Though I was excited to share the new depth that tattoos encompassed, jitters broke out as I tried to push back the fact it was a final. My kind classmates allowed me to go first on our busy monday of power points. Halfway through nerves overtook my sight and I entered a pre-rehersed spew of information that was only periodically broken by my mind throwing on the breaks to elaborate.
Here's my scrip and link to the presentation, just in case someone stumbles upon this blog in the future and wonders what this person was rambling on about....
So here is the visual aspects...
And the script...
Understanding Tattoos 101
HI, I’m Christina
“The impulse to create art is one of the defining signs of humanity,
the body may well have been the first canvas.”
PRESS
Tattooing…
PRESS
…Is a communication between the self and society.
PRESS
Abstract: This presentation aims to understand the
cultural ideas that define the enthno-aesthetics of Tattoos, in order to recognize
the exchange of meaning between the individual and culture.
A tattoo represents a forum for nonverbal communication between the individual
and external society. By analyzing a variety of articles, the concept emerges
of the skin as part of a boundary phenomenon, in which there is "the exteriorization
of the interior, and simultaneously the interiorizaton of the exterior".
Tattooing, a communication between the self and society, is visibly marked on
the skin to be interpreted by those were being initiated into the community.
The skin works as a medium between the self and culture. Although, the idea
applies to all forms of personal adornment the permanence of tattoos makes it
particularly significant. In this presentation, we will explore the ability of
tattoos to bridge the gap between the social and individual aspects of the body
and how the ritual of tattooing expresses power depending on the individual’s role
in society and participation in the creation of the tattoo. The specific details
of these conditions define a tattoo’s potential as an example of art.
The reasons for getting tattooed is varied but certain ideas always
have an effect of the meaning behind them.
Tattooing is a visual elaboration of a person’s social reality,
which is drawn onto the skin. The skin is an ambiguous terrain at the boundary
between the self PRESS and society PRESS. Inscribing the skin is an act that is at
once personal and cultural.
How tattoos are interpreted is defined PRESS
by how society relates to the body. PRESS
The body is the locus of social control, defining how individuals can
exert control over the events around them.
PRESS
Human Bodies are never blank or unmarked, even when not explicitly
marked by clothes or modification because of layers of meaning that we
superimpose on a body to make it human.
PRESS
As such, the body is not simply the platform on which a tattoo is placed
but the placement is significant in the meaning of the inscription or art that
is transcribed.
PRESS
In Papua New Guinea, Maisin women cover their entire faces with curvilinear
patterns in a puberty ceremony. Until they are tattooed, they are thought to
have "blank" faces
PRESS
Body Art is a visual language where one needs to understand the
metaphoric vocabulary and the ritual involved. Because of this Tattoos are
culture specific.
Colour, shape, common metaphors, group identifiers; all are part of
the enthno-aesthetics of tattoos.
When a design leaves its area of origin, it can lose its original
meaning or gain new depths. PRESS The spiral flower design of Dyak people of
Borneo, is a symbol of the tribe and spiritual protection that has been widely
copied outside of Indonesia,
PRESS without a connection to the tribe.
PRESS
The Ritual of Tattooing is an expression of Power.
In tattooing, who’s expressing power is defined by who calls for the
inscription upon the body. Tattooing is an exertion of power onto a person when
the tattoo is forced. However,
Tattooing upon the self is often seen as a self-empowering process, or
culturally powerful.
This is where tattooing breaks into two categories, an Art form vs.
Forced branding.
PRESS (to branding)
The Greek word for tattooing is stigma; Stigmatize translates to
being tattooed, reflecting the Greek’s punitive use of tattoos.
PRESS
Throughout western history, military deserters were often marked
with a capital D to designate perceived cowardice and anti-nationalism, PRESS
this example was of a British deserter Mark taken post-mortem.
PRESS
In Germany, SS authorities introduced the practice of tattooing in
order to identify the bodies of registered prisoners who had been killed.
What these tattoos have in common are that all are predesigned,
lacking all personalization to the identity of the person.
PRESS
Brandings are to be contrasted with cultural artistic expression
through body art, the creation of which the person whose skin is to be
illustrated actively participates.
PRESS
To be considered art and not just marking, body arts have to some
measure of freedom and intentionality in its creation.
Cultural tattooing, as in coming of age rituals, is an art when they
are specifically designed for the one being tattooed, reflecting the
individual’s personal history.
Permanent or temporary, Tattooing is like clothes,
its something we all have done at one time or another
King gorge, American youth, Native Americans
An ending thought: “a tattooed body, as transgressive body, seeks
recognition, but not necessarily recognition that rectifies subjectivity once
it is recognized. A tattoo adds to the body”, Around the world, it’s making
special.
