Rock the Ink: Sophistry and Pragmatism in Tattooing

Subject: Rock the Ink Tattoo Expo

Location: State Fair Grounds—NM Expo, Lujan Building

Date: 10/14/2011

Prep: Before attending the expo, I prepared a list of questions, and dug out my mother’s old Minolta 35mm camera. My current digital camera is not working well, and I figured this would be a great excuse to dust off the old camera and get some practice in a medium that I had not used in some time. I had a classmate look over my questions to make sure they were relevant and easily understood.

Challenge: When I Arrived at the Expo, I found that no cameras were allowed into the event. As soon as I read that, it was a no brainer. These artists were displaying their work and art in portfolios and in some cases posters and prints. Taking pictures of these defeats the purpose of them selling their wares. Upon entry into the event, I also had the feeling that pulling out a questionnaire would be distinctly out of place.

A way in: roughly six years ago, a friend designed a tattoo for me that I have not done anything with. I grabbed the original ink drawing of the design (A Celtic Tree of Life that I will post once I get it scanned in.) When I approached artists, I was quite open that I was a grad student and doing some analysis on the event, but also that I was looking to price some work. Each artist I spoke with was quite open to talking about their experiences, and some freely shared stories behind some of the work they were displaying. After spending roughly 1 ½ hours at the event, I came to a few conclusions, and jotted down some notes.

Tattoo artists are highly pragmatic as both artists and people in business.

Tattoo “clients” for lack of a better term, are highly sophistic in their reasoning for getting inked.

Pragmatism

What Works: I spoke with four different tattoo artists at length, and observed many others both as they worked, and as they interacted with clients and each other. Foremost what most of the artists worked into conversation and seemed to take as a given was the fact that different people looked for different styles in their tattoos. There was no high-pressure sales pitch. When the topic of style was broached, they quite openly discussed it as well as their processes.

Each artist also spoke about the fact that their first time tattooing was each on their own body. One artist, the one woman I talked to at length, said that this was dependent upon who mentored the tattooist, but it seems to be a standard practice. This is quite pragmatic from the simple idea that if they make a mistake, it is not on someone else.

Each artist also made a point of, when asked, talking about their experience as artists in other mediums first, and eventually (for a variety of reasons, including family one-upmanship, fascination with the permanency, and tenacity at breaking into a [then] all boys’ club) shifting that talent and skill to the medium of tattoos. They all kept working in drawing as well since some of the process of working with original designs is needing to redraw them and scale them up or down.

The one “sales pitch” I got was simply that if I wanted work done at the expo, I should try to get it done that day (the first of the three-day event) since prices would increase as they became busier.

Even the business cards (which I will scan and upload as well) display art from the tattooist, and usually a good representation of that artist’s style. Indeed, doing an analysis on the business cards of tattoo artists would be interesting in and of itself.

Sophistry

Crafting Truth: Let’s face it, tattooing is mostly permanent. People who decide to get tattoos do it for many different reasons, and they usually have to deal with emotional connections, and representations. Some of the artists displayed before-and-after photographs of cover-up work they did. One specific set of pictures made both the artist telling me the story and me laugh. A woman came in to his shop and had her boyfriend’s name “JR” tattooed on her body along with a few hearts. A week later she returned as her boyfriend didn’t want her to keep it (this was all the artist told me.) He turned the J into a treble clef, and worked the r into music notes. This work changed the permanency into something different, changing the reality of the tattoo, and the meaning of its perception.

Another story about a marine (who was apparently terrified of getting the tattoo, but professed no fear at having been captured in battle and tortured) had his wife’s name tattooed on his ring finger. As the soldiers are not allowed to wear jewelry in the field, this was his reminder of his wife. When he was off the field, his wedding ring covered the name.

The artist that I liked the most showed me a picture of a tattoo done on a man’s back of a lion, and a baby lion with bright blue eyes. The lion cub was a representation of his daughter, and the lion was a representation of himself.

Some Resulting Questions

What is the pragmatism of art? Art itself shifts and changes through the ages, and this can be seen as a pragmatic adjustment as what works changes for different audiences. But what about art itself? Would any of the Pragmatists we have studied see art (especially tattoos) as pragmatic in any sense?

Do tattoos affect the reality of the tattooed in the same manner as the people who view the tattoos? What is the difference? Why is there a difference? What do tattoos say about people in our culture now, as opposed to 50 years ago?