Tattoos: Art or Trash?

The bright, bold colours look fantastic against her pale skin. A perfect example of unique tattooing that really takes skill to do. Image from a Deviant Art contest.

There’s a bit of pessimism surrounding tattoos-“They’re permanent, you’ll regret it. You will hate it in a couple of years, it’ll look horrible when you’re older’ and the ever famous ‘You won’t be able to  get a job’.

My Mum is a perfect example of someone against tattoos, I truly believe it’s solely because of her generation she grew up with: Strict curfews, no radical clothing or piercings, and only gang members, tarts and old sailors had tattoos. The tattoos that those types of people would have sported, would have often been home jobs and therefore often ‘bleed’ (when they tattoo smudges and the lines run together) and fade over time.

" 'Is tattooing painful?' 'It's never a dull moment. 'Are some people sorry after they get them?' The usually get too attached to them".-Carol Nightingale, 'The Tattoo Baron', 1979.

They were often tattoos of pin-up type girls, quotes, or their special someones name.

Skin head gangs of Australia, London and gangs of NZ very often get their gang slogan, name or logo tattooed across various places of their body-quite often, unfortunately, their faces.

Oi Oi Oi! This London skinhead might not be someone you would take home for tea with Gran. 

This amazing photo from jezblog.com

Then there’s the tattoos that just scream trash, the ones that tattoo artists have books and books of, the ones that you see replicated on other people, the ones you would label ‘tramp stamps’.

It’s the star signs, the cupids, the hearts, the jumping dolphins, the crosses, the burning hearts, the chubby pin-up girls the list goes ON AND ON. Oh, I forgot my favourite pet peeve. The official tramp stamp-the tribal tattoos on the lower back for girls, or the forearm for guys, tattooed on people who most definitely don’t know what the heck it means. To me, that just screams cheap.

"In the modern West, tattooing has become the place where art meets taboo and where sophistication and primitivism collide."-Andy Cooper

Now, I must admit I do actually have a tattoo on my back (hypocrite?) BUT, it’s not tribal, I know exactly what it means, and best of all, It’s custom designed for me. I repeat, DESIGNED, it is actually art that the tattoo ARTIST designed for me.

As you can see, I do understand my Mum’s negativity towards some tattoos, but I am more open and warming towards tattooing as an art, and in a lot of cases in Japan and the Polynesian islands predominantly, a form of tradition.

A traditional Maori 'moko', a facial tattoo that both men and women would have. The design of Polynesian tattoos was similar to the Maori one, except they got them on different body parts. Samoa: Inner thigh and buttocks, Tonga: the anus, Marquesas the eyelids.Image from National Geographic

And as I recently found out, so is my Mum. I overheard her saying to her friend “well, it is actually quite a nice tattoo..” I guess she was just stuck with the idea of the older style tattoos that she was exposed to when she was my age.

So what is tattooing as a tradition?

Why do they do it?

What does it symbolise?

In Polynesian tattooing they believed they were hammering the philosiphy and beliefs of the entire tribe into the person recieving the tattoo.

It woudl often require 2 or 3 people holding down the person recieving the tattoo, because it was such an excrutiating experince, that would often lead to infection and death.

These traditional tattoos often represented death of a loved one, and sometimes if warriors were defeated in battle they would taken prisoner and then beaten and tattooed on their tongue and eyelids. 

Polynesian tattooing does not not traditionally use electronic machinery, but little chisels. This tradition is still popular today, but hygiene standards have obviously improved.Image from Moorea Tattoo in Polynesia.

It’s only really been in the last 10 years or so, that tattooing has been seen more as an art form and therefore more accepting in society.

I believe it’s because people have more freedom, and with my generation, because we have more of a voice and a independent view and attitude towards society. We are our own selves, expressing that in whichever way we see fit.

But of course, there will always be scepticism surrounding tattoos, they ARE permanent, and even though extremely talented tattoo artists are available to provide you with masterpieces of ink- there will always be the cheap, trashy tattoos also available, and people will still choose to get those kind of tattoos.

Tattooing these days, often adopts styles of tattoos from traditional styles.

A good example of this, is the Japanese style tattoos.

Tattoo artists emulate this bold, contrasting style and give it their own personal twist.

Some tattoo artists specialise in this and make it their signature style.

This detailed, vibrant tatoo has emulated the classic style of Japanese koi fish and water, but given it a modern twist with the bright frogs and pink lotus flowers.Image from tattoo-show.com

I think another idea for tattooing which I was very appealing, is designing your own tattoo.

Getting your own style of illustration or artwork tattooed on you not only means it will it mean something to you, you can guarantee you will be the only person who has it.

I do believe that tattoos can enhance, or hinder, someone though.

A beautiful tattoo in the right place can look stunning, but a tattoo in the wrong place can look awkward and often too exposed.

New Zealand's own Rose Hardy, who works at Sacred Tattoo on K Road, Auckland really perfects girls faces and shows emotion and elegance to her stunning work. 

Tattooing can be an art form, a tradition and a way of culture, but it can also be a way of life-almost like a community, or family as such.

Just as people have religion, gangs, or car clubs, having tattooing in common can form a communities. 

They often have similar taste in music, political views, and values.

A stunning back piece on a pin-up girl from Suicide Girls

Some good examples of this are the modern day alternative pin-up girls-Suicide Girls.

Began in 2001 by founder and creater Missy Suicide, Suicide Girl's has grown to a world wide community of edgy, alternative gorgeous girls who create stunning pin up photograhy to feature on the Suicide Girl's website.

The girls are often inked up, pierced, hair coloured etc.

But they all share one thing-a real sense of closeness with other and are very much like a family.

Tattooing has changed from my Mum’s hey-day, and I believe for the better.

It’s more accepted, more common and (thank God!) more of an art form.

Not such a great tattoo...

There will always be negativity towards it.

People will always have different opinions about topics, which of course, like tattooing, moulds who we are.

But I want to know what you think?

Have you seen any horrific tattoos?

Or (gulp.) do you have one that you regret?

Or better yet, have you seen one that is a true art form?

Ref: Wroblewski, C (2004). Skin Shows The Tattoo Bible United Kingdom, Collins & Brown.