Read the text and discuss the following.

a. Do the tattooed symbols have any meaning?

b. Are there any restrictions in pictures tattooed on the body?

c. What are the most common parts of the body to make tattoo?

d. Have you ever thought how tattoo will look like in person’s old age?

e. Tattoo removal is an extremely painful process. Do you think it’s worth doing at all?

f. Which of the types of modern art mentioned above (graffiti, piercing, tattoo) do you consider an art form? Prove your reason.

Tattoo is a marking made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment for decorative or other reasons. The term ‘tattoo’ or from Samoa, ‘Tatau’ is first referred to by Joseph Banks, the naturalist aboard Cook's ship the ‘Endeavour’ in 1769 where he mentions it in his journal.

Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since around Neolithic times. Tattoos have served as marks of status and rank, symbols of religious and spiritual devotion, decorations for bravery, pledges of love, punishment, amulets, protection, and as the marks of outcasts, slaves and convicts.

The symbolism and impact of tattoos varies in different places and cultures. Tattoos may show how a person feels about a relative (commonly mother / father or daughter / son) or about an unrelated person. Today, people choose to be tattooed for cosmetic, sentimental / memorial, religious, and magical reasons, and to symbolize their belonging to or identification with particular groups, including criminal gangs but also a particular ethnic group or law-abiding subculture.

For example, in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand, the tattoo is used for protection against evil and to increase luck. Most traditional tattooing in the Philippines is related to the bearer's accomplishments in life or rank in the tribe. Among Catholic Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, tattoos with Christian symbols would be inked on to protect themselves from the Muslim Turks. People have also been forcibly tattooed. A well known example is the identification system for inmates in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.

Extensive decorative tattooing is common among members of traditional freak shows and by performance artists who follow in their tradition. When used as a form of cosmetics, tattooing includes permanent makeup and hiding or neutralizing skin discolorations.

During the first decade of the 21st century, the presence of tattoos became evident within pop culture, inspiring television shows, etc. Formal interest in the art of the tattoo has become prominent in the 1990s through the beginning of the 21st century. Contemporary art exhibitions and visual art institutions have featured tattoos as art through such means as displaying tattoo flash, examining the works of tattoo artists, or otherwise incorporating examples of body art into mainstream exhibits.

The growth in tattoo culture has seen an influx of new artists into the industry, many of whom have technical and fine arts training.

BLOCK IV

Дата добавления: 2015-10-24