Tatoo

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Leopard on shoulder

A tattoo is a mark made by inserting pigment into the skin: in technical terms, tattooing is micro-pigment implantation. Tattoos may be made on human or animal skin. Tattoos on humans are a type of body modification, while tattoos on animals are most often used for identification.

Tattooing has been a nearly ubiquitous human practice. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, wore facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples, and in the Philippines, Borneo, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, and China. Despite some taboos surrounding tattooing, the art continues to be popular all over the world.

Two abstract designs

Terms
The word "tattoo" is traced to the Tahitian tatu or tatau, meaning to mark or strike (the latter referring to traditional methods of applying the designs). In Japanese the word used for traditional designs or those that are applied using traditional methods is irezumi ("insertion of ink"), while "tattoo" is used for non-Japanese designs.

Tattoo enthusiasts may refer to tattoos as tats, ink, art or work, and to tattooists as artists. The latter usage is gaining support, with mainstream art galleries holding exhibitions of tattoo designs and photographs of tattoos.

Tattoo designs that are mass-produced and sold to tattoo artists and studios and displayed in shop are known as flash.

History
Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times. Mummies bearing tattoos and dating from the end of the second millennium BCE have been discovered in Xinjiang, West China. Tattooing in Japan is thought to go back to the Paleolithic era, some ten thousand years ago. Various other cultures have had their own tattoo traditions, ranging from rubbing cuts and other wounds with ashes, to hand-pricking the skin to insert dyes.

History of tatooing
Tattooing has been a nearly ubiquitous human practice. The Ainu, the indigenous people of Japan, wore facial tattoos. Tattooing was widespread among Polynesian peoples, and in the Philippines, Borneo, Africa, North America, South America, Mesoamerica, Europe, Japan, and China.

Tattooing in prehistoric times
Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice since Neolithic times. "?zi the Iceman", dated circa 3300 BC, exhibits possible therapeutic tattoos (small parallel dashes along lumbar and on the legs). Tarim Basin (West China, Xinjiang) revealed several tattooed mummies of a Western (Western Asian/European) physical type. Still relatively unknown (the only current publications in Western languages are those of J P. Mallory and V H. Mair, The Tarim Mummies, London, 2000), some of them could date from the end of the 2nd millennium BCE.

Three tattooed mummies (c. 300 BCE) were extracted from the permafrost of Alta? in the second half of the 20th century (the Man of Payzyrk, during the 1940s; one female mummy and one male in Ukok plateau, during the 1990s). Their tattooing involved animal designs carried out in a curvilinear style. The Man of Pazyryk was also tattooed with dots that lined up along the spinal column (lumbar region) and around the right ankle.

Tattooing in the ancient world
China
Tattooing has also been featured prominently in one of the Four Classic Novels in Chinese literature, Water Margin, in which at least three of the 108 characters, Lu Zhi chen, Shi Jin and Yan Chen are described as having tattoos covering nearly the whole of their bodies. In addition, Chinese legend has it that the mother of Yue Fei, the most famous general of the Song Dynasty, tattooed the words jin zhong bao guo on his back with her sewing needle before he left to join the army, reminding him to "repay his country with pure loyalty".

Europe
Pre-Christian Germanic, Celtic and other central and northern European tribes were often heavily tattooed, according to surviving accounts. The Picts were famously tattooed (or scarified) with elaborate dark blue woad (or possibly copper for the blue tone) designs. Julius Caesar described these tattoos in Book V of his Gallic Wars (54 BCE).

Ahmad ibn Fadlan also wrote of his encounter with the Scandinavian Rus' tribe in the early 10th century, describing them as tattooed from "fingernails to neck" with dark blue "tree patterns" and other "figures." During the gradual process of Christianization in Europe, tattoos were often considered remaining elements of paganism and generally legally prohibited.

According to Robert Graves in his book The Greek Myths tattooing was common amongst certain religious groups in the ancient Mediterranean world, which may have contributed to the prohibition of tattooing in Leviticus.

Japan
Tattooing for spiritual and decorative purposes in Japan is thought to extend back to at least the Jomon or paleolithic period (approximately 10,000 BCE) and was widespread during various periods for both the Japanese and the native Ainu. Chinese visitors observed and remarked on the tattoos in Japan (300 BCE).

Middle East
An archaic practice in the Middle East involved people cutting themselves and rubbing in ash during a period of mourning after an individual had died. It was a sign of respect for the dead and a symbol of reverence and a sense of the profound loss for the newly departed; and it is surmised that the ash that was rubbed into the self-inflicted wounds came from the actual funeral pyres that were used to cremate bodies. In essence, people were literally carrying with them a reminder of the recently deceased in the form of tattoos created by ash being rubbed into shallow wounds cut or slashed into the body, usually the forearms.

Reintroduction in the Western world
Between 1766 and 1779, Captain James Cook made three voyages to the South Pacific, the last trip ending with Cook's death in Hawaii in February, 1779. When Cook and his men returned home to Europe from their voyages to Polynesia, they told tales of the 'tattooed savages' they had seen.

Cook's Science Officer and Expedition Botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, returned to England with a tattoo. Banks was a highly regarded member of the English aristocracy and had acquired his position with Cook by putting up what was at the time the princely sum of some ten thousand pounds in the expedition. In turn, Cook brought back with him a tattooed Tahitian chief, whom he presented to King George and the English Court. Many of Cook's men, ordinary seamen and sailors, came back with tattoos, a tradition that would soon become associated with men of the sea in the public's mind and the press of the day. In the process sailors and seamen re-introduced the practice of tattooing in Europe and it spread rapidly to seaports around the globe.

It was in Tahiti aboard the Endeavour, in July of 1769, that Cook first noted his observations about the indigenous body modification and is the first recorded use of the word tattoo. In the Ship's Log Cook recorded this entry : "Both sexes paint their Bodys, Tattow, as it is called in their Language. This is done by inlaying the Colour of Black under their skins, in such a manner as to be indelible."

