Totem and Tattoo: stigmata of celebrity
bowdlerized, sanitized, and mundane as a strip-mall post-earring, tattoos have utterly lost their edge and rough-boy mystique
The ancient craft of tattooing was once thought to have arisen in the third-millennium, B.C., from which inked Egyptian female mummies were well known examples. However, the 1993, discovery of a tattooed “Iceman” pushed back the tradition 5,200 years (c. 3,400 B.C.) Later, according to Herodotus, Scythian and Thracian tattoos — or stigmata — as they were then called, were a sign of nobility, the absence of which was a sign of ‘low-birth.’ Tattoos were later used by the Greeks and Romans as either symbols of religious sects, or as a punitive measure, until they were banned by the emperor Constantine.
Both the Yakuza, since the 17th century, Maori, and other cultures are known for their tattooing traditions. Maori tattoos are done in the ancient manner of poking with a rose thorn or other painfully organic method. None of these cultures ever treated the art as fashion false-totem as we do today. A Maori chief might wear his facial tattoos as commemoration of great leadership, or slaying a lion with his bare hands, whereas a Yakuza gang member wears his body-suit with equally fierce pride.
There isn’t a lot of anecdotal evidence on my assumption, however, I daresay a Maori chief would be deeply offended by the fashion-tribal facial tattoos people like Mike Tyson wear, and millions of ‘tribal tattoo’ trend-followers, since the 1990’s. The Yakuza would likely be even less enthused at mock-bodysuits they come across. As a show of appreciation, one might just encounter a spear or ice-pick.
Many religions forbid the practice of tattooing — such as some Jewish sects — view tattooing as a transgression of the law forbidding the depiction of graven (objects of worship) images. Some Jews take this law very seriously — forbidding wearers from being interred in their cemeteries (hallowed ground). My father wasn’t a religious Jew, and was reasonable and generally unflappable, but when I showed him my first tattoo of a small penguin, he reeled and moaned such that I was certain he was having a stroke.
“I never showed him another, and shamefully always wore long sleeves when I was around him — I was worried if he saw more he might just up and drop. I am certain he’s rolling in his grave as I write this.
As a non-observant (assimilated and Atheist) Jew who admires Yiddish, I like to invoke the term for ‘birthmark’ or degraded tattoos as ‘schmutz,’ from the Middle High German ‘smuz’: to stain, and their wearers — schmuzim (it’s a neologism).
Tattoos become schmutz are likely patently defective in their prosecution. I.e., the use of four or five-needles for outline in lieu of single-needle outlines that only a skilled artist can control. The less adept the tattooist, the more needles he loads his gun with. Such marks merely degrade and become increasingly unintelligible, finally bearing a strong resemblance to a wastewater-green birthmark. The first tattoo machines used seven-needles.
Of course, in modern popular culture, tattoos are — for the most part — taken far less seriously, regardless of the wearer’s intentions that they be something more. That’s a factor of the mainstreaming and homogeneity of the commodity. A Maori chief wears his tattoos as badges of honor. He is ‘highly decorated’ in the estimation of his peers in the same sense that military heroes wear their mortar boards of ribbons for their heroics. Modern tattoos strip the symbolism of the idea of being meritocratic high-decoration and render it into a literal sense — a lot of decorations.
“If you really want street-credibility, get your face branded — but not at a strip-mall.
This distinction seems to confuse people, which is why we have people like Mike Tyson wearing Maori facial tattoos: people are confusing wearing decorations with being decorated. If Mike Tyson deserves Maori warrior status, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Maori warriors are hunters — not homicidal pugilists. Outside structures like the military, most people are never going to be decorated with totems of achievement, so they contrive to make their own — call it neo-symbolism.
The ready economy and easy convenience of obtaining a tattoo allows for any one (swinging-dick) with $100 to emblazon themselves with a totem(s) that they believe holds meaning, even if they are the only one who believes or wants to believe that. I suppose if you design your own symbol you can say assign any context to it, but not real-life context: we don’t put medals on our own chest. To quote Shakespeare, dress “in borrowed robes” — Macbeth.
