There is a thread at the FL discussing tattoos and how they fit into vintage culture. And there seems to be two camps- one that think ink is iconiclly vintage and one that thinks it's iconically awful. I guess that applies to most non-vintage folk as well. You either love 'em or you hate 'em. I'm a member of that former camp- I adore tattoos, especially mine!
What I don't care for is the idea that your tattoos need to mean something, that there has to be something deeper for you to justify having one. I don't enjoy when people ask me what mine mean- sometimes I just want to say "It's pretty. That's enough." To me, they are in the very literal sense skin deep and trying to always attach great meaning to the superficial is silly.
Regardless, I am a fan of tattoos. One of my most brilliant ideas for a Halloween costume was Betty Broadbent, the original tattooed vamp in the 1920s. It turned out beautifully, except trying to remove all those temporary tattoos the next day. Uf!
And all this discussing as got me itching for another. I haven't got the money at the moment but I have the idea- a matryoshka doll for my left calf. I have a bit of an infatuation with Russian culture and like the idea of a matryoshka shaping up my unshapely legs. I'd like to stick with green or maybe purple. And I know I want the face to be the flapper style from the exhibit in LA's Plummer Park.
Please excuse the watermark on the following photo- stupid vectors.
I think I would put myself in the third camp anyway :-) Neither for, nor against, or perhaps better both for, and against—depending on who has what tattoo where & for what reason…!
ReplyDeleteBasically, I agree with your aesthetic approach. I either like the sight, or I don’t. For example the tattoo on your shoulder is beautiful. In my eyes. Does it signify? Poetically, it certainly does…! Does it have a deeper meaning? Well, it’s form certainly invokes traditional genres with a ’deep’—sometimes even nostalgic—structure. Mottos. Epitaphs. Proverbs. Memorabilia.
I know infinitely little about tattoos. In my lay perception, however, they are historically associated with e.g. religious rites de passage, magical transformations, initiations, markers of social status, stigmatization of outlaws, criminals & camp prisoners. And a lot of other things that are also full of ’deep’ meaning.
Could this explain why so many people often 1) look for the deeper meaning, 2) split into being either disgusted or enthusiastic…?
Thanks for the mini-education. That's a very nice Russian design.
ReplyDeleteI guess I follow under the "for" tattoos...I'm just anti tramp stamps, nautical stars or old english. Otherwise, have at it!
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