Cook went on to write, "This method of Tattowing I shall now describe...As this is a painful operation, especially the Tattowing of their Buttocks, it is performed but once in their Lifetimes."

The British Royal Court must have been fascinated with the Tahitian chief's tattoos, because the future King George V had himself inked with the 'Cross of Jerusalem' when he traveled to the Middle East in 1892. He also received a dragon on the forearm from the needles of an acclaimed tattoo master during a visit to Japan. George's sons, The Duke of Clarence and The Duke of York were also tattooed in Japan while serving in the British Admiralty, solidifying what would become a family tradition.

Taking their sartorial lead from the British Court, where Edward VII followed George V's lead in getting tattooed; King Frederick IX of Denmark, the King of Romania, Kaiser Wilhelm II, King Alexander of Yugoslavia and even Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, all sported tattoos, many of them elaborate and ornate renditions of the Royal Coat of Arms or the Royal Family Crest. King Alfonso of modern Spain also had a tattoo.

Tattooing spread among the upper classes all over Europe in the nineteenth century, but particularly in Britain where it was estimated in Harmsworth Magazine in 1898 that as many as one in five members of the gentry were tattooed. There, it was not uncommon for members of the social elite to gather in the drawing rooms and libraries of the great country estate homes after dinner and partially disrobe in order to show off their tattoos. Aside from her consort Prince Albert, there are persistent rumours that Queen Victoria had a small tattoo in an undisclosed 'intimate' location; Denmark's king Frederick was filmed showing his tattoos taken as a young sailor. Winston Churchill's mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, not only had a tattoo of a snake around her wrist, which she covered when the need arose with a specially crafted diamond bracelet, but had her nipples pierced as well. Carrying on the family tradition, Winston Churchill was himself tattooed. In most western countries tattooing remains a subculture identifier, and is usually performed on less-often exposed parts of the body.

Religious prohibitions
Jewish Positions
Orthodox Jews, in strict application of Halakha (Jewish Law), believe Leviticus 19:28 prohibits getting tattoos: Do not make gashes in your skin for the dead. Do not make any marks on your skin. I am God. One reading of Leviticus is to apply it only to the specific ancient practice of rubbing the ashes of the dead into wounds; but modern tattooing is included in other religious interpretations. Orthodox/Traditional Jews also point to Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 180:1, that elucidates the biblical passage above as a prohibition against markings beyond the ancient practice, including tattoos. Maimonides concluded that regardless of intent, the act of tattooing is prohibited (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Idolatry 12:11).

Conservative Jews point to the next verse of the Shulhan Arukh (Yoreh De'ah 180:2), "If it [the tattoo] was done in the flesh of another, the one to whom it was done is blameless" ? this is used by they to say that tattooing yourself is different from obtaining a tattoo, and that the latter may be acceptable. Orthodox Jews disagree, but forced tatooing (like forced conversion) - as was the case during the Holocaust - is not considered a violation of Jewish Law. In another vein, cutting into the skin to perform surgery and temporary tattooing used for surgical purposes (eg: to mark the lines of an incision) are permitted in the Shulhan Arukh 180:3.

In most sectors of the religious Jewish community, having a tattoo does not prohibit participation, and one may be buried in a Jewish cemetery and participate fully in all synagogue ritual. In stricter sectors of the community, however, a community may have a psak (ruling or responsa with the weight of Halakha) that may forbid one's burial in a cemetary that comes under that ruling. Many of these communities, most notably the Modern Orthodox, accept laser removal of the tattoo as teshuvah (repentence), even when it is removed post-mortem (see Tahara).

Reform Jews and Reconstructionist Jews neither condemn nor condone tatooing.

Christian Positions
Some Christians believe that Leviticus 19:28 also applies to them, while others who disapprove of tattoos as a social phenomenon may rely on other scriptural arguments to make their point. Christians who believe that the religious doctrines of the Old Testament are superseded by the New Testament may still find explicit or implicit directives against tattooing in Christian scripture, in ecclesiastical law, or in church-originated social policy.

The anti-tattooing position is not universal, however. The Christian Copts used tattoos as protective amulets.

Muslim Perspective
Following the Sharia (or Islamic Law), the majority of Muslims hold that tattooing is religiously forbidden (along with most other forms of 'permanent' physical modification). This view arises from Qur'anic verses and explicit references in the Prophetic Hadith which denounce those who attempt to change the creation of Allah, in what is seen as excessive attempts to beautify that which was already perfected. The human being is seen as having been ennobled by Allah, the human form viewed as created beautiful, such that the act of tattooing would be a form of self-mutilation.Some Muslims believe that though tattooing is not haraam (prohibited), it is nonetheless makruh (disdained). Muslims who received tattoos prior to conversion to Islam, however, face no special obstacle to religious observance. Henna patterns, however, are used among Muslim women, as distinguished from permanent tattooing.

[ Last edited by  fly_in_d_sky at 5-8-2006 02:08 PM ]

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Purpose

Religious theme

Tattoos have served as rites of passage, marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, sexual lures and marks of fertility, pledges of love, punishment, amulets and talismans, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts.

Today, people choose to be tattooed for cosmetic, religious and magical reasons, and as a symbol of belonging to or identification with particular groups (see Criminal tattoos). Some Māori still choose to wear intricate moko on their faces.

People have also been forcibly tattooed for a various reasons. The best known is the ka-tzetnik identification system for Jews in part of the concentration camps during the Holocaust. European sailors were known to tattoo the crucifixion on their backs to prevent flogging (since it was a crime to deface an image of Christ).

Tattoos are also placed on animals, though very rarely for decorative reasons. Pets, show animals, thoroughbred horses and livestock are sometimes tattooed with identification and other marks. Pet dogs and cats are often tattooed with a serial number (usually in the ear, or on the inner thigh) via which their owners can be identified. In Australia, the symbol Φ is tattooed in the ears of cats and dogs to indicate that they have been neutered. Also, animals are occasionally tattooed to prevent sunburn (on the nose, for example). Such tattoos are performed by veterinarians and the animals are anaesthetized during the process. Branding is used for similar reasons and is often performed without anaesthesia, but is different from tattooing as no ink or dye is inserted during the process.

