Human canvas: the history and growing trend of tattoos

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Human canvas: the history and growing trend of tattoos
October 6, 2010
by Shenel Tariq
The Daily Titan

A koi fish lays among a pool of white lotuses where a heart marked with the letters R+J once was.

A snake slithers out of a socket of a skull haunted by past memories. A dead lover.

Then there are the butterflies, the doves and the Virgin Marys, bright and hopeful about the future.

Perhaps even a Guns N Roses logo.

This is not a music video on MTV, it’s a world of tattoos.

Joseph Nevadomsky, a Cal State Fullerton professor who specializes in anthropology, said that although tattoos have existed for centuries, two moments stand out in time.

The history of tattoos goes back to the beginning of the early man, the earliest evidence being found on a desiccated body decorated with tattoos near the Eastern Siberian land.

In 15th century Japan, tattooing was regarded as an honor; only novelty such as the Samurai used it. They would sell their bodies before they died so their skin could be displayed in museums.

‘Tatou,’ a Maori word meaning body marking, comes from the Polynesian people. For them, their facial tattoos represented their tribes, Nevadomsky said.

Captain James Cook and his voyage traveled from England to New Zealand and upon coming across these natives, cut off their heads to bring back as a sign of victory. From there, the sailors took the concept of tattoos over to the U.S.

Nevadomsky said tattooing has become a trademark of group identity and beauty, which is why it is one of society’s biggest trends.

Nevadomsky does not have any tattoos.

“The closest thing I have to a tattoo is scarring, a kind of magical marking, to ward off danger, to block anyone from harming me and to instill a sense of fear when people see me,” Nevadomsky said.

The difference between tattoos today than in the past is the symbolic connotation. Earlier, “cartoon tattoo art” was popular, especially amongst the sailors, who marked their bodies with their ranks.

Today, tattooing has taken the form of creative expression rather than just a status symbol. It has created a relationship between the artist and the client who work together to determine the art, Nevadomsky said.

“Tattooing, as all art, is an incredibly reflective process that can be very difficult to navigate psychologically,” said Adam Forman, a tattoo artist at High Voltage in West Hollywood.

The reason behind this is that tattooing is now being held to an artistic standard, rather than folk art. This also raises the stakes for tattoo artists in today’s competitive market, Forman said.

Regarding tattoo as a taboo subject Forman said, “They are surely not for everyone, nor should they be.”

Where Forman describes his first tattoo experience as a strange rite of passage, Kore Flatmo, a tattoo artist at PluraBella in Cincinnati, Ohio, has a different story.
Flatmo remembers lying face down on the floor of a filthy Hollywood apartment, while his friend, an amateur tattooist, carved into his back a horrid tattoo in a painful fashion.

Flatmo’s parents were unsupportive of him getting into the industry until they saw its positive effect on him. His evolution as a person – his ethics, honesty and productivity – convinced them otherwise.

For him, a tattoo doesn’t have to be perfect to be meaningful. Up to this day, his “worst” first tattoo is the one he treasures the most.

Eleanor Aikpaojie, a biomedical engineering student at UC Irvine, feels differently.

She has Arabic calligraphy crafted into the shape of a tiger, a tattoo that represents her personality.

“I think people these days get tattoos as a sign of their ability to withstand pain. Others, like me, get tattoos as a reminder of special things,” Aikpaojie said.

Tattoos have become a representation of the lives of the people who get them. Many get tattoos for fashion. But there are always those who tattoo themselves as a reminder of the lives they’ve had, and the lives they would like to live. While some use ink and paper to pen down their autobiography, others use paint and a needle to do the same. The only difference is the canvas.