Sanctuary Tattoo

I really enjoyed seeing my friends tattoos during the presentation of the artists that work at sanctuary tattoo, i knew a lot of the people that had work done at sanctuary and actually photographed one of the young men for my senior thesis, here are those photographs:

Design a Scarification pattern

This is a design of a sparrow that i really enjoy, i don't think i would ever get scarification done, but i think that the design of a bird would look interesting if i were to get one.

Transgender

I could not imagine how difficult it is to have to deal with not feeling like you are a woman or a man, and not being in the body that you feel comfortable in, I grew up always knowing that i felt like a girl and would do "girly" things, and i have always liked skirts dressed and makeup and getting my hair done, or my nails done. The article about the man in Maine becoming a woman was very strange to me because i could not even imagine what taking those hormones would do to you emotionally and how confusing it would be to make that transition but at the same time knowing thats who you really are.

Scarification and Piercing

When i was younger i never went through the phase of really wanting piercings, i have always been interested in tattoos though. The only place on my body that is pierced are my ears, and i did not get that until i was thirteen. The most entertaining part of the reading is when the daughter is persuading her mother for a tongue piercing by cleaning up her room and taking down posters, i would have not gotten anything with that kind of attitude, it just shows that when you're younger you follow the crowd. My sister is now pregnant and had her belly button pierced and has a stretched out scar where the hole used to be and she regrets it. I went through a phase where i wanted to gauge my ears as well, but i did not go through with it because my ears are too sensitive and would not heal correctly.

This is me if I had a nose piercing:

Creating a 1950's Hair Style

This is my attempt at re-creating a 1950's hair style on myself, and all of the steps that go into it.

Hair Curlers:



Finger Waves:



So far, I can't believe women would do this and so much more to get ready every day. I dont think i would ever take this much time to just prepare my hair for the next day. All night i was uncomfortable, i don't think sleeping in pin curls and curlers would be tolerable for me at all, i don't know if it could ever be comfortable.

The Final Hair Style:

50's style Hair, The Old World of Hair

This article was the most interesting to me, because i can relate it to my own life. I grew up all around hair salons and hair stylists because that is my mothers profession. I have always had a hair salon in the house i grew up in and had the smell of perms and hair spray throughout the house. The most interesting part of this article is when they were talking about the hair stylist Adler, ["Adler liked to trumpet his abilities. he called himself "a sculptor of the head" as he liked to put it. From time to time he would also call himself a psychoanalyst. One visit to his salon, Adler claimed, was worth six trips to the shrink."] The things that my mothers clients will tell her is almost like she is a psychologist and she often feels worn down after a particularly troubled client. The other side of this article that was interesting is the complete disdain for embracing or respecting femininity, and how men wanted to strip it all away like the plague.

Prototype for Erika's tattoo

Erikas existing tattoo is a cherry blossom with a magpie bird on it, it is in a Japanese style inspired from an actual woodblock print. She wanted something representing photography and the origin of motion photography because she is a photographer as well, so we looked on the library of congress website at old zoetrope illustrations inspired by Eadweard Muybridge.

Designing a Tattoo

The image for designing a tattoo for a client

Maori

The most interesting part of the Maori culture for me is the quote at the end of the reading, when they talk about a Maori saying "You may be robbed of all of your most prized possessions; but of your moko you can not be deprived" This is triking to me because it is the pinnacle of body art having a deep rooted meaning, that markings can be so entwined into your history that they represent your very soul and man or womanhood. When women were asked why they have their markings they simply reply "because it is the Maori way".


Tahitian root tatau (to inflict wounds)

How I view me, How Others view me.

I feel like this photograph shows both sides of how other people view me and how i view myself. Right now i am doing portraiture in my studio practice and for my thesis project. I feel like others don't see me as a very modified or decorated body, and i also hide that part of myself, only showing that side of myself to a select few, since my tattoo is on my ribs.

Mapping the Body

The newest modification to my body:



The decision to get a tattoo was just this year, but i have had many small accidents and modifications through out childhood and my teenage years that prove i am quite clumsy.

Rock Climbing in High school:


A Mosh Pit this past summer (2009) ...not wearing shoes.


I have fallen more times then i can count, i used to trail run and cross country run in high school, its not visible in this picture but there are small scars and discolorations in my knees:


And my ears were pierced in middle school, my mom finally let me and i was finally mature enough to take care of healing them:

Body Painting

Man Makeup

I found that it was really strange that Korean women are taught how to wear makeup i high school, it seems like such a personal thing that is usually between a mom and her daughter. It is also surprising to me that men wear makeup at all, at least not straight men. I know that it is a generalization but the men that i gre up around were always very traditional in their "manly activities" and jobs. My dad and other men in my family wouldnt think twice to wear makeup or enhance their "beauty" in any way, other then shaving and getting a haircut. But i do have male friends that work at makeup stores such as MAC and they can pull off eyeliner and makeup better then i can usually.




Jennifer Moore

I think that the idea for painting tyour body to represent a new stage in your life, a new readiness and way to represent that is very interesting as well as transformative tattoos for scars and operations are a very helpful and physical way to mentally heal from some kind of trauma. Also Moores love for Art Nouveau tattoos is something i share as well.


Peking Opera Make-up of China

I think that the colors used to represent what a demon is and what a hero or good person is is interesting, the blue and green signify demons and the red and black colors signify heros, this just shows the differences in meanings of colors and markings in cultures. But it is interesting to see how theatrical makeup is worn for other cultures plays and representations for gods and goddesses.

Response to Arnold Rubin & Enid Schildkrout

Marks of Civilization

Nearly every culture in history has manipulated the body to represent their way of life and to enhance certain aspects of what is attractive in their culture. They have also used the same kinds of modification such as tattooing, piercing, scarification and body painting as a way of punishment, signs of fertility and sexual lure, manhood, war, and many many more reasons. Rubin is stating that these generalizations are arbitrary and superficial, so he gathered a series of case studies on specific ideas and examples in certain cultures.

The tattoo styles that i looked into and thought were the most interesting of the cultures that were mentioned in this reading were the Polynesian and Japanese traditional styles.



Inscribing the Body


I found that talking about the body as a canvas was a great way to view why cultures modify and decorate their body. The section of this reading that i found the most interesting was The Ambivalence of Inscribed Skin, it talks about before the civil war when slaves would be inscribed with marks from their owners and the scars from beatings and accidents. Usually tattooing is seen as an intentional action, but for some points in history and in other cultures it is viewed as a punishment, a constant physical reminder to break down a person's humanity. The same with Nazi concentration camp markings and the same for slave owners in Roman and Greek history.