When used as a form of cosmetic surgery, tattooing includes permanent makeup, and hiding or neutralize skin discolorations. Permanent cosmetics are tattoos that enhance eyebrows, lips (liner or lipstick), eyes (shadow, mascara, liner), and even moles, usually with natural colors as the designs are intended to resemble makeup.

Prevalence

Lower back tattoos are common among young women

Tattoos have experienced a resurgence in popularity in recent decades in many parts of the world, particularly in North America, Japan, and Europe. The growth in tattoo culture has seen an influx of new artists into the industry, many of whom have technical and fine art training. Coupled with advancements in tattoo pigments and the ongoing refinement of the equipment used for tattooing, this has led to an improvement in the quality of tattoos being produced. Movie stars, models, popular musicians and sports figures are just some of the people in the public eye who are tattooed, which in turn has fueled the acceptance of tattoos. During the 2000s, the presence of tattoos became evident within pop culture, inspiring television shows such as A&E's "Inked" and TLC's "Miami Ink."

In many traditional cultures tattooing has also enjoyed a resurgence, partially in deference to cultural heritage. Historically, a decline in traditional tribal tattooing in Europe occurred with the spread of Christianity. A decline often occurred in other cultures following European efforts to convert aboriginal and indigenous people to Western religious and cultural practices that held tattooing to be a "pagan" or "heathen" activity. Within some traditional indigenous cultures, tattooing takes place within the context of a rite of passage between adolescence and adulthood.

A poll conducted online between July 14 and 20, 2003 by Harris Interactive, found that 16% of all adults in the United States have at least one tattoo. The highest incidence of tattoos was found among the gay, lesbian and bisexual population (31%) and among Americans ages 25 to 29 years (36%) and 30 to 39 years (28%). Regionally, people living in the West (20%) were more likely to have tattoos. Democrats were more likely to have tattoos (18%) than Republicans (14%) and Independents (12%); approximately equal percentages of males (16%) and females (15%) have tattoos.

Negative associations
Secular attitudes
Some employers, especially in professional fields, still look down on tattoos or regard them as contributing to an unprofessional appearance. Tattoos can therefore impair a wearer's career prospects, particularly when inked on places not typically covered by clothing, such as the hands, neck or face. It is not unusual for tattoo artists to refuse to tattoo these very conspicuous areas.

In some cultures, tattoos still have negative associations despite their increasing popularity, and are generally associated with criminality in the public's mind; therefore those who choose to be tattooed in such countries usually keep their tattoos covered for fear of reprisal. For example, many businesses such as gyms, hot springs and recreational facilities in Japan still ban people with visible tattoos, in part because of their association in the popular imagination with the yakuza, or Japanese mafia. In Western cultures as well, some dress codes specify that tattoos must be covered.

According to popular belief, most triad members in Hong Kong have a tattoo of a black dragon on the left biceps and one of a white tiger on the right; in fact, many people in Hong Kong use "left a black dragon, right a white tiger" as a euphemism for a triad member. It is widely believed that one of the initiation rites in becoming a triad member is silently withstanding the pain of receiving a large tattoo in one sitting, usually performed in the traditional "hand-poked" style.

In the United States many prisoners and criminal gangs use distinctive tattoos to indicate facts about their criminal behavior, prison sentences, and organizational affiliation. This cultural use of tattoos predates the widespread popularity of tattoos in the general population, so older people may still associate tattoos with criminality. At the same time, members of the U.S. military have an equally established and longstanding history of tattooing to indicate military units, battles, etc., and this association is also widespread among older Americans. Tattooing is also widespread in the British Armed Forces.

Tattoos can have additional negative associations for women; "tramp stamp" and other similarly derogatory slang phrases are sometimes used to describe a tattoo on a woman's lower back.

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Procedure

Modern tattoo machine in use: here outfitted with a 5-needle setup, but number of needles depends on size and shading desired

Some tribal cultures traditionally created tattoos by cutting designs into the skin and rubbing the resulting wound with ink, ashes or other agents; some cultures continue this practice, which may be an adjunct to scarification. Some cultures create tattooed marks by hand-tapping the ink into the skin using sharpened sticks or animal bones or, in modern times, needles. Traditional Japanese tattoos (irezumi) are still "hand-poked," that is, the ink is inserted beneath the skin using non-electrical, hand-made and hand held tools with needles of sharpened bamboo or steel.

The most common method of tattooing in modern times is the electric tattoo machine, which inserts ink into the skin via a group of needles that are soldered onto a bar, which is attached to an oscillating unit. The unit rapidly and repeatedly drives the needles in and out of the skin, usually 80 to 150 times a second.

The modern electric tattoo machine is far removed from the machine invented by Samuel O'Reilly in 1891. O'Reilly's machine was based on the rotary technology of the electric engraving device invented by Thomas Edison. Modern tattoo machines use electromagnetic coils. The first coil machine was patented by Thomas Riley in London, 1891 using a single coil. The first twin coil machine, the predecessor of the modern configuration, was invented by another Englishman, Alfred Charles South of London, in 1899.

"Natural" tattoos
According to George Orwell, workers in coal mines would develop characteristic tattoos owing to coal dust getting into wounds. This can also occur with substances like gunpowder. Similarly, a traumatic tattoo occurs when a substance such as asphalt is rubbed into a wound as the result of some kind of accident or trauma. These are particularly difficult to remove as they tend to be spread across several different layers of skin, and scarring or permanent discoloration is almost unavoidable depending on the location. In addition, tattooing of the gingiva from implantation of amalgam particles during dental filling placement and removal is possible and not uncommon.

Dyes and pigments
A wide range of dyes and pigments can be used in tattoos, from inorganic materials like titanium dioxide and iron oxides to carbon black, azo dyes, and acridine, quinoline, phthalocyanine and naphthol derivates, dyes made from ash, and other mixtures.

