Tattoo Stories

Since I collected tattoo stories over this past week, I thought it might be fair to share my own. I ask people about their ink mainly because there is always a story to tell. No one gets something permanently visible attached to their body without some purpose. Scars share a similar narrative, but are often there without consent. So I ask because I want know. Sometimes people ask me about mine, sometimes not. Sharing my own story is not the goal.

So – left arm. In 2011 I team taught a class with Bob King called Virtual Worlds. We largely taught the class in Second Life and so had to create avatars. Mine evolved over some time, but eventually took the shape of a kind of steampunk robot with lots of text tattooed on his skin. I spent a good deal of time thinking about text tattoos – about three years. What I wanted didn’t take too long to figure out, but pulling the trigger took some time. I needed something to inspire me, to push me, to hold me responsible. I settled on a line from the introduction to Artuad’s Theatre and It’s Double. That has been in my head since I first read this text when I was 19. The full quote “actors should be like victims burnt at the stake and signaling through the flames” was a bit wordy, so I opted for this.

It is there to remind me that I have spent the last 30 years gathering knowledge, but not experience. If I truly love the intent behind this quote then I should do something about it and not just read or talk or think. The quote implies action. It’s a prompt, a warning, a threat, a watchful eye always in my peripheral vision – unless I cover it up – which means I am not following its lead. As I have told a handful of people at the workshop I am here because of these words.

The right arm is more recent – about two years difference between the two. I’m still working to understand that one. The quote comes from Hugo Ball’s diary Flight out of Time. As a founder of Dada Ball’s ideas have had as much of an impact on me as Artaud’s. “discard the ego like a coat full of holes” means exactly what it says – set the ego aside, get the fuck out of your head, listen, don’t judge, and absorb. The two are meant to complement each other.