boundaries of performance tattoo presentation final
TRANSCRIPT
Boundaries of performance
Tattoo artists
Ritual
• ‘Secular’ as apposed to ‘sacred’
• Processes – the underlying dynamic driving rituals
• Element of OCD– Bench set up in order of
colour
• Inventing rituals inorder to provide stability
• Aftercare – same every time
How are tattoos performative?
• Reflection of the self– Meaning behind tattoo’s– Lack of meaning– Depending on the person
• Placing• Pain level• Element of vanity
– Something can meana lot to you without getting atattoo
Getting a tattoo – its status as a performance event
• Preparation
– Designing the tattoo or deciding what you want to get
• Event
– Exposing a part of your body
to be tattooed
• Reaction
– Showing people afterwards,
infusing a sense of pride in
your tattoo.
Liminalitybetwixt and between
• Separation
The moment you decide to get a tattoo & book an appointment.
The thoughts you would
go through knowing what you
are going to do will change
your body visually
forever*.* Laser removal is an option!
Margin/Limen
• The moment someone gets a tattoo.
• Anxiety
• Nerves
• Knowing if it is the right thing
• Not being able to turn back.
• Changes in society.
Re - Aggregation
• Moving back into society with a physically different appearance.
• Knowing that you have changed your body as a consequence of a decision you made yourself.
• Knowing that you can’t change it instantly if you regret it for any reason.
The social status of tattoos today
• Taboo in the past
• Respected today
• Seen as elitist
• ‘Designer’ tattoo parlours
vs. cheap shops
• Celebrities with tattoos
• An accessory
Idols
• Pioneers
– Guy Atchison – colour blocking
• Experimentation
– 10 years experience
• Artists vs. Tattoo artists
– Artists assuming they can
be tattooists
Bell’s six elements
“Formalization forces the speaker and the audience into roles that are more difficult to disrupt”. Hierarchies are naturally formed.
Formalisation
Traditionalism
Bell argues that sometimes things can become traditionalised despite not being formal. “Often formalisation and traditionalism go together and underscore the nonutilitarian nature of activities, further heightening their ritual-like manner”.
Disciplined invariance
“A disciplined set of actions marked by precise repetition and physical control”.
Rule-Governance
When rules constrain contenders and make them follow controlled pattern of interaction; “rules define and regulate the activity”.
Sacral Symbolism
Many activities “simply assume and variously express a fundamental difference between sacred things on the one hand and profane things on the other”.
Performance
“By virtue or framing, performance is understood to be something other than routine reality, it is a specific type of demonstration.”