Ok, this isn't my usual monolithic tattoo news review as I've been on the convention circuit for the past two weeks, but I wanted to share some things I found when I opened my eyes and Inbox this morn.
First, before I even reached for my first cup, The NY Times greeted me with the image above (by
Ashley Gilbertson) of the coffee knux tattoo in its article on the best cafes in NYC. And it reminded me of an old fave on KnuckleTattoos.com of such career killers wrapped around a cup of coffee. And then it made me long once more to tattoo my hands. And then I remembered that one day I may need to be employable once more. And then I also remembered that the Times article had nothing to do with tattoos, so I drank some coffee and moved on.
Then, my Inbox dinged with a real tattoo story: Daily Candy's front page profile today on the fabulous Amanda Wachob. And while the word "tats" and phrase "upgrade your tramp stamp" made coffee shoot out my nostrils in frustration, it is nice to see a great artist get some sweet props from the masses. We featured Amanda here last October and noted her experimental tattoo projects that got us hyped (sans caffeine). Here's a sample of Amanda's work below.
And finally, just before I was about to click publish on this post, I got a Facebook reminder that, tomorrow, Amelia Klem Osterud will discuss her book The Tattooed Lady: A History at Word bookstore in Brooklyn from 7:30-9PM. We featured the book here in November and I've devoured my copy since. As an added bonus, tattoo artists Bad News Becca and Emma of Porcupine Tattoo will be discussing their work.
So, that's the run down of tattoo goodness I found all before noon. A good omen for the day. [The mega-round up will be up soon. I hope.]
Tattoos on beautiful Olympic bodies were the biggest buzz this past week. The hottest one: USA speed skater J.R. Selski's chest piece (above) -- screen-capped around the world -- revealed as he took his shirt off after being disqualified in the men's 1000-meter short track speed skating on Sunday (he won the Bronze in the men's 1500-meter last week). Speculation over the meaning of the tattoo sped over Olympic blogs. Celski is of Filipino and Polish heritage and so talk of the tattoo being a blend of those countries' flags seems to hit the mark. [Thanks to Regin Schwaen for the link!]
Then there is Britain's ice dancing minx, Sinead Kerr, whose New Jersey license plate lower back tattoo was (ironically?) revealed during her performance to Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere." In 2005, she explained why she got the tattoo: "JP (the pair's longtime ballroom instructor, John Paul Deloose) said I should get one to remind me of my back so I would shake it more. He felt I wasn't sexy enough last season." And nothing says "sexy" like bad tribal.
The mini-Olympic rings tattoo on hockey player Julie Chu's foot stars in this NBC video -- a sweet story on how her whole family got matching tattoos in honor of her making the Olympic team. More on that tattoo here.
Chu's not the only tattooed hockey player on the US team. The identical Lamoureux sisters sport a family crest -- inked at their kitchen table by a local tattooer -- but on different body parts, which helps tell them apart.
And Bronze-medal winning snowboarder Scotty Lago shows off his tattoos (including faded lip work) and talks about more to come in this video.
Whether kitchen scratched, tramp-stamped or lip inked, the tattoos still mark bodies of those who can kick my butt as I type this sitting on my own big Greek one, so respect.
Ok, let's hit headlines in my own ring: the tattoo law links...
There's more news on South Carolina lowering the tattoo age requirement from 21 to 18 years of age. As I noted in a previous news review, much of the push to change the law comes from the inequity of allowing 18-year-olds to go to war but prohibiting them from marking their experience on skin when they return. That and of course money leaving the state as those under 21 go to Georgia or North Carolina to get tattooed. The Governor will decide whether the new bill changing tattoo requirements will be put into law. Keep in mind that the art was completely banned in the state until 2004, but it wasn't until March 2006 when regulations were in force for legal tattooing. [Oklahoma was the last state to lift their tattoo ban in May 2006.]
New York City's tattoo ban was lifted in 1997. Of course, many -- myself included -- were getting work pre-legalization, but once the signs were allowed to flash "Tattoo" neon in shop windows, the amount of tattooed bodies in the city made it like a Hieronymus Bosch painting, a garden of epidermal delights. Also delighting in the tattoo tidal wave has been law enforcement, melding old school skin art with technology to identify suspects -- as this popular NY Times article pointed out last week. We've talked about databases of criminal tattoos before but the article shows just how detailed -- and some argue invasive -- the Real Time Crime Center can be.