Iron oxide pigments are used in greater extent in cosmetic tattooing. Many pigments were found to be used in a survey of professional tattooists. Recently, a blacklight-reactive tattoo ink using PMMA microcapsules has surfaced. The technical name is BIOMETRIX System-1000, and is marketed under the name "Chameleon Tattoo Ink".

Studio hygiene
The properly equipped tattoo studio will use biohazard containers for objects that have come into contact with blood or bodily fluids, sharps containers for old needles, and an autoclave for sterilizing tools. Studios are also required by law to have hot water.

A reputable tattooist will wash his or her hands before starting to tattoo a client, and between clients, as well as wear disposable latex gloves (a new pair for each client). He or she will refuse to tattoo minors without parental consent, as well as intoxicated people, people with contraindicated skin conditions, or those incapable of consent due to mental incapacity, and attempt to ensure that the customer is satisfied with and sure about the design before applying it. Moreover, she or he will open new, sterile needle packages in front of the client, and always use new, sterile or sterile disposable instruments and supplies, and fresh ink for each session (loaded into disposable containers which are discarded after each client).

Membership in professional organizations, or certificates of appreciation/achievement, generally require that an artist is aware of the latest trends in equipment and sterilization. However, many of the most notable tattooists do not belong to any association. While specific requirements vary between jurisdictions, many mandate formal training in bloodborne pathogens, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and cross contamination. A local department of health regulates tattoo studios in many jurisdictions.

Aftercare
Tattoo artists, and people with tattoos, vary widely in preferred methods of caring for new tattoos. Some artists recommend keeping a new tattoo wrapped for the first twenty-four hours, others suggest removing temporary bandaging after a few hours. Many western tattooists advise against allowing too much contact with water for the first few days or weeks; in Japan, in contrast, a new tattoo is often bathed in very hot water early and often.

General consensus for care advises against removing the scab that forms on a new tattoo and avoiding exposing tattoos to the sun for extended periods, which can contribute to fading. Various products may be recommended for application to the skin, ranging from those intended for the treatment of cuts, burns and scrapes, to petroleum jelly or lanolin. In recent years, specific commercial products have been developed for tattoo aftercare. In other cases, the client will be advised to use no products on a new tattoo.

Tattoo removal
While tattoos are considered permanent, it is possible, to varying degrees, to remove them. Complete removal, however, is often not possible, and the expense and pain of removing them typically will be greater than the expense and pain of applying them. Some jurisdictions will pay for the voluntary removal of gang tattoos.

Tattoos removal is most commonly performed using lasers that react with the ink in the tattoo, and break it down. The broken-down ink is then absorbed by the body. This technique often requires many repeated visits to remove even a small tattoo, and may result in permanent scarring.

A newer method of removal is by tattooing glycolic acid into the skin with a tattoo machine: the acid pushes the ink to the surface of the skin in the scab, which is later removed. This method purportedly scars less than laser techniques. Glycolic acid is also used for facial peels; when used for tattoo removal, a lower percentage mix is used.

Some wearers opt to cover an unwanted tattoo with a new tattoo. This is commonly known as a coverup or cover-up. An artfully done cover-up may render the old tattoo completely invisible, though this will depend largely on the size, style, colours and techniques used on the old tattoo. Some shops and artists use laser removal machines to break down and lighten undesired tattoos to make coverage with a new tattoo easier.

Overall, green-based ink is the most difficult to remove. Black ink is most readily broken down by the laser, and unprofessional tattoos done at home are the easiest ones to remove, due to the low quality of ink used, as well as the ineffective manner in which they were applied.

Health risks
Because it requires breaking the skin barrier, tattooing may carry health risks, including infection and allergic reactions. In the United States, for example, a person who receives a tattoo will generally be prohibited from donating blood for 12 months (FDA 2000).

Modern western tattooers reduce such risks by following universal precautions, working with single-use items, and sterilizing their equipment after each use. Many jurisdictions require that tattooists have bloodborne pathogen training, such as is provided through the Red Cross.

Infection
Since tattoo instruments come in contact with blood and bodily fluids, diseases may be transmitted if the instruments are used on more than one person without being sterilized. However, infection from tattooing in clean and modern tattoo studios employing single-use needles is rare. In amateur tattoos, such as those applied in prisons, however, there is an elevated risk of infection. To address this problem, a program was introduced in Canada as of the summer of 2005 that provides legal tattooing in prisons, both to reduce health risks and to provide inmates with a marketable skill. Inmates will be trained to staff and operate the tattoo parlors once six of them open successfully; the program, however, was discontinued by the new Canadian government in 2006.

Infections that could be transmitted via the use of unsterilized tattoo equipment include surface infections of the skin, tetanus, staph, some forms of hepatitis, and HIV. No person in the United States is known to have contracted HIV via a commercially-applied tattooing process. Tetanus risk is prevented by having an up-to-date tetanus booster prior to being tattooed. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that: no data exist in the United States indicating that persons with exposures to tattooing alone are at increased risk for HCV infection. In 2006, the CDC reported 3 clusters with 44 cases of methicillin-resistant staph infection traced to unlicensed tattooists (MMWR 55(24)).

Allergic reactions
Allergic reactions to tattoo pigments are uncommon except for certain brands of red and green. People who are sensitive or allergic to certain metals may react to pigments in the skin with swelling and/or itching, and/or oozing of clear fluid called sebum. Such reactions are quite rare, however, and most artists do not recommend a patch test prior to tattooing.

There is also a small risk of anaphylactic shock (hypersensitive reaction) in those who are susceptible.

Tattoos Inks
Although the FDA technically requires premarket approval of inks; because of limited resources, it has not actually approved the use of any ink for tattoos.[citation needed] The first known study to try to characterize the composition of these inks was started in 2005 study at Northern Arizona University (Finley-Jones and Wagner).

There has been concern expressed about the interaction between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedures and tattoo inks, some of which contain trace metals. Allegedly, the magnetic fields produced by MRI machines could interact with these metal particles, potentially causing burns or distortions in the image. The television show MythBusters tested the theory, and concluded that there is no risk of interaction between tattoo inks and MRI.

