their body. I, myself have thought that one thing that I would do after turning 50 last summer would be to have a small tatoo of my green man logo put somewhere on my body but, as yet, I haven't had the nerve or the time.
Charles
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Kerrie
Registered User
(1/16/02 8:54:26 am)
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Re: tattoos
You may want to check out the indie movie Pillow Book. From Amazon.com:
Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, Drowning by Numbers) continues to delight and disturb us with his talent for combining storytelling with optic artistry. The Pillow Book is divided into 10 chapters (consistent with Greenaway's love of numbers and lists) and is shot to be viewed like a book, complete with tantalizing illustrations and footnotes (subtitles) and using television's "screen-in-screen" technology. As a child in Japan, Nagiko's father celebrates her birthday retelling the Japanese creation myth and writing on her flesh in beautiful calligraphy, while her aunt reads a list of "beautiful things" from a 10th-century pillow book. As she gets older, Nagiko (Vivian Wu) looks for a lover with calligraphy skills to continue the annual ritual. She is initially thrilled when she encounters Jerome (Ewan McGregor), a bisexual translator who can speak and write several languages, but soon realizes that although he is a magnificent lover, his penmanship is less than acceptable. When Nagiko dismisses the enamored Jerome, he suggests she use his flesh as the pages which to present her own pillow book. The film, complete with a musical score as international as the languages used in the narration, is visually hypnotic and truly an immense "work of art." --Michele Goodson
It gets a bit twisted in some parts, but I loved it as a whole (and I'm a bit of a shy one).
Sugarplum dreams,
Kerrie
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ZMethos
Registered User
(1/16/02 10:41:06 am)
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Re: tattoos
I think it's true that wrinkles and birthmarks can say something about a person, as can tattoos. The one difference is that birthmarks and wrinkles aren't a voluntary voice--in fact, at least with wrinkles (and some birthmarks, I suppose), we try to "hush" those bodily voices up by applying make-up or having our bodies altered. Tattoos, however, are a voluntary voice; they are what you want to say, a statement. Wrinkles, birthmarks, those are more like a testament to something. . . At least, that's how I see it. Unless, of course, you went and had wrinkles put into your body for some reason?
~M. Pepper
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Carrie
Unregistered User
(1/16/02 11:33:07 am)
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more thoughts
Charles -- I never thought of having a fairy tattooed, but that would be fun. Now I just have to find a perfect one -- and then decide where to put it. You should go ahead with yours. Its an interesting experience.
As to self-mutilation vs. natural disfigurements (I think I can say this because I have my own stretch marks, wrinkles, scars and birthmarks), I'm beginning to think of plastic surgery as part of this discussion. There must be a fairy tale that would work as a commentary on the desire to retain youth (Snow White perhaps) and the search for identity. What fairy tale character would work beautifully with tattoos, a face lift and fake breasts? (As I chuckle...)
Carrie
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bardichaun
Registered User
(1/16/02 11:43:05 am)
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Re: more thoughts
Something from Disney?(ducking). A good question though. A much larger percentage of fairy tales seems to be about wanting to be older (grown up) than about remaining young. Unless one accepts the entire body of tales concerning the ever young fairy,sidhe,what have you.
As for tattoo. I will admit to still being a tattoo virgin but that is more A>the usual male dislike of pain and B>simply not having found one that I want to have on my body permanently. My fiance,on the other hand, is debating about having a proportiantly life size pair of wings tattooed on her back.
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lmallozzi
Registered User
(1/16/02 1:03:22 pm)
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ancient tattoos
There was an issue of National Geographic several years ago about an archeological dig somewhere in Russia, a burial site where the well-preserved remains of what was believed to be a priestess was found. What was also fsacinating were the tattoos found on her body, especially one of some sort of deer with fantastical curving antlers. My twin was so captivated by this design (despite her extreme fear of needles!) that she finally decided to have that same image tattooed on herself - I was struck by how she now had this remarkable connection to this long-dead woman half a world away through this ancient, mystical design.
I was also asked to create a tattoo for a friend - it is strange
to have my art so permanantly fixed in a living person! Too bad
I can't put him in my portfolio!
Luciana
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eearth
Registered User
(1/18/02 12:56:55 pm)
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tattoos
I created a design for a green man tattoo, but I'm still working up the courage . . . maybe one of these days . . . my husband says it's my midlife crisis and I'll get over it. We'll see.
Elise
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