As this Orlando Sentinel article points out, the popularity of tattoos dilutes criminal tattoo identification because so many are getting inked with designs that once solely marked gang members.
And simply, so many are getting tattooed with flash designs. Will everyone with "Mom" on their bicep be a suspect because one idiot with that tattoo committed a crime? I'll be keeping a watch on the legality of these tattoo databases and whether they begin to truly impinge on civil liberties.
In pop culture and on its fringes, here are the tattoo headlines ...
Tattoo tributes to Renee Benson, a 29-year-old Orange County native who died of several forms of cancer, marked over 50 of her friends and family last week during a fundraiser at HB Tattoo in her honor. [More than $2,500 was raised for Benson's family to help cover medical costs.] Warning: the photos will hit you.
Today is President's Day in the US, a day to honor Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, and most of us do so by spending bills emblazoned with their portraits in the big sales going on. And then there are those like DeShawn Stevenson of the NBA's Wizards who just take it a little too far. [I'd prefer the Benjamins.]
But despite the large image I stole above, today's news review ain't about bad baller tattoos. It's largely about insanity like tattooing babies, magic Buddhist ink, augmented reality tattoos and more. Let's get to it...
The most horrific is the news about an Ohio man who tattooed a one-year-old baby. Yes, a baby. The mother was visiting his home, and in some inexplicable moment, he tattooed a dime-sized letter "A" on the baby's buttocks.
"A city-by-city survey of tattoo shop listings bears out Portland's
standing. San Francisco has a population of about 808,000 and 70 tattoo
shops listed in its Yellow Pages. Portland's population is 580,000 and
it has 73 shops. Seattle has only 40 shops and Phoenix 36. Los Angeles
lists 167 shops, but its population of 9.8 million is more than 10
times that of Portland. On a per-capita basis, Portland has far and
away more tattoo shops than any major city in the country."
Even USA Today is getting in on the art's popularity with their new Tattoo Tuesday column where readers share their tattoo stories.
That's not to say that visible tattoo bans at work will all go away any time soon. We've talked at length about dress codes and tattoos
for military, police, firemen, and other public workers in the US but
it's an issue discussed around the world. Recently, in Denmark, prison
guards were told that "visible 'biker gang type' tattoos on the hands,
arms, neck and head are in this way not desirable." The problem is that
officials have not defined what exactly is a "biker tattoo" and how new
tattoo guidelines would be implemented.
And in Australia, Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard decried the country's "raunch culture," saying that many heavily tattooed women were "making a mistake." She added: "I worry for them. How they're going to feel about it in the future." Well, Gillard should worry about her own political future in underestimating tattooed women as active voters. In many countries, politicians feel they can get away with such statements because they assume our anarchic lifestyles and rampant drug use keep us from the polls. We'll continue to prove them wrong.
In the magical and "augmented reality" front of tattooing ...
Buddhist tattoos are gaining popularity in Singapore, not just for their beauty, but for what some believe are their mystical powers. At least that's what a sales rep from a company
specializing in Sak Yant tattooing says. Speaking to the press at the Singapore Tattoo Convention, he added: "Sak yant is now widely embraced by the general population because of people's need for a form of spiritual support, aided by the social acceptance of tattoos."
Finally, the magic of having animated characters come to life on your skin has been created by Think an App in Buenos Aires. Geeky Gadgets explains: "The software
technology recognizes AR bar codes on curved surfaces, the tattoo looks like a very simple and boring square until viewed through a camera." Here's video of it below:
And with that I'll leave you to enjoy your own wild reality.
Beautiful walking works of tattoo art, like ya fine selves, are becoming a tattoo majority, and yet, those who pollute the tattoo gene pool make the big headlines. Sheesh. It wasn't a pretty week for tattoo folk in the news thanks to rabid sports fans, Nazis, and of course, Stephen Baldwin.
Let's begin our review with the burning post-Super Bowl question: What's the ColtsSkinDeep dude feeling like this morning, and will all those autograph tattoos be covered by better memories of yesterday like Betty White/Abe Vigoda portraits or the tattooedstitched-up Sock Monkey?
Indeed, sports tattoos are generally not credited in the evolution of fine art tattooing, but at least they don't further stigmatize the tattooed as criminals like these jackasses:
A Nazi firebombed a tattoo studio
in Monterey because they refused his tattoo request: a
swastika and an image of President Obama overlaid with crosshairs. He
faces seven years in prison for this and another torching.
