a tattoo

Those who know me best are aware of my long-time obsession with getting a tattoo. Well, today I went for my first consultation with a tattooist, which means the clock is now officially ticking! But what hides behind this desire? Why would I want to go through the excruciating pain of a needle tearing through my skin to inject ink beneath its surface? Am I giving up - just like everybody else - to a fashionable trend? Why now? What on earth will I tattoo on my body? And where shall I inflict the pain? And will I regret it in 20 years time, when I am married with two kids and a labrador (yeah, right...!)?

Tony Lawrence, a graduate from Edinburgh University, wrote an interesting - if quircky - study on the topic, entitled A Tattoo is for Life: a Sociological Study of the Changing Significance of Tattoos. While this was not the most enlightening piece of research I have ever read, it still helped me answer the first question: why getting a tattoo in the first place?

1. Tattoos (just like dress/fashion) play a symbolic, communicative and aesthetic role in the presentation of the self. Our appearance is considered to be essential to the world of modernity and mass communication, to the point of being referred to as a kind of connective tissue of our cultural organism. In our everyday encounters we are subconsciously scanning people we come into contact with, in order to make sense of possible interactions that could arise at any given moment. So our perceptions of others and in fact ourselves is central to our understanding of part of the social world that is human symbolic interaction. Tattoos share an even greater intimate connection with the self than dress, being an expression of identity that is displayed on the skin and becomes part of the person we are or would like to be.

2. For men, tattoos operate in similar ways to uniforms, in that they display an individual's membership to a particular group in society, and are often found in very secluded, male-dominated environments, such as criminal gangs, armies and.. er... urban gay communities. However, within these tattooed groups there are wide differentiations. Having tattoos can sometimes ostracise an individual from other members of society who see the people with tattoos as deviant; similarly it can also open up a new world of people with a common interest, a select group. This ties in well with my obsession with individual vs. group identity in contemporary urban spaces, but also with my life-time quest to (re)define my social space.

3. Finally, Henk Schiffmacher in his book 1000 Tattoos states that “in the Western world tattoos are mainly associated with those belonging to a lower social class – criminals, sailors, whores, soldiers, adventurers, perverts and the like – and at the other end of the scale with the eccentrics of high society, the rich and aristocratic, intellectuals, artists and all those who make life more colourful”. Although this might no longer be the case, I like to think this perception has influenced my choice...

But have I given up to a passing trend? If this is a passing trend, then it's taking a hell of a lot of time to pass. Tattoos have been around in Europe for thousands of years, well before James Cook re-imported the practice from Polynesia in the XVIII century. Pre-Christian Ger-manic, Celtic and other European tribes were often heavily tattooed, and Julius Ceasar described the Picts as scarified with elaborate dark blue woad designs in his De Bello Gallico (54 BC). According to Robert Graves' study The Greek Myths, tattooing was also common in the Mediterranean, and was certainly present in Ancient Egypt, but the practice fell in disuse during the process of Christia-nization of Europe, accused of being linked to paganism. Today's fahion is simply a revival of a very old and established European prac-tice of body modification.

So why now? Well, as well as having some spare time, from the moment I turned 30 I have started feeling more in control of my life: I have become bolder in the choices I make and less terrified of their potential consequences. I have suddenly stopped worrying about pleasing/displeasing other people, and have developed a keen interest in pleasing myself. To give you an idea, here's a transcript of the last conversation I had with myself on the subject of tattoos:

- I really want a tattoo but...
- But what? Go on and get it!
- But... but what if... I mean...
- Who cares? Just do it!!!

At 30, I discovered mature recklessness.

The where? question is easy: my right calf. I've always known I'd get my first tattoo on my right leg. For a while I thought about getting it on my thigh, but it's a large and important piece of my body, and this being my first tattoo, I decided to save it for when I develop higher degrees of mature recklessness.

Now, the what? question. I don't like colourful drawings, so was naturally attracted to tattoos of Tahitian origin, like this one on the left. I like them because they are able to combine intricate designs with an overall simple appearance. But then, I thought about how my first tattoo should represent a watershed between what was before and what came after it. I thought it should say something about my past as a way to embrace it and move on. That's when I came up with the idea of incorporating graphics from the prehistoric inscriptions found in the upper valleys of my hometown into a tribal design.

Some of the incisions look like this:























Naturally, at this stage, it's hard to imagine what the final product will look like. But that's what Jay Jay's got to figure out... And he better be a light hand when he sticks that needle in my body...!!!!! As for regrets... what if I regret not getting a tattoo in 20 years time? I'll think I'll take my chance on the tattoo instead...