This weekend, in Las Vegas, the aptly named: The Biggest Tattoo Show On Earth takes place, featuring the household names of tattoo artists, such as Mike DeVries and Bob Tyrell, legends in their field. The festival celebrates the modern practice of tattoo art, giving artists the opportunity to demonstrate their skills to the tattoo-loving people of this world.
The tattoo has certainly become a more popular addition to the world we live in. Dating back almost 5000 years, it is perhaps remarkable that its popularity is only beginning to come to the fore now. Formerly used for religious or social division purposes, the tattoo has now become something that many people employ for a variety of other reasons. There are emotional motives; for example, having a loved one’s name tattooed into your skin or perhaps a particularly poignant lyric of a song; artistic motives and, of course, the idea that a tattoo will look ‘cool’.
The tattoo could be argued as something that demonstrates confidence and self-belief; to be unashamed to walk around with an image or words etched into the skin must surely take a lot of courage. Conversely, I would suggest that it is a sign of insecurity; for people who have maybe struggled to stand out in a crowd, a tattoo offers them the chance to be different and possibly more noticeable. One could argue that tattoos can depict beauty and indeed, plenty of people do have remarkable images on their bodies. I would argue that these tattoos often may hide insecurities and are used, perhaps vainly, to draw attention away from their other features.
The main problem with tattoos in our society is that our stereotypical view of tattoos is outdated; most people are not aware of the magnificent body art that can be created. For many, the images that spring to mind are those of bikers and criminals, with hardened outer shells and bulging muscles. Another image could be the idea of the ‘tramp stamp’, a tattoo etched onto the lower back, often depicting an animal or some East Asian symbols. This tattoo intrigues me particularly; why have something tattooed onto your body that you can’t even see? It seems ludicrous to me, especially as the majority of people with foreign symbols don’t actually know their meaning, they just believe what the tattoo artist tells them. Similarly, if these words or symbols have such a strong meaning that you are willing to have them on your skin for the rest of your life, why not just put them on a wall in your home or, at the very least, have them tattooed where you can see them.
The tattoo is certainly expressive, can be artistic and indeed beautiful. But for me, the tattoo remains a vulgar, eternal stamp of insecurity and vanity.