An upstate NY tattooist was arrested after being found via his social network posts; cops further punked him by leaving this note on his Facebook wall: "Just a quick thank you for giving us your current employer's
name and address. Without the help from you and your friends, your
arrest would not have been possible. Special thanks for the excellent
photos you provided for the U.S. Marshals. Without the help of
criminals such as yourself, our job would be much more difficult."
Yet another criminal, this one with a tattoo that reads "Why Try" across his head, is astounded that he was identified (and arrested) for choking a 72-year-old man in a carjacking.
Beyond the criminals, tattoo stereotypes will remain as long as people with bad taste continue to get them. You'd think a bastardized Ed Hardy design tee would be enough, but some need to take their gift of gauche to the next level.
Such mistakes can be left behind when we pass -- an upside of death! -- but not for some who wish to enshrine their decorated skin, or at least try to like this dude:
A New Zealand man requested his tattoos be preserved upon his death but because the guy who handles this stuff was on vacation, the body was cremated instead, tattooed skin and all. The family is considering suit over the lost tattoo collection, which includes a Playboy bunny, Aries and Taurus signs, and a DB Export beer logo -- tattoos fiercely mocked by someone other than myself.
The Super Bowl starts in a few hours but for these two fans, the winner has already been declared, at least on their skin. Check out the tattoo video above of Mr. No.1 Saints Fan complete with manly George Michael soundtrack, plastic cups of booze, and (we're assuming off-camera) monster truck. The "Who Dat" above the Saints' logo also scores big.
More "artsy" is the ColtsSkinDeep Dude below who not only has the Colts logo meshed with blue faux-muscle ripping out of his calves (ala 1991 Cherry Creek Flash), but also autograph tattoos of the players and coaches smattered about his bod. No iconic gay music in that vid. The father-son thing is cute although part of me thought that exposing a child to such bad tattoos at a young age could warrant a call to Child Services.
We'll see whose championship tattoo is justified and who has to make a laser appointment. But when it comes to sports fan tattoos like these, aren't they all winners? Really. Go team?
This edition of tattoo news review breaks the headlines down into The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly. Let's start off with the latter:
The Ugly
The most popular story emailed by many of you is one of those that makes us feel just a bit better about ourselves as we point and laugh at others. Behold: Misspelled tattoo tradgedy tragedies on Huff Po.
"I think the worst thing you have going, though, is the lips on the
neck. I understand that they're supposed to be your girlfriend's lips.
That doesn't make the situation any better. Your girlfriend is Trina.
That, in itself, shows questionable judgment. You've linked up with a
woman who's best known for writing a song about not wearing any
panties. I'm sorry man, but Betty Draper she ain't. In fact, she's not
even Betty Rubble. On top of that, you're marking yourself as whipped. You might as
well go ahead and tattoo 'My girl owns my ass' across your throat...."
[Look, I'm really a people person. A lover of humanity. I only link the cattiness, not meow it myself. Mostly.]
The Bad
A while back I posted about the arrest of a dirtbag who gave his 7-year-old son a gang tattoo. Now he's facing even tougher punishment for the crime: possible life in prison.
A Boston child goes to get a temp tattoo from a vending machine and instead gets a hateful political message. Will this scar her against body art for life?
The Good
Those wishing to leave gang life -- and their tattoos -- can get free laser removal by Las Vegas doctor, Dr. Julio Garcia. There are similar offers around the country like Dr. Dave's Fresh Start program.
To honor the
"Greensboro Four," local tattoo artists at Golden Spiral Tattoo are offering free tattoos today
of the logo that depicts the four men sitting around a cup of coffee on
a saucer. Check this video above showing a client getting the tattoo
and why.
Got your tattoo headlines right here, from convention coverage to tattoo law to a study that says we're all a bunch of "deviants." So consider this the freak edition of the Tattoo News Review and enjoy the sideshow.
Yesterday, Father Panik gave us his own (special brand of) review of the Star of Texas tattoo convention in Austin, but he wasn't the only one offering reportage of the event. Austin 360 gave a play-by-play (and a small lame sideshow), while TV stations KRQE and Fox Austin posted short videos online of the show. I dig these photos and quick videos because they offer a look at the scene, which helps decide what will be on my convention schedule next year.