However, research by Shellock and Crues reports adverse reactions to MRI and tattoos in a very small number of cases. Wagle and Smith also documented an isolated case of Tattoo-Induced Skin Burn During MR Imaging.

Temporary tattoos
Temporary tattoos are not really tattoos. Rather, they are a type of body sticker, like a decal. They are generally applied to the skin using water to temporarily transfer the design to the surface of the skin. Temporary tattoos are easily removed with soap and water or oil-based creams, and are intended to last only a few days. Like nail polish, these can be changed to match one's clothes or mood.

Other forms of temporary "tattoos" are henna tattoos, also known as Mehndi, and the marks made by the stains of silver nitrate on the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light. Both methods, silver nitrate and henna, can take up to two weeks to fade from the skin.

reference : Tatoo. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatoo

reference : History of tatooing. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_tattooing

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Lucky Diamond Rich is the world's most tattooed person with practically every part of his body covered in tattoos. He's also into scarification.

reference : Living Breathing Art. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://www.luckyrich.com/1.html

[ Last edited by  fly_in_d_sky at 5-8-2006 02:35 PM ]

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Mum's tattoo mania

While most women in their 60s are settling down for a quiet life, Isobel Varley is travelling the world - showing off her tattoos and piercings.

The bubbly woman is almost covered from head to foot with colourful tattoos and has 49 piercings in a number of places, including 16 in her pants area.

She's just returned to her home in Stevenage from a tattoo convention in Switzerland, has two days before flying out to Belgium and appeared on Channel 4's The Salon the previous week. Life is busy for the woman who holds the title as the world's most tattooed senior woman.

"The last tattoo I had was a rose and heart on my forehead yesterday," she said. "I had it done at the convention in Lucerne. It was a little painful, but it looks really nice and I can cover it up with my fringe if I want."

But Isobel didn't start having tattoos until her late 40s in 1986. The mother-of-one finished covering her body with tattoos in 1997 - her favourite is a family of tigers lying on her stomach.

"I went to a tattoo convention and had one tattoo - and then it just went from there. This came about as I was so impressed by the sheer beauty of the tattoos and I found that the people there were ordinary people from all walks of life and were not strange," she said.

But Isobel warned: " If you're going to have one done, you've got to think about it carefully because it's going to last a very long time so you've got to be sure it's what you want.

"Having a tattoo removed is expensive and I think you should only get one done if you're old enough to know what you want for the rest of your life."

The pensioner started having the piercings in 1989 - having her first as an experience so she could write about it.

She has 29 in her ears, two in her nose,one in each nipple, one in her belly button and 16 in various places in her nether regions.

"The most painful is nipple piercing - I've had to have them redone three times for various reasons. The tops of your ears take a long time to heal, but the ones down below heal very fast."

Isobel said that the lower piercings could be uncomfortable when wearing pants - and that she had some attachments she could put on to make her jingle as she walked!!

And what does her husband Mac (who sports a Prince Albert piercing) think about the tattoos and piercings? "Oh, he likes them," added Isobel.

reference : Mum's tattoo mania. BBC - Beds, Herts and Bucks Read This. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounti ... tattoed_woman.shtml

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The world's most tattooed women are Canadian Krystyne Kolorful and American Julia Gnuse (pictured). Krystyne's iridescent bodysuit cost her $15,000 and took her 10 years to complete. Julia covered her body with tattoos to hide the effects of the skin disease porphyria, which causes blistering and scarring.

[ Last edited by  fly_in_d_sky at 5-8-2006 02:55 PM ]

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The Tattoo Festival at Wat

TOM VATER rubs shoulders with the denizens of Thailand's underworld at the "llustrated kill convention"

Uaaahh! The man is running straight towards me, his face bright red, distorted with a thousand pains beyond my imagination. His bare, tattooed chest gleams with sweat. He screams at the sky, he vomits anger, but he? walking straight ahead, towards me. He salutes unknown devils. His voice a hysterical siren, he turns on the spot, performing wild body contortions that turn his face the colour of blood. He is turning in my direction again. He stares at me, through me, beyond me, nowhere. He? moving. Just as he? about to reach me, just as I begin my retreat into the crowd all around me, he falls to the floor. Still he screams. He rolls in a puddle. He? bleeding from his left ear, his eyes are bloodshot, his tongue flops from his mouth. His face growing ever darker, the man rises from the puddle. The crowd cheers and jeers. The man begins to run towards the small stage erected in the front yard of Wat Bang Phra. A phalanx of young men in white T-shirts patrols the front of the stage. It looks like Altamont; haphazard, out of control. The man head-butts into the crowd ? the guys in the white T-shirts hold him down, four of them hanging on to a limb each. They scream at him. He shakes like mad and screams back, not at them, just at the world. He struggles like a condemned prisoner on his way to the guillotine.

Seconds later he goes limp. The guys drop him on the ground. He gets up, his face perfectly calm, folds his hands towards the stage and disappears back into the crowd. I turn around. A man is running straight towards me?/font]

Wat Bang Phra is 50 km (31 miles) west of Bangkok. Once a year, thousands of young men of uncertain occupation gather here to be tattooed by monks. The monks do this every day of the year ? the tattoos are popular and are thought to afford protection to their wearers ? but the big tattoo gathering happens just once a year.

The men who come here mostly belong to the criminal fraternity. Yes, Wat Bang Phra Festival is a rare opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the worst, and some of the most interesting, people Thailand numbers amongst her citizens.

Behind the Wat? museum, long queues have formed in front of a couple of outhouses. Teenagers with pockmarked faces, fat old thugs with eyes that burn holes into hell, taxi girls and mama-sans hang out, chatting and smoking with the monks. It? weird to see this lot in daylight. Some people are completely drunk, others seem to be orbiting on yaba (speed). Most are already tattooed, either with cheap biker designs or with the Khmer Buddhist prayers and diagrams the monks here specialise in. Everybody wants to be photographed, to show off their scars (plenty of those) and skin illustrations. The monks too, are heavily tattooed, crests around their shaved skulls, throats ands shoulders adorned with chedis and prayers. The Khmer alphabet looks like a series of squiggling ants on the skin, stretching from the definite to the illegible, from the poetic to the anarchic. On backs and chests it? recognisable as text, the instructions seem coherent. But on hands, legs and throats it? all abstract, trippy (bad acid anyone?) and brutally crude.