But for most, tattoos don’t hold a lot of meaning. More likely, they were impetuous indiscretions obtained in a state of inebriation or similar lack of composure. Such is the long tradition (since the 1700’s) with sailor tattoos commemorating each port of call with such a branding. For this reason, parlors are even today ubiquitous at ports as they are now strip malls.
“That includes ubiquitous and sacred Sanskrit scrolls, popularized by actors like Angelina Jolie. In other words — nothing’s sacred.
Invariably, tattoos have their basis in ‘flash’ art, or the endlessly recycled images of birds, hearts, and skulls that line a tattooist ante-room. A given flash image may be sported by thousands of enthusiasts. As such, they have little or no street-credibility, unless they should be done by a master tattooist, but then master tattooists are mostly sought for custom work.
The tattooing industry is not so small a world as it once was, yet serious enthusiasts know who the masters are, and are prepared to pay a premium for their work. In the eighties, there was Spider Webb, Ed Hardy, Jonathan Shaw, to name a few. I have pieces from all of them, as well as a few throw aways from lesser artists. Yet there’s little consensus and lots of subjectivity about who are, or were, the best tattooists— for example, this focus-post mentions none of those well-known artists.
“If Mike Tyson get Maori warrior status for his face schmutz, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.
If one seeks deeper meaning, he or she contrives of a custom design, which may also be a repurposing of an image say of a CD jacket. I always wondered if these should be ‘recovered’ or monetized, as a factor of copyright infringement. One desires a custom tattoo to stand out from hoi polloi flash enthusiasts. It gives exclusive ownership to the bearer. Custom tattoos will command a higher fee, as they involve some rendering by the tattooist or an artist they hire.
Because most tattooists rely on reproducing (tracing and transferring images, they typically are not artists, and not to be trusted with custom work. Consider the loser who sued a tattooist for engraving the word “Villian,” on his body. He never would have noticed, had not a friend pointed it out. He later had it burned off. I consider that indiscretion a minor in light of more heinous transgressions.
“Getting a serious symbol tattoo is a Falstaffian gesture — Prestige sans merit.
Not to say there are not amazing and impressive tattoos being inked. Some are brilliant in their technical detail and coloring, but invariably are soulless, overdone artless frippery. That’s because most tattooists are not bona fide artists. If you want quality custom work you’re going to have to shell out some dough, and make several visits over time.
The placement of a tattoo is as discretionary as its subject matter. Hitherto, most tattooed women preferred to modestly wear a butterfly about the ankle, or heart at the nape of the neck. When well known actresses and models started collecting them an avenue of acceptance widened a growing cottage-industry of women with large swaths of tattoos adorning their arms and legs.
Another phenomenon or trend is what I call ‘millennial minimalism.’ A small and solitary star, cube, blotch, or otherwise deliberately understated symbol, for example, endeavors to make an esoteric statement that is rarely intelligible. The thinking that year was ‘less is more.’ A tiny symbol may be smaller in size, but perceived as equally dubious as any larger work. Or even more so, because of the smug satisfaction and elitism that goes with having a ‘secret symbol’ no one else has.
Skilled tattooists must understand how to follow the lines and curves of one’s musculature in relation to the work. If the work is not aligned it will look out of place, no matter how skillful the rendering. Many people fail to observe this subtlety, and never really consider the outcome. By the same token, if you have short, stubby, hobbit ankles (ossobuco), perhaps you should think before you go for that flower ankle bracelet.
Just the other day, I sat behind a thirty-something brachycephalic woman on my commuter train. Her hair was unceremoniously scrunched up to reveal a thickly outlined and faded hummingbird with its beak oriented in the general direction of her ear canal. I did not need to see that. Of equal indiscretion are mens’ calf tattoos — also known as ‘ham-hocks.’ Some are quite elaborate where only a simple “USDA prime” stamp might have sufficed. Fortunately, these are mostly noticed only in warm weather.
“Ossobuco is for ham-hocks, not for graven images.
Before this millennium and the subsequent mainstreaming of tattoos into pop culture, people were lot less tolerant of them. In fact, New York City outlawed them until 1997, and since then the DOH regulates the shops. Nowadays, images of both male and female clothes models are slathered with tattoos — the overwhelming majority of which are temporary. People see that and want to be like them.
Before we go, let’s have a little fun and see how readers feel
