tattoo as identity

toothpastefordinner.com

My problems with tattoos are that:

1) There are too many 'tribal' tattoos

2) There are too many generic tattoos

3) People do not seem to care enough about the history behind certain symbols

4) Bad typography (like mine)

5) Terribly translated chinese tattoos (hehe)

My angsty elaboration on point 1 for this post begins...

Yes, the devil penguin is smart to suggest making a book about tattoo designs and stories. I think it is only right that someone should make a solid tattoo designs guide so people would have a better idea of what they are getting tattooed onto their bodies.

Largely, my hatred lies with the epidemic of tribal tattoos, both well and badly done. The popularity of this style irks me, especially when it is not referred to as a "tribal-style tattoo" but as a "tribal tattoo".
It is very tempting for me to be caustic to these people by questioning the name of the tribes they belong to. If you have a tribal tattoo, you probably have a tribe, no? If not, why are you trying to look as though as you belong to a tribe? So be it, if you like the design, but to call it your tribal tattoo is something else.


wah...so tasteful and scary...
(from http://www.tribalshapes.com/categories/evil-creatures/1.html)

I hope that people would have more respect towards tribal tattoo as an art form with their centuries deep cultural roots. Look at the maoris. They know what they are getting. How about those who got them inked at random? And how about those who are only concerned with "tribalising" designs by drawing, for example, a butterfly (ugh) with tasteless and painful looking tapering strokes and curves with sharp ends?

If I belonged to a tribe, and have a tattoo that is exclusive to that of my culture, the last thing I would like is to have wannabes sprouting out from every other corner of the world, emulating my culturally-rich design when they are not even aware of the significance of the artform in the first place.



So there, get your tribal tattoo today!

The Butterfly Fever

via http://www.tattoosymbol.com/articles/butterfly.html

"Butterfly Tattoo - For most people, when they think about tattoo imagery, the subject matter of insects probably does not spring immediately to mind. In fact, it's probably not even a close second. Yet one of the most popular designs being done today, probably ranking right at the top of those being done on women, and a symbol that has even come to typify the tattoos of the 90s, is the butterfly. While tattoos that use butterflies surely do capitalize on their great beauty and diversity, they are also highly symbolic creatures in many cultures, including our own. Beginning in the east though, in Japan, one butterfly stands for young womanhood while two symbolize marital bliss. To the Aztecs of ancient Mexico however, the butterfly stood both for the souls of dead warriors who had fallen on the battlefield and the souls of women who had died in childbirth – the two most noble deaths of which an Aztec could conceive. In Christianity it likewise stands for the soul which has escaped the confines of the flesh. In the west, as elsewhere, the symbolism of the butterfly centers upon its unique transformation. From one existence as the slow and crawling caterpillar, then to the dormant and captive chrysalis or cocoon, and finally the rebirth into a light and airy winged creature, the metamorphosis of the butterfly is one of its most powerful and uplifting meanings. Accordingly, over time, the butterfly has also come to represent not only beauty itself but also the transitory nature of that beauty and indeed of all life. Despite their enormous variety and their delicate and detailed coloring, their embellishment in tattoo art may well rival that found in nature."

I bet most of the people who have a butterfly tattoo or some sort will not really care or even know about the stuff mentioned above.
Look at the above image; are you not sick of these generic copy and paste designs yet?
I do personally know people who simply print tattoo designs off the net and use it as it is.
Does it not matter if someone else whom you may not want to have anything to do with is having the same design?
Gosh, I am thoroughly sick of mindless butterfly tattoos, especially on the shoulder.
Let's look at some more reasons to have a butterfly tattoo:

via http://hubpages.com/hub/Butterfly_Tattoo_Designs

"Butterfly tattoos are one of the more common tattoos among women. Butterflies can represent something pretty or something more meaningful.

Butterflies can symbolize various things depending on which culture you look at it.

In the Japanese culture, butterflies are seen as the personification of one's soul, whether it be living, dying, or dead. It is, also, thought that if a butterfly enters your guestroom and sits behind the bamboo screen, a person whom you love is coming to see you. But, at the same time, butterflies in large numbers are bad omens.

In the Russian culture, butterflies can represent a woman or grandmother.

In Greek, butterfly means 'soul.'

In China, 2 butterflies flying together is a symbol of love.

Butterflies can, also, symbolize:

Rebirth
Change in one's life
Luck
Freedom
Nervousness"

Nice, I would definitely choose 'Nervousness' as my reason to have a butterfly tattoo. Although I guess a spider would be more suited in local context for it.
GAN JIONG SPIDER MAH!

Anyhow, from a previous site which I have read and cannot remember the link now, the butterfly is also said to symbolise an attitude of not taking life seriously. Though I have heard too many times that 'a rose is just a rose', and one has every right to tattoo anything just because she/he likes it and is just getting a butterfly inked on impulse, I guess that works too. If you don't take life as seriously, I guess you won't take permanent body markings seriously either.

Oh, I do see a whole lot of galleries and e-books on butterfly tattoos online as well. It just shows how generic and iconic a butterfly tattoo is.

I now end this post with my favorite and seemingly pretty intelligent excuse:

via http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_a_butterfly_tattoo_symbolize

"In paintings, particularly Dutch Renaissance (sp?) butterflies stand for fleeting love (Jacques Louis David, Cupid and Psyche). "