But there is more to this than just words. It goes deeper. Wat Bang Phra? tattoos come with promises of protection and prosperity. The hard men come in reverence and expectation and the monks etch images of fearsome animals onto their skins, along with prayers and chedis. The Indian monkey god Hanuman makes an appearance, as do tigers, dragons, birds, snakes and eels. The punters later live out their specific possessions in the yard outside. Their attempts to storm the stage are actually a show of respect to the late head of the monastery, Luang Paw Poen. This strange collision of Indian mythology, Buddhism, animism, straightforward superstition and gangster culture is a colourful one, a bizarre mixture of faith and history, of seekers and charlatans, of humility and macho, that has a life all its own.

The monks have several working methods. Some use the same needle and the same pot of ink again and again, others seem to exchange needles after every operation and always start on a tiny new tub of ink. Thailand has a very real AIDS problem, but the punters don? seem to care.

Some of the younger boys shake under the needle, held down by their friends. The monk just taps on regardless; he wipes off blood every now and then, mumbles, smokes and drinks Red Bull. In any case, the men with the hard faces and terrifying scars queue, pray, bleed, and go beserk in the yard. It? their day.

It? all done quickly ? in the blink of an eye another chedi comes into existence on someone? flesh; another prayer for the great Buddha. What would he make of all this?

Post tattoo, the punters traipse off to another hall to be told what rules they will have to follow in life in order for the protective charms to work. Some swear that they can stop bullets.

Why is this happening? Buddhism is in dire straights in Thailand. The current generation of supposedly faithful pour into the cities, in pursuit of the dollar. The intense, free-wheeling capitalism the country has experienced in the last 10 years has had a major effect, not only on how the Wats ? the traditional centres of all communities? are losing their grip but also on how individual abbots react to the challenges of the 21st century. Some Wats cater to the super rich, others suggest lottery numbers. The monks are part of the larger community, caught up in social change. You see them poring over mobile phones in shopping centres or picking through gold bracelets at the Chinese jewellers. They populate the Internet caf?, and in a Wat near Thanon Khao San, I saw a Metallica poster on the wall of a monk? cell (now they don? sound like nirvana!).

Tattooing brings in money too, and Wat Bang Phra is by no means the only one offering a second skin of protective spells. Everybody who gets tattooed has to buy some flowers and incense for the tattooist? teacher. Amulets are on sale everywhere and are doing a roaring business. The eminent abbot who started the tradition, Luang Paw Poen, died last year. He didn? seem to have any tattoos himself, but had picked up the tradition and the connection with animal magic from his own peers and teachers. Even in the hall where his remains are stretched out in a gold-framed glass coffin, you can shop for temple memorabilia.

Not everyone agrees with this commercial hustle and bustle. One of the most eminent monks in the country, Phra Payom Kalayano, has commented repeatedly on the marketing forces that dominate many monasteries? agendas these days.

Luang Pee Pan, currently the most prominent of the monk tatooists, is most certainly tattooed, in fact almost everywhere. He sits far from the madding crowd, on a low stool, welcoming an endless stream of people under his needle. A pile of cigarette packets and Red Bull bottles is stashed behind him. A young woman is next in line. Luang Pee Pan is not allowed to touch her, so he moves a pillow between himself and the woman. He grabs a fresh tub but no ink is used now. For women (and some men) an invisible prayer is etched onto the skin with oil. The process is the same though. The monk taps, the woman shakes, her skin bleeds, but no prayer becomes visible. The needle contraption is about a foot (30 cm) long, so there is no danger of physical contact. The tattoo is just a few centimetres wide, on her left arm. The monk smokes while about his work and he? quick; he just hammers them out. Sac Nar Man, as it is called ? a coconut-oil tattoo ? is considered the most powerful tattoo. A few seconds of pain and another mark for the rest of your life. I hope she will manage to stop all bullets.

Outside in the yard, thousands now sit in the sun. Part of this huge forecourt has been fenced in by blessed white thread. Inside the square of thread, more and more men turn into animals and go berserk. The heat, the alcohol ? it? all too much. A monk warns that only genuine berserkers are authorised to go mad. Should anyone be found to be in possession of alcohol or yaba, they will be kicked out. The crowd carries on regardless. Some of the men are possessed again and again. They get up; they contort; they scream. Some turn into different animals each time. They run in a straight line towards the stage. They run into the boys in white T-shirts, struggle and go limp. I stand in front of the stage, looking at 10, 000 faces. Here and there another one pops up. It? all very George Romero: zombies in bright daylight.

The monotone voice of a priest drones out of massive speakers. When he pauses there is total silence but for the cries of the currently possessed. Like an open-air lunacy ward. The fattest, meanest bad man in the crowd has joined the boys in front of the stage to help catch the incoming lunatic missiles. It? a gig. It? a great show. It? the final attack. The monks and the new head of the Wat have climbed onto the stage. Some drop candle-wax into a huge silver vat to make holy water. Another grabs a hose-pipe and sprays the surging crowd. Everybody is up, pushing and pulling. Some are possessed, others not. Towards the stage, the crowd gets very dense, and people start getting squashed. Here and there, men suddenly go berserk, scream in rage and push those around them. The heat is intense. The holy water rains down on the crowd, the tigers, Hanumans, snakes and elephants turn into small-time criminals with heavy, self-inflicted skin problems.

At 11am it? all over, and after hearty good-byes, slaps on the back and last shared cigarettes, the lower echelons of Thailand? underworld shake hands and disappear once more into their everyday realities of killing, rape, extortion, robbery, protection rackets, and the trafficking of women, children and drugs. If I led this kind of life, I? get tattooed; any spell would do.


reference : The Tatoo Festival at Wat. Fortean Times: The World of Strange Phenomena. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/176_tattoo.shtml

[ Last edited by  fly_in_d_sky at 5-8-2006 03:09 PM ]

fly_in_d_sky

Tattoo: Pigments of Imagination

Photograph by Jodi Cobb

A contestant shows off his eye-popping full-body tattoo backstage at the Meeting of the Marked competition in Pittsburgh.

