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Ryan Mohandeson Ebbtide Reporter The naked body is without conversation. Tattoos offer the skin a means of expression which is simple and visible to everyone. On the body, the image replaces the word. Tattoos enable us a range of artifices to modify our personality. As if, feeling claustrophobic in our little shell, we seek to extend it by visual subterfuge.
The origins and practice of tattooing among different cultures have been an interest of mine for years. To better understand its history, I spoke with a good friend of mine, Dave Richmond. His knowledge about this field, as well as its rich history, is tremendous. He would be an ideal person to help explain where and how it came to be. I visited Dave one weekend at his shop, Vision Tattoo, located in the Seattle area. We sat down between his various appointments, and spoke at length about this subject.
"As the Egyptian Empire began to spread it brought the practice to other cultures like the Greeks, who used tattoos for communication among spies. Markings identified them, as well as showing their rank." However, the use of tattoos has been found in a variety of regions and cultures spread throughout the world. "The Ainu people of western Asia used tattooing to show social status. They're known for introducing tattoos to Japan, where it then developed into a religious and ceremonial rite," explained Richmond. The full-body tattoo worn by Japanese, more commonly know as a suit, originated around 1700. "It was a reaction to strict laws concerning conspicuous consumption. Only royalty was allowed to wear ornate clothing. As a result of this, the middle class adorned themselves with elaborate full-body tattoos." Polynesians developed tattoos to mark tribal communities, families and rank.
In Moko, the face was scarred to make ridges and grooves. Small pieces of bones and shells were used as their tattooing instruments. The pieces were dipped into a dye, then hammered with a chisel into the skin. In Europe, the art of tattooing spread with early Britons using tattoos in ceremonies. The Danes, Norsemen and Saxons tattooed family crests on their bodies.
During the 1700s, "English sailors began making more trips to East Asia," said Richmond, "but tattoos became especially fashionable when King Edward VII took a liking to them." Richmond thought, "what probably kept tattooing from becoming more widespread was its slow and painstaking procedure. Each puncture of the skin was done by hand and then the ink was applied." In 1891, Irish-American Samuel O'Riley patented the first electric tattooing machine. It was based on Edison's electric pen that punctured paper with a needlepoint. "The machine allowed anyone to obtain a reasonably priced and readily available tattoo. By making it more accessible, O'Riley had taken away the prestige of getting tattooed, and the upper classes shunned it," explained Richmond.
In the early 1960s, "the general population held tattoo parlors in disrepute and many parlors were shut down," said Richmond. However, by the late 1960s, the attitude towards tattooing began to change due to the more liberal views of youth. Artist's like Lyle Tuttle, based in San Francisco, tattooed many celebrities of that time, particularly women, which made tattoos fashionable again. In the last 20 years, tattooing has gone through its own renaissance. Today, all classes of people are getting tattooed. It has become more popular than it has ever been. With the typical artist having a formal background in fine arts, the quality of work and imagery has been pushed to places never thought possible. With rich colors and a variety of designs, one can tattoo just about anything that you can draw on canvas. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |
