Tattoo Ideas: Words & Shelley Jackson's SKIN Project

 

Although certainly not a new concept, the use of typography (lettering) in tattoo designs has exploded in popularity over the past decade or so. Shelley Jackson's "Skin" Project, Ineradicable Stain, is a movement that has been in progress since 2003. Jackson, a previously published author, decided for her next book to put out a call for volunteers who would tattoo the manuscript on their skin, one word per participant. The novel will not be published anywhere in book form, but will be known only to the volunteers who will each receive one copy upon completion. The term completion, however, is up for interpretation. When Jackson first launched her website and proposed the idea, she stated that if not enough volunteers came forward to complete the first (and only) edition, then the incomplete version would be considered definitive. The words are assigned to volunteers at random, depending on the order in which potential participants sign a release form. The assigned word may be any size but must be tattooed in black ink in a classic book font. The word may be placed anywhere on the human body as long as the volunteer did not receive a word which names a body part. In this case, he or she can tattoo the word anywhere EXCEPT on that body part. (For example, the word "hand" can not be tattooed directly on one's hand.)

She also explains on her website that the participants are not carriers of the text, but are the words themselves, the embodiment of a concept. Any procedure that would later seek to cover up or remove the ink would be considered to alter the work and change the meaning, but only the actual death of words would remove them from the text. Jackson went so far as to say she would make an attempt to attend the funerals of her words. Sounds self-righteous? Perhaps it is, and maybe it seems as though Jackson is removing the autocracy and agency from her participants -- but that hasn't stopped 2,095 volunteers from coming forward.

Here are some examples from Shelley Jackson's SKIN project, along with a few others who are using the art of writing to convey a message best expressed in words rather than images.


By : Jaclyn Popola

Advice To Make Yourself The Best Possible

Increased happiness can be yours with the application of the simple and time honored self help tips provided in this article. Learn to cope with your problems so they don't pile up and overwhelm you. The following techniques will help you pinpoint your weaknesses and overcome them. So, relax, take a breath and prepare to read effective self help advice that will positively impact your life.

A great tip for personal development is to work to make your dreams into desires. This is the way that you can make your dreams come true. Dreams simply come from your mind, but desires come from your heart. It is the heart that leads a person to take action, not the mind.

Think positive. It sounds simple and kind of silly but it is really going to benefit you in many ways. If you start your day thinking that you hate Mondays, you are likely to find that your Monday is going to be lousy. If you start your day by thinking that it is going to be a good day, you are more likely to have an enjoyable day.

Get to know the real you. There are people who like to only see the positive in them and choose to ignore the negative. There are also people who choose to be fixated on the negative parts and forget about the positive. See the real and true you so that you can appreciate what you have and develop the areas that need it.

Sometimes people feel so lost and not sure of where their life is going. This leads them to take a stance and work on their personal development. To start this exciting adventure, you need to work on renewing your identity. You will then have an easier time deciding exactly what you need to do to make yourself a better person.

Do not allow yourself to resent your present life by grading it against the future and all of the things that you have not yet been able to achieve. Instead, look for ways to link your future to your present. Determine how well your current situation lends itself as a starting point for all the specific things you hope to someday experience.

Make sure you protect yourself. Having an excellent set of healthy defense mechanisms against the world's troubles means you'll be more likely to stick by your convictions and make good on your promises. Your worst enemy can be yourself, so turn your own worst enemy into your own best ally.

Take time for yourself. Working, having a family, and living life every day takes a toll on a person. In order to keep yourself alert and fresh, it is important to spend time on yourself every day. Read a book, relax, or do something low-key before bed every night to help yourself wind down and become less stressed.

Now, you know what it takes to turn things around and successfully pursue your self help goals. It's not hard to take charge of your destiny and pick the right path. An honest evaluation of your true desires and strengths will reveal the best course of action for you. The use of the self help techniques outlined here will help you make steady progress toward a brighter future.

Testing a Tattly: Temporary Tattoos Created by Professional Designers

Why do so many people inject ink into their skin at considerable cost and with much discomfort? Why would any rational being want to indelibly mar their otherwise pristine bodies? And why, knowing the inevitable ravages of age, would they want to inflict self-imposed discolored blemishes anywhere on their extremities?

If not for my wimpy squeamishness, I could see getting a tattoo image that represents something near and dear. I cannot say what the allure is, but the tattoo as a personal statement appeals to me on some deep level. Akin to soldiers wearing medals and fruit-salad over their hearts, tattoos symbolize accomplishment — if only endurance of the vibrating needle. Still, I am terrified by needles of any kind (even sewing), and pain is not a favorite either. So unless forced by evil powers to do so, I am not likely to have a permanent tattoo. But a temporary one? Well, that’s a thought.

And now thanks to Tattly, a new line of temporary designer tattoos, I see the possibility of body decoration in my future.

Tattly is a venture by Tina Roth Eisenberg, the designer and design blogger known as Swiss Miss. A native of Switzerland, her site and Twitter feed are followed by thousands of young designers, and her curated “Creative Mornings” talks by known and up-and-coming industry professionals are extremely well attended. With such a targeted audience, she is in the perfect entrepreneurial trajectory for making and selling design-things, of which temporary tattoos are high on her latest list.

What triggered this venture occurred when her five-year old-daughter, Ella. would come home with temporary tattoos. They would “send a shiver down my spine,” Eisenberg told me. “Cheaply designed, clip-art graphics, bad typography, you get the idea. I found myself complaining about them, over and over and realized that I can either continue complaining about it or change it.”

As a consequence, she reached out to designers she admires, presented them with the idea of designing for “skin” and, within a day, had dozens of submissions in her email inbox. “My idea was welcomed with a lot of excitement,” she reported, “I knew I was on to something.” From idea to launch of site, it only took two months. Now she’s making a profit.

Although Eisenberg acknowledges there is silly element to this, it is also fulfilling a curious, indeed primal, need both to make and wear. Even I have been wearing one for a few weeks that says “MAMA” set in a swirling swash type (designed by my wife, Louise Fili).

Each week, Eisenberg issues four new designs. “We have lots of designs in the pipeline as is and don’t really accept submissions,” she noted. “We might change that. People really, really want to send in submissions.”
When I made a passing comment that Tattly was a novelty item — a designer’s version of the pet rock — Eisenberg was quick to to take umbrage: “I think of it more like an accessory. Accessories change, adapt to the times and fashion trends. So do we.” Okay, granted that Tattly is an accessory, would people wear temporary tats?

“Why do people wear bracelets or fancy hats? It’s a form of self-expression,” Eisenberg explained. “Plus, temporary tattoos let commitment-phobes toy with the idea of having a tattoo. Some of our folks just want to freak their parents out. I personally just want to feed my inner child.”

Is this a sideline or an entrepreneurial stepping stone? “It’s just the way I function,” Eisenberg concludes, hinting that she needs to get back to work. “I see something that I want to fix and I do it. I am a maker at heart. I coudn’t find the right office environment so I created it. I couldn’t find the right to-do app, so I made my own. I wanted a more accessible conference-like event, so I created one. My daughter wore ugly temporary tattoos, so I started Tattly. I am just a very pragmatic person.”

Tatty is a pragmatic way for neophytes to test the tattoo scene. Problem is, so far mine has been difficult to wash off.


By : theatlantic