By Cassandra Franklin-Barbajosa

"It's a permanent reminder of a temporary feeling," sings Jimmy Buffett of parents' dismay over their daughter's tattoo. Yet those indelible body markings are more than a trend embraced by merchant marines, bikers, and goths in basic black. Tattoos arise from a rich cultural history dating back 5,000 years.

The earliest record of tattoos, to date, was found in 1991 on the frozen remains of the Copper Age "Iceman" scientists have named ?zi. His lower back, ankles, knees, and a foot were marked with a series of small lines, made by rubbing powdered charcoal into vertical cuts. X-rays revealed bone degeneration at the site of each tattoo, leading researchers to believe that ?zi's people, ancestors of contemporary central and northern Europeans, may have used tattoos as medical treatment to reduce pain.

As civilizations developed, tattoos took on other meanings. Egyptian funerary figures of female dancers from around 2000 B.C. display the same abstract dot-and-dash tattoos on their bodies as those found on female mummies from that time period. Later images represent Bes, god of fertility and revelry.

Ancient Romans found no reason to celebrate tattoos, believing in the purity of the human form. Except as brands for criminals and the condemned, tattoos were banned. But over time, the Roman attitudes toward tattoos changed. Fighting an army of Britons who wore their tattoos as badges of honor, some Romans came to admire their enemies' ferocity as well as the symbols that represented it. Soon Roman soldiers were wearing their own body marks; Roman doctors even perfected the art of application and removal.

During the Crusades of the 11th and 12th centuries, warriors identified themselves with the mark of the Jerusalem cross so that they could be given a proper Christian burial if they died in battle. After the Crusades, tattooing largely disappeared in the West for a time, but continued to flourish in other places.

By the early 18th century, European sailors encountered the inhabitants of the South and Central Pacific islands. There, tattoos were an important part of the culture. When a Tahitian girl reached the age of sexual maturity, her buttocks were tattooed black, a tradition that continues among some today. When in mourning, Hawaiians tattooed their tongues with three dots. In Borneo, natives tattooed an eye on the palm of their hands as a spiritual guide that would lead them to the next life.

In 1769, Capt. James Cook landed in Tahiti, where the word "tattoo" originated from tatau, which means to tap the mark into the body. One method island practitioners used for working their designs into the skin was with a razor-edged shell attached to the end of a stick. In New Zealand, Maori leaders signed treaties by drawing precise replicas of their moko, or personal facial tattoo. Such designs are still used to identify the wearer as a member of a certain family and to symbolize a person's achievements in life.

In the 1820s, Europeans began the macabre practice of trading guns for tattooed heads of Maori warriors. To keep up with demand, Maori traders took slaves and commoners captured in battle, tattooed them, killed them, and sold their heads. The practice ended in 1831 when the British government made the importation of human heads illegal.

Tattooing has been practiced in Japan?or beautification, magic, and to mark criminals?ince around the 5th century B.C. Repressive laws gave rise to the exquisite Japanese designs known today. Restricted from wearing the ornate kimonos that adorned royalty and the elite, outraged merchants and the lower classes rebelled by wearing tattooed body suits. Covering their torsos with illustrations that began at the neck and extended to the elbow and above the knee, wearers hid the intricate designs beneath their clothing. Viewing the practice as subversive, the government outlawed tattoos in 1870 as it entered a new era of international relationships. As a result, tattooists went underground, where the art flourished as an expression of the wearer's inner longings and impulses.

The yakuza, the Japanese gangster class, embraced the body suits?ven more so because they were illegal. Their elaborate designs usually represented an unresolved conflict and also included symbols of character traits the wearer wanted to emulate. A carp represented strength and perseverance. A lion stood for courage. Such tattoos required long periods of pain from the artist's bundles of needles, endured by wearers as a show of allegiance to their beliefs. Today, Japanese tattoo wearers are devoted to the most colorful, complete, and exotic expression of the art.

New York inventor Samuel O'Reilly patented the first electric tattoo machine in 1891, making traditional tools a thing of the past in the West. By the end of the 1920s, American circuses employed more than 300 people with full-body tattoos who could earn an unprecedented $200 per week.

For the next 50 years, tattoos gained a reputation as a mark of American fringe cultures, sailors, and World War II veterans. But today, tattoo connoisseurs take the spotlight at international fairs and conventions with Japanese body suits, Celtic symbols, black tribal motifs, and portraits of favorite celebrities.

"Tattooing is enjoying a big renaissance around the world," says Chuck Eldridge of the Tattoo Archive in Berkeley, California. "Native American women in the Northwest are wearing chin tattoos again, reviving a cultural practice from centuries before the white man arrived. And, in answer to health concerns, artists in the South Pacific are slowly changing to modern equipment."

"The melting pot that is the United States has no rites of passage as a single American culture," says Ken Brown, a tattoo artist in Fredericksburg, Virginia, who finds inspiration in National Geographic photographs [see "My Seven"]. "On some levels, getting a tattoo is like a milestone that marks a certain moment in a person's life." Ken still remembers one customer, an 80-year-old former marine who had always wanted a tattoo but had been too afraid to get one. "He came to me for his first tattoo," Ken says, "and he told me, 'I figure I got five or six good years left in me, and I'm not going out without one.' "


reference : Tattoo: Pigments of Imagination. My Seven @ National Geographic Magazine. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0412/online_extra.html

fly_in_d_sky

Contain 18sx

Tatto, Piercings & Body Markings

Man, Burkina Faso

For many men in West Africa, scarring is a form of tribal initiation and a sign of bravery. Done with razor blades, the painful process starts at puberty and continues into adulthood. Each tribe has distinctive tattoo designs; this man? markings indicate his village and his clan and include black magic symbols to keep away evil spirits.