With thousands attending these conventions worldwide -- and the media chasing after us -- you'd think that the debate whether "tattoos have gone mainstream" was thoroughly squashed, but a new study says otherwise.
Texas Tech University's "Body Art Team" [real name] has found "The more body art you have, the more likely you are to be involved in deviance," according to the Chicago Tribune. The swat Body Art Team surveyed 1,753 students at four colleges and reported that the heavily tattooed and pierced drank more, did drugs more, had sex more and cheated in class more. [They add, "For low-level body art, these kids are not any different from anybody else."]
NBC news in Dallas also reported on the study and gave this reasoning behind the results:
"Because tattoos and piercings are so common, the
researchers wondered if people who saw body art as more of a subculture
would turn to deviant behavior to show they weren't part of mainstream
culture. After
all, just having tattoos isn't particularly rebellious anymore.
Research suggests nearly one in four people have a tattoo somewhere on
their body."
To see what tattooed people think about the study, NBC went to a local studio and talked to artists and clients -- who, as expected, laughed at it. Watch their video report below:
The study is somewhat silly in its over-generalization and limited study group: How many of us drank, smoked and fucked more in college? A lot.
But yes, we've seen more young people heavily tattooed and modified in more extreme ways than just a decade ago. I wonder, though, if it's because of a need to rebel or simply because there is greater access to tattoos and mod procedures. Feel free to weigh in in the comments section.
If anyone is pissed off about the popularity of tattoos, it's Helen Mirren, who got her hand tattoo while drunk and lookin' to be baaaad.
The Marine Corps are also concerned about heavily tattooed (deviant?) soldiers saying that "tattoos of an
excessive nature do not represent our traditional values." Values like Shock & Awe?A new Marine Corps reg tightens and clarifies tattoo policies for active-duty troops; most notably, it "prohibits enlisted Marines with sleeve tattoos from becoming
commissioned officers, even if the tattoos, which were banned in 2007,
had been grandfathered in according to protocol." I know this is wacky but I have no problem with our military lookin' badass tough.
Real deviants will soon be less likely to get tattooed with new technology that matches tattoos to criminal records. The newest development called "Tattoo ID" helps law enforcement match up tattoos to suspects and victims. For example, the Boston Herald says that "a security camera image of a suspect's tattoo could be checked against
an image databank to come up with a short list of suspects." Problem here is that we assume most criminals have artistic acumen for fine art custom tattoos. What about those who picked off some flash from a tattoo shop wall along with tons of other clients? Internet-industry journal IEEE Spectrum asks, "Is a tattoo ... enough of a unique identifier to put someone under suspicion?" A valid question to explore before innocent tattooed people are accused.
In more on the tattoo law front ...
A new tattoo bill in Florida will prohinit those 16 and under from getting tattooed even with parental permission. [Teenagers 16 or 17 years old would still need a parent to
sign for them.] The bill also requires every tattoo artist in Panama City to register with the Florida Department of Health.
In South Carolina, however, tattoo rules are being eased. The state's tough tattoo law requires parental consent for tattoos on those aged under 20 years of age, but that restriction will be lifted if a state House bill passes and the Governor signs off on it. An impetus for the change is soldiers under 20 returning to South Carolina after tours in Iraq and Afghanistan who want to get tattooed but can't -- they're allowed to be shot at but not tattooed.
"In the late summer of '08, I took my Lostlove to the next
level by getting a Dharma tattoo inked onto my ankle. Since my good pal
had recently started working at small parlor nearby, we decided to
collaborate. I had been wanting to experiment with iridescent ink. My
pal had never worked with the stuff, so we struck a deal: I would be
his guinea pig if he would spring for the ink.
If you've never
heard of it, iridescent ink is a dye that glows under a black light.
The tough thing about tattooing with it is that you have to illuminate
the surface of the skin just to see what you're doing.
The
Dharma logo seemed perfect for this technique, with a thick,
recognizable shape....We decided to use the Looking Glass Station's
logo -- a white rabbit inside of the Dharma shape -- a reference to Alice in Wonderland, and the (site) of my favorite Lost episode, the Season 3 finale."
In clear tattoo view, a Baton Rouge man tempts fate with a "Saints Superbowl Champion" tattoo even before this past Sunday's game. Thankfully, they at least made it to the Super Bowl.
Worst press release ever. "Tattoo body art is not only a kind of body art but a great way of
advertising your business and products as tattoo advertising has many
merits compared to other ways of advertising."
