Art and The Body

When I began my research in Art the body I asked myself what attracted me the most and what is art in relation the body to me, then i put the two together and drawed to the conclusion that when it comes to art and the body the most profound artform to me is tattooing and the history of tattoos. Of course there are many histories on tattoos, one that predates back up to 5000 years, and the art itself is evolving and is becoming digital, and is available everywhere and is now on a mainstream and fashionable level. Once in the western world about 50 years or more ago tattoos were only seen on gangs and the roughest of chicks and circus performers, no person in there right mind got one. I remember my dad telling me that he hid his tattoos for a long time, for he got them in the 70's and back in that time it wasn't a social acceptable thing to have; it was shocking in a sense and he went further into boasting how he was one of the first in Australia to do so, though that is probably an exaggeration. But now, to the shock of my father, every man and his dog can have a tattoo, and the significance of tattoos has changed, its become more personal rather than a culture practice.

The significance of tattoos is different in every culture and in every history. All over the world it has been practiced and it can be spiritual, it can be a fad especially in England in 1862 when the Prince of Wales got a Tattoo it was also prevalent in the English Navy, it is something decorative like in Japan with the full body suit; horis- japanese tattoo artists doing there work and once the individual dies the suit that was created on their skin in maintained and preserved, in Egypt it was a ritualistic practice associated with women, it can be seen as a sign of courage in South America and so forth.

Tattoos have changed in application, what was once something of high pain, placing ink through the skin and also different natural ingredients to create colour has become one of an artform just because of the complexities of the practice of tattooing especially since the permancy of the image being on the individuals body, with the advancement of technology it is no as painful as it once was there are a variety of inks/colours to enhance the image and differebnt guns and needle size. What was once an artform with basic techniques has become complex because of the diverse nature and the advancements in tattooing.

I thought i would conclude my brief on tattooing with my own personal experience with Tattoos. I got my first Tattoo when I was 16, and when my Parents found out I was 17 and my father instead of exploding in rage just found it funny. It is a phoenix bird and I extended it further when I was 18.It now covers my whole back, and I designed it myself, it is inspired by my name and the origin of the Phoenix Bird and its birth from the Tree of Knowledge out of a rose. Its not finished but i am lookinh forward to it being :), it is on the bottom and the other three images are of german circus performers found on early 20th century postcards.