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The Arts in New York City » Blog Archive » A man without tattoos is invisible to the Gods - Iban Proverb.

A man without tattoos is invisible to the Gods - Iban Proverb.

    People strive to be recognized, to be seen, and to be appreciated. Something is in our blood that makes us want to be a part of a greater power or movement.  Through an outer skin marking can one gain access to a place in the world?  To a spot in the next world, the place of an afterlife?  Are permanent tattoos tickets to greater happiness later?  Is the tattoo a “painting” of sorts or are we giving it more significance than it deserves? Perhaps tattoos are no more than tribal patterns and designs; tattoos changing as time goes by.
The permanent distraction that tattoos create is in many ways irreversible.  Facial markings draw the eye away from the expected towards a feeling of insecurity. Perhaps one shouldn’t be staring?  Yet this disfigurement was a conscious decision, one the tattooed could think about, not a result of a genetic malfunction.  In fact tattoos blur the line between deformity and decoration.  Perhaps a large part of the beauty of tattoos is in their wretchedness.  The concept of engraving in skin is not a pleasant idea, let alone an encouragement.  Yet tattoos are and have been consistently created throughout the history of time, making their repulsion perhaps negligible.  Perhaps tattoos are important because they are constantly being made.  Tattooed people span the barriers of sex, race, and age making tattoos a phenomenon ignorant of a specific culture.
After seeing so many different types and styles of tattoos it is easy to find that there is no consistency except ink and skin.  Yet the origins of tattoos helps one to understand the metamorphosis of tattoo art over time.  Perhaps by recognizing the culture spanning power of tattoos, their purposes can also be allowed to be as diverse as the people that get them.  However the idea that a tattoo could be the ticket into a better next life or of just recognition sticks in my mind.  In some countries tattoos are self made skin carvings of names and ID numbers purposefully made so that their body can be later identified, an exhibition of hopelessness that is one of the most subtle.  Tattoos of love and of everlasting relationship are similar in their opposition of optimistic desires.  No matter the shape, form, or even purpose tattoo art’s involvement in diverse cultures and lands has made it a phenomenon that is not going to disappear soon.  Whether because of a desire for pain or an innocent need for decoration, tattoos will be there, ready and waiting.
-H.P.D.

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