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!
IVY!!!
ReplyDeletei found this super cool thing haha hope it helps!!
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2009/02/student-spotlight-juliann-miller.html
http://www.ineradicablestain.com/skin-guidelines.html
ReplyDeletethis is an interesting project. I like your idea of tattoos as an identity. This project named their participants "words". There is a whole new identity and "rules" linked to it which I found pretty poetic in their own sense. It becomes almost a personal thing. Read about it you'll know what I mean! Hahaha.
Oh and something about unable to choose the word you tattoo, it's like similar to something you're born with; unable to choose. But you did make your choice to own this identity. Food for thought.
hey ivy liiiii... this is HANGCHI! :D
ReplyDeleteyour post reminded me think of the movie 'tattooist'.
http://www.thetattooistmovie.com/home.htm
heres the website.
in the movie they show some tattooing tools and ancient methods of how a tattoo was done, and what is the tattoo for. when tattoo is linked to culture and myth, somehow it becomes so mysterious...theres so many things that we can find out from that tattoo.
nowadays, most of us neglect the history and stories behind the tattoo. because some people assumed that tattoo is just a symbol of being cool and different..
meow meow :D