Skin Deep

P1070585-Recovered

WORDS Issy Thompson

ILLUSTRATION Alice Wilson

 

Following Kate Moss’s recent fortieth birthday, it is perhaps fitting to reflect back on her illustrious career. The supermodel burst on to the scene in the early nineties with startling aplomb, purveying a toothy smile and a nicotine habit. Twenty years on, Moss is the woman who has everything, and it seems there is no stopping her. In 2012, Moss went as far as to reveal, in a rare interview with Vanity Fair, that she herself is a work of art. She has an original Lucien Freud tattooed onto her lower back; two swallows inked by the artist himself, who reputedly used to tattoo his fellow sailors during the Second World War, using only ink and a scalpel. “I mean, it’s an original Freud,” mused Moss, “ I wonder how much a collector would pay for that? A few million?”

 

As usual, Moss is at the forefront of a trend, embodying the great shift in the way that tattoos have come to be regarded. In recent years, they have been appropriated by the figureheads of the fashion world and experimented with in the world of art. In Amsterdam there is a tattoo museum, whilst in 2000 Spanish artist Santiago Sierra held an exhibition in which he tattooed four heroin-addicted prostitutes.

 

Tattoos have entered the mainstream. In a survey recently conducted by the Guardian, 1 in 5 adults are now inked — 29% of adults between the ages of 19-44 now have a tattoo. Previously the domain of those attempting to transgress the norms of society — punks, bikers, angst-ridden Slipknot fans — tattoos have now lost their shock factor.

 

In fact, they are becomingly increasingly highbrow. Disregarding Wayne Rooney — who has “Just Enough Education to Perform” across his arm — contemporary tattoos are frequently delicate etchings of obscure symbols or coded messages. Freja Beha has one that reads “serendipity is life,” whilst another, scrawled across her neck, denotes the world “Float”. Angelina Jolie, the don of celebrity tattooing, has one that is so intimidatingly academic that it is practically indecipherable. The tattoo somehow combines a Tennessee Williams quote with the Arabic word for ‘determination’, which is attached to the coordinates of her child’s birthplace.

 

Yet, despite the karma-related, pseudo-academic aspects of contemporary tattooing, it has not lost its edge. Tattoos are still seen to be sexy — and they sell. Male model Ricki Hall is covered in them, and reputedly has a coffin marked into his forearm, which he is steadily filling with the names of various ex-girlfriends. Cara Delevigne spent the majority of last year persistently tweeting pictures of her growing collection, posting multiple pictures the lion she had tattooed on her finger. Gisele Bunchden has a shooting star tattooed on her wrist in memory of her Grandmother; whilst Zayn from One Direction explained the meaning behind his latest tattoo in an eloquent tweet that read, “For every1 asking what the new tatt means it says be true to who you are.” Even the latest advert for the feminine, decorous fashion house, Valentino, pictures a pair of very masculine forearms, swathed in a sleeve of intricate tattoos, clutching a pair of women’s sandals.

 

Tattoos have become the playthings of celebrity culture, and the focus of discerning sales teams, because they possess a permanent aura of creativity, the lasting appeal of timeless individuality. For many, tattoos are now something to aspire to rather than to avoid — a token of personal flair, a marking of originality. Tattoos, then, are not merely a badge of style; they transcend the superficial world of fashion. They enable us to form a sense of identity in a changing world we do not fully understand. If society really is becoming more uniform, tattooing remains a way to hold onto a part of yourself, to retain an element of colour in a world that some believe is becoming increasingly grey. In an interview with the Guardian, tattoo artist Sean “Woody” Wood tried to explain the power of tattoos, the innate vitality that they can provide: “A tattoo gives you something to live for,” he asserts, “A tattoo offers you something personal and fun and exciting in a world that can be drab… People’s souls are crying out for that. Tattoo’s are great for… getting up in the morning and looking in the mirror and thinking: look at that! A work of art, in progress.”

 

This idea of progress is fundamental to an understanding of the lasting power of body-art, for it challenges the traditional argument that is pitched against tattooing. As we get older, we get uglier. Gravity is victorious — our skin sags. Tattoos become stretched, distorted, mutated. But this is a somewhat superficial perspective. For who, as they become older, has not made bigger mistakes or has bigger regrets than getting a tattoo? Who does not have bigger responsibilities or fears? There is something remarkable about the permanence of a tattoo, which becomes both a reminder of a more carefree time and a mark of progress. Tattoos take heed of the lesson learnt in The Picture of Dorian Gray: we cannot conceivably stop time. Tattoos change as we change; they are small reminders of where we were, and who we used to be.

 

In a recent interview, Marc Jacobs spoke particularly poignantly on the subject of his tattoos, scorning the notion that he might reject them in times to come. He has an extraordinarily unique collection, including a picture of SpongeBob SquarePants on his arm, and a sketch of Elizabeth Taylor sporting 3D glasses — images that might seem strange and laughable to outsiders. But to Jacobs, they are a reminder of his creative legacy, a constant souvenir of the processes he has undergone in his personal and professional life over the years. For Jacobs, they reflect the ideas behind his fashion collections, but beyond that, they are a collection of art within themselves. Jacobs’s tattoos, in their eccentricity, represent the fundamental power that tattooing holds in the modern world: they are fun, they are unique, and they show that, although we may not have access to Lucien Freud, we can all be artists.

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