THE EMERGENCE OF TATTOOING AS ART
BY EMMA WOOTAN
Tattoos have been around for millennia and are more
popular now than ever. They are especially a staple trend
for young adults. They are seen by many people as an
art form that is level with some of the most highly revered
historical art. There is also the view that tattoos are
mistakes that people make while intoxicated. This
however is proved largely untrue by the thousands of
artists in the U.S. alone that devote their entire lives to
mastering the art of tattooing.
The oldest discovery of tattooed human skin to date is
found on the body of Otzi the Iceman, dating to between
3370 and 3100 BC. Other tattooed mummies have been
recovered from at least 49 archaeological sites including
locations in Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Mongolia,
Western China, Egypt, Sudan, the Philippines, and the
Andes. In ancient China, tattoos were considered a
barbaric practice. Tattoos, however, have also often
been referred in literature depicting bandits and folk
heroes. As late as the Qing Dynasty, it was common
practice to tattoo characters that meant prisoner on
criminals’ faces.
Tattoos got their start in America as a way for sailors to
be able to be uniquely identified. This was important at
the time because the British Royal Navy would capture
U.S. sailors to be a part of their navy. Sailors carried
passports that were meant to prove their citizenship,
but the Royal Navy exploited the papers vague
descriptions. Tattoos helped add a level of specificity.
There have been many studies done to try to see why
tattoos are so popular. The main question is: do people
get tattoos as a form of self-expression or do they get
tattoos because it seems like a popular but edgy thing
to do? This question is especially important for young
people who, for the most part are still trying to
understand their own identity. In 1998, Anne Velliquette,
a professor who studies the relationship between
consumer behavior and popular culture, tried to help us
understand tattoos by conducting a study. This interview
based study found that people use tattoos as a way to
cement aspects of their current selves. She concluded
that the popularity of tattoos reflects a need for stability,
predictability and permanence.
Tattoos are also very popular here at Shanghai Livingston
American School (SLAS). Many of the students and faculty
have gone under the needle to get this art embedded
in their skin. Alex Fang, a senior at SLAS, talked about the
meaning of his tattoos in an interview, “The two near my
elbows mean express and create.” He also said, “Yes,
tattoos are definitely art.” Alex is definitely not the only
student to think so, since many kids walk around with
their tattoos. Jay Wesolek, a counselor at SLAS, described
his tattoos as a kind of t-shirt that never goes away. He
said in an interview, “Anyone thinking about getting a
tattoo should wait and think about it because they are
permanent. However, I do not regret my own tattoos.”
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