Today, we celebrate the life and works of Martin Luther King Jr., a man described as a "human rights icon." Some, however, choose to honor him every day with tribute tattoos, and those are the people I'd like to feature today; people who tattoo themselves with inspirational figures, instead of, say, Old Dirty Bastard or Gwen Stefani (sadly I found more tattoos of them than MLK).
The tattoo above is by Watson Atkinson on musician Killick Hinds who was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. to have the word "Colorblind" tattooed on his chest. Here's his story behind it:
"The design was a collaboration between me, my wife Delene, and the
brilliant tattoo artist Watson Atkinson. This
particular section of my huge tattoo project was done in Atlanta in
2007. Watson is currently at Blndsght Tattoo in Portland, Maine.
A favorite ritual upon moving to Athens, Georgia in 1995 was listening to local college station WUOG every Sunday morning for Dr. Martin Luther King Speaks. I was entranced and elevated by MLK's rich melodic tenor, his message of reconciliation, peace, and societal improvement. His encouragement to awaken the slumbering beast of universal brother and sisterhood helped in my releasing that which can't stand the light of day. I felt gratitude to be living in Georgia, in the heart of this sweeping and long overdue change. Some years on I began my tattooing and wanted a strong central anchor. My chest seemed a good place to highlight my hope for a world where we are all accorded without prejudice. The word "colorblind" is written backwards to highlight a graphic sense, and to recognize that words are only surface symbols pointing to something deeper. It's framed by 3's or E's, depending on your vantage. "33" is known as the age of wisdom and a nice entry into focused meditation. "EE" stands for "embrace extemporaneity," my unofficial improviser's motto. I'm also slightly red-green colorblind, and my father was completely colorblind, so I come by it honest. But the motivation was not to advertise my visual acuity or lack thereof, rather to celebrate the everyday work-in-progress of relating to one another."
Larger views of Killick's tattoo are here and here.
Other beautiful MLK tattoos include this one below by Jason Grace (currently having a non-tattoo adventure in South America) and these portraits by Joshua Carlton and Mike Demasi.
In addition to the Miss Tattoo Australia photo gallery, the Courier Mail has an article on the "fast-growing female tattoo culture" in Australia. The article also mentions the Surf 'n' Ink tattoo convention on the Gold Coast taking place this weekend.
For more Miss Tattoo Asia photos, check Klik TV. Klik also shot plenty of tattoo photos from the Singapore Tattoo Convention that were not only of half-naked women (like the one shown right) -- best viewed on their Flickr page. They posted additional photos on their site in contest format where you can vote for your favorite tattooed person.
Getting back to the fore-mothers of today's painted ladies...
Read this article on Sarawak women whose tattoos once marked status and beauty, but today, are rarely seen except on the elderly. Reviving Filipino tattoo traditions are the Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon Tribe. Last year, members traveled to the Kalinga mountains for the Kalinga Batok (tattoo festival) and had a chance to tattoo and be tattooed by local elders, including 89-year-old tattooist Whang Od. Read more (and see photos) about that festival in this great article by Lars Krutak. [The Revival chapter in my Black Tattoo Art book also features the Tribe and traditional Filipino tattooing.]
Tattoos for beauty and status can be found in Chanel's upcoming line of trompe-l'œil temporary tattoos shown during their Spring-Summer 2010 fashion show. The transfer will go for about $75 US (50 Euros) at Chanel stores and high-end boutiques beginning March 1st. Fashion divas Susanh Breslin and Samantha of the fabulous Haute Macabre sent me the Chanel links, and we all agreed to reserve judgment until we saw them in person, but as I told Sam, I think transfer tattoos are perfect for people who really shouldn't get tattoos (like the guy at the gym with the armband that only goes half-way around his bicep who thinks we both have something in common). At $75 a pop though, it's still a commitment, financially.
For more faux tattoos in fashion and home decor, check NBC San Diego's Imitation Ink gallery.
I've given you the pretty links, now time for the quick-n-dirty:
And finally, just before I was about to click publish on this post, I got a Facebook reminder that, tomorrow, Amelia Klem Osterud will discuss her book The Tattooed Lady: A History at Word bookstore in Brooklyn from 7:30-9PM. We featured the book here in November and I've devoured my copy since. As an added bonus, tattoo artists Bad News Becca and Emma of Porcupine Tattoo will be discussing their work.
