MAGIC INK

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MAGIC INK

• The Art of the Tattoo

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Primary Occupation???
I made 173,000 dollars last year.
Yeah, I'm on this guy's waiting list... It's 3
years long
I don't like you uva kids .../cause you all
always judge people -Skunk
No last name provided
It's definitely an addiction!
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The MissionGet Inside the Artists Head

• Initial thoughts about tattooing focused on the
  pop-culturalization of the art/addiction
• We initially thought our interviews would focus
  on the relation of pain and pleasure and their
  relation to ecstatic states.
• However, we were pleasantly surprised to find
  connections to all three major groups studied in
  the course the minstrels, the Skoptsy, and the
  Klikushestvo.

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The Executionof the Plan

• Place Big Dawg Tattoo
• Time Rainy Thursday November Afternoon
• HOO? Pirate D. and Mike A.
• A second interview was conducted on a separate
  rainy evening with the infamous, Mike B.

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THE PROCESS!!!!!!! (Or should we say, RITUAL?)
3. Application of stencil

• The artists palette and prep
• Dont forget the No FX!

4. The artist at work
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5. !/2 way there!
6. Mmm, Skunk like Blood
fin
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Wha(t) Happene(d)?!

• Instruction in the process of the tattoo
• During the interview we were privy to the actual
  tattooing of Mike A.
• Our questions focused on the role of pain in
  tattooing.
• Initially we believed we only were witnessing a
  tattoo however our merriment could not be
  contained when we learned Mike A. was Pirates
  APPRENTICE!!!!!!!! (get it? Minstrel/Guild
  connection? Remember that book?)

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Wha Happene 2

• With this REVELATION we dug deeper into the grim,
  murky, and until now uncharted waters of the
  tattoo underworld! (Hoo knew?)
• The interview also revealed a complex cultural
  structure involving a tight-knit group of
  individuals who take care of each other, a
  hierarchical power structure, regional standards,
  and apprenticeship.
• Both interviewees spoke of the addictive nature
  of tattoos and the role pain plays in that
  aspect.
• Both also spoke of the interesting phenomenon of
  female tattooing. Interesting because they felt
  women handled the pain better, but also a
  phenomenon because they were more likely to
  experience the most extreme reactions.

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The DeBriefing(not the london or france variety)

•       Connections to Minstrels and their Guilds
•   Pirate uses his art as his primary source of
  income. He made 173,000 last year.
•   Minstrels had no other source of income
  outside their singing. Of course their income
  was slightly smaller.
•  
•   The artist is completely responsible for the
  living expenses of his apprentice, from giving
  him a place to live, to food and amenities. In
  return, the apprentice works in the tattoo
  parlor.
•  
•   This is exactly the same as a minstrel and his
  apprentice. A minstrel taught his apprentice the
  necessary skills, as well as provided for him,
  and in return the apprentice worked for and with
  the minstrel.
•  
•   The requirements and duration of the
  apprenticeship varies by region and/or state. If
  these regional requirements have not been met the
  apprentice will not be accepted into the
  structure and support system or amenable to the
  benefits.
•  
•   Again, this is the same with the minstrel
  guilds and there governing strategy.
•  
•   Both tattoo artists and Minstrels share an
  artistic and public relation to their craft,
  which differs from the Skoptsy and Klikushestvo.
  

•      Connections to the Skoptsy
•    In tattooing, many cite pain not as a point
  of consternation, but as a positive aspect of the
  end product, possibly a source of the pride
  associated with a tattoo, and even maybe the
  addictive quality of tattooing.
•   The painful experience of the Skoptsy also
  leads to a positive end product, a belief of
  being chosen and closer to God.
•  
•   The aspect of choice is also a close
  similarity, as opposed to the minstrels both the
  tattoo owner and the Skoptsy choose to enter
  their stigmatized groups.
•  
•   Process of body modification is highly
  ritualized for both practices.
•  

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Follow-up Missions

•       Possible infiltration of a tattoo
  convention by an individual without tattoos to
  examine the sub-culture of the tattoo world and
  to test the informal, but still rigid structure.
  
•       Further examination of public aspect of
  tattooing, i.e. the differences between an
  individual who is tattooed in a displayed way and
  one who hides their tattoo.
•       Examining the increasingly popular nature
  of the tattoo and its movement into the
  mainstream.