Burning Man Festival, Nevada

Elaborate religious tattoos adorn a man at the Burning Man festival in the Nevada desert. He is a follower of the Modern Primitivism movement, part of a subculture that includes extensive tattooing and piercing. Modern Primitivists believe body markings and other tribal traditions help reconnect them to the world and emphasize their own identity.

Maori Gang Members, New Zealand

The Maori culture has a long tradition of tattooing, which dated back centuries until the Europeans outlawed it in the 1800s. These Auckland men belong to the anti-European Black Power Group. Their tattoos are a combination of traditional Maori tattoo art, called moko, and symbols picked up from the U.S. Black Power movement of the 1960s.

Yakuza Member, Japan

Within Japanese culture mafiosi are known for their intricate full-body tattoos of mythological characters. Tattoos are also considered a sign of initiation into the mafia. The process (now done with modern tattoo guns) can take up to two years to complete. Tattoos are admired for their color and patterns.

The Tribe, California

Called the Tribe, these men (gathered under the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco) are leaders of the local Modern Primitivism movement. The Tribe has a tattoo parlor that does only tribal marking. Several of the tattoo artists have traveled to Borneo and learned the craft from tribal masters.

Cuna Indians, Panama

Cuna Indians live in isolation on the San Blas Islands off the Panama coast. Cuna women, like these albino twin sisters, are known for their body markings and nose rings. They are wearing traditional molas, layered cloth panels known around the world for their beautiful patterns. Within the Cuna culture albinos?alled ?hildren of the Moon?are sacred.

Woman, Ethiopia

Although tattoos are considered primitive by most Ethiopians, many Coptic Christians, like this woman in Lalibela, are marked with crosses to show their strong faith. Applied with needles, the marks can extend around the neck and down the chest.

Maori Chief, New Zealand

Once outlawed, the tradition of tribal tattooing has undergone a recent renewal among the Maori people of New Zealand and other Polynesian cultures. Full facial markings, or moko, such as this Maori chief has, are the most common in New Zealand.

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Mursi Woman, Ethiopia

A Mursi woman from the Omo Valley in southern Ethiopia is adorned with face markings and a lip plate, considered signs of beauty among the Mursi.

http ://img92.imageshack.us/img92/7692/xingowomanzq8.jpg

Women Bathing, Brazil

Ink from a tree in the Amazon Basin created the elaborate tattoos on these women in Xingu National Park. Applied with a small stick, the markings are done in a linear design, with each line depicting status and eligibility for marriage. The tattoos will last about six months.

Man at Sunset, Samoa

Samoa is considered the epicenter of tribal tattooing in the South Pacific. Unlike the rest of Polynesia, traditional tattooing never died here. Considered an integral part of initiation into Samoan culture mainly for men, but also for women, the markings are made at puberty. The men? tattoos often depict the traditional Samoan canoe.

reference : Tatto, Piercings & Body Mark. Nation Geographic. Retrieved 2006, Aug 5, from the World Wide Web: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tattoos/

fleurzsa: Sorry, edited sebab tak sesuai.  Thanks

[ Last edited by  fleurzsa at 7-8-2006 01:03 PM ]

adik_nazgul

seramnya.. :geram: ...

awat la nak tatu ni.. eee... :geram:

fleurzsa

He he he e... 2...3... hari ni memang ada terfikir pasal tattoo...

Itu pun sebab tonton siri berkenaan tattoo kat ASTRO..

fly_in_d_sky

tatoo nie byk buruk dr kebaikkan .....
kalau leh jgn le wat tatoo nie
rosakkan kulit .........
dlm islam pun x digalakkan .........
tp kalau wat tatoo yg leh hilang dlm certain time ok la
sebb benda tu akan hilang
xpun gune inai ........ ok wat .........
murah + x sakit .......

peret

aku penah wat tattoo.. tattoo cars.. ade jual kat 7-eleven

fly_in_d_sky

Originally posted by peret at 7-8-06 10:35 AM
aku penah wat tattoo.. tattoo cars.. ade jual kat 7-eleven

iyer la .......

fly_in_d_sky

kat sabah / sarawak ada certain2 kaum yg wat tatoo kan??
pe maksud tatoo yg diorg wat tuh ek?
melambangkan ape?
kuasa? kekuatan? simbolik?
nape diorg wat tatoo tu?
certain2 org ke yg wat tatoo tuh??

mizfeet

Originally posted by fly_in_d_sky at 7-8-2006 11:44 PM
kat sabah / sarawak ada certain2 kaum yg wat tatoo kan??
pe maksud tatoo yg diorg wat tuh ek?
melambangkan ape?
kuasa? kekuatan? simbolik?
nape diorg wat tatoo tu?
certain2 org ke yg wat tato ...

yes. mmg certain kaum jer yang bertatu. but nowadays, the trend is open to all. yes, it does represent something i.e. status

bettyboops

sekarang ni tatoo ni dah jadi trend.. chinese girls yg ramai bertatoo.. either dkt waist or shoulder (belakang badan)..

narvmarishka

rasanya tattoo ni berasal dari budaya primitif yg di lihat oleh sebagai seni yg menghiasi tubuh dan ini menarik org2 yg berminat untuk bertattoo.Agama islam dan yahudi melarang penganutnya bertattoo.my personal opinion,sesape yg ada keinginan nak buat tattoo...jangan buat,nanti anda menyesal. :no:

fly_in_d_sky

Originally posted by narvmarishka at 11-8-06 11:53 PM
rasanya tattoo ni berasal dari budaya primitif yg di lihat oleh sebagai seni yg menghiasi tubuh dan ini menarik org2 yg berminat untuk bertattoo.Agama islam dan yahudi melarang penganutnya bertatto ...

nape nyesal ...?
bg sebb ......
kasi pendapat ......

fly_in_d_sky

Originally posted by mizfeet at 11-8-06 02:32 PM

yes. mmg certain kaum jer yang bertatu. but nowadays, the trend is open to all. yes, it does represent something i.e. status

nak tau nape certain kaum nie wat tatoo ......
atas sebb ape??
care to xplain .......??