Chopper's Tattoo Tour

Home , Black Label Society, In This River, Rebel Meets Rebel

Identity, Community and Embodiment: Chopper’s Tattoo Tour

Dave Snell Darrin Hodgetts Colin McLeay University of Waikato

Heavy Metal fans have a unique style of dress, music and interaction via which a sub-cultural community is formed and maintained. This article explores how this community is embodied through tattoos and the display of cultural symbols associated with the shared identity of Metallers. We employ the concept of metonym as a means of exploring the bodyscape of a particular Metaller and his interactions with others. The concept of the bodyscape is used to theorise links between community and identity as enacted at sub-cultural events.

In a dark and crowded Heavy Metal bar, the portrait. The tattoos comprise a tribute to surrounded by drunken bar patrons and loud Dimebag who was shot and killed by an music, a mutual friend introduced Dave to obsessed fan on the 8th of December, 2004, Chopper. It is important to note here that this is a while performing with the band Damageplan, self-selected pseudonym that is used in this Not captured in Figure 1 are the lyrics from In article. It comes from the infamous Mark This River (Black Label Society, 2005, track 5) ‘Chopper’ Read from Australia, a murderer and and three headstones depicting the other victims violent criminal, who our participant physically of the shooting, who are also tattooed onto resembles. Our participant has no connection to Chopper’s arm. Chopper’s lower right arm the actual Mark Read. contains tattoos celebrating Zakk Wylde, Chopper was aware Dave was conducting guitarist and lead singer for the Heavy Metal research into Heavy Metal culture. Chopper band Black Label Society, the composer of the stated that when he had first heard of Dave’s song In This River (Black Label Society, 2005, thesis he knew, sooner or later, he would be track 5) (see Figure 2). The tattoos feature Zakk approached to take part. When asked how he Wylde’s face and an autograph – having got the knew this, Chopper rolled up his sleeve to reveal musician to sign his arm, Chopper had it his heavily tattooed right arm (see Figures 1-3). tattooed as a permanent sign of fandom. As Chopper is heavily tattooed with a variety of with Zakk Wylde, Chopper’s inside lower right different images of Heavy Metal bands, the New arm displays an autographed portrait of Vinnie Zealand flag and the Holden car logo. The tattoos Paul. Along with being the brother of Dimebag, depicted in Figures 1 to 3 relate to Darrell Vinnie Paul was the drummer for the three ‘Dimebag’ Abbott who was the guitarist for the bands of which Dimebag was a member, as well Heavy Metal bands Pantera, Damageplan and as the Heavy Metal band Hellyeah. In the Rebel meets Rebel. Chopper’s upper right arm background of this section of the tattoo is a displays lightning bolts and a portrait of Dimebag Confederate flag. (See Figure 1). Below this image is the logo The current article draws upon Dave’s employed by Pantera for Cowboys from Hell interactions with Chopper. A core aim of the (CFH), the band’s first commercially successful article is to develop an understanding of the album (Pantera, 1990). The lower third of the ways in which tattoos and associated tattoo features the bass line to In this River, a descriptions can render into view community song written by the Heavy Metal band Black assumptions, practices and relationships. Label Society and later dedicated to Dimebag Choppers tattoos are colourful and embodied (Black Label Society, 2005, track 5). The arms statements of membership and community. By and hands of Heavy Metal fans are seen saluting focusing on the dialectics of tattoos and their

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 8

Figure 1. Chopper’s upper right arm Figure 3. Chopper’s lower inside right arm

transported by ‘explorers’ to Europe, tattoo wearers were characterised as being exotic savages. A well publicised example of this was Omai, a heavily tattooed Tahitian man who became an exotic curiosity in eighteenth century London (Back, 2004). Subsequently, for many Europeans having tattoos became “a mark of daring, masculinity and adventure” (Te Awekotuku, 2004, p. 78). During the 1960s and 1970s there was a ‘Tattoo Renaissance’, when tattoos were still associated by wider society with ‘deviant others’, such as bikers and hippies. However, tattoos began to gain more Figure 2. Chopper’s lower right arm widespread acceptance as an art form (Polhemus, 2004). While there are many other metonymic relationship with a Heavy Metal forms of body art, such as piercings or community, we explore how this participant’s brandings, tattooing has now become the most sense of self as a member has been imprinted established form of body art in the West (Pitts, upon his flesh. Our analysis moves beyond the 2003). For example, since the 1990s white description of specific representations to broader suburban females have been the fastest growing observations about the ways in which social tattooed demographic (Donovan, 1997). It has relationships and community are rendered also been estimated that in the United States as meaningful through mediated and interpersonal many as 15% of all people have tattoos (Sever, communication featuring these tattoos. 2003). Tattoos, identity and community The popularity of tattoos in Western Indigenous scholars writing about tattoos society has not detracted from their function in have noted that people live their lives through indigenous societies, where tattoos remain as their bodies, and in the process bodies become icons for community affiliation and identity sites of negotiation over the meanings one has for (Nikora et al., 2007). For many indigenous one’s self and the meanings other people have for societies, carving markings into one’s skin us (Nikora, Rua & Te Awekotuku, 2007). When comprises a powerful way of drawing together

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 9

places, people and events and of asserting one’s discussed a distinction in the self between the relationship with a community (Te Awekotuku et ‘I’ and the ‘Me’. He described the ‘I’ as the al., 2007, p. 150). For example, in their work self-as-knower, which represents a sense of concerning moko, or Maori skin adornment, Te personal identity, consisting of experiences of Awekotuku and colleagues (2007) discussed the continuity of self over time and across contexts, use of indigenous tattooing practices to link a sense of individuality in being distinct from wearers to their culture and heritage. others, and personal agency. The ‘Me’ is the Furthermore, wearers link themselves to broader self-as-known and consists of everything that group affiliations, with their tattoos coming to the person can call their own such as their body, represent wider social identities, relationships possessions and other people with whom they and communities. interact. This conceptualisation allows us to One group that has come to utilise tattoos recognise our identities as not simply located as markers of community affiliation are Heavy within our minds, but also as extending into the Metal fans – often self-identified as Metallers material and social world (cf. Hermans, 2001). (Snell & Hodgetts, 2007). Having a ‘Metaller The implication of James’ (1980) and tattoo’ has come to mark the wearer as loyal to Hermans’ (2001) conceptualisation of self is the music and community (Weinstein, 2000). that there is an interactional aspect to our very Heavy Metal tattoos often include symbols and being (Charon, 1979; Hodgetts et al., 2010). As images that are unsavoury to other societal Silverstone (1999) noted, what it means to be a groups. These ‘alternative’ markings, such as the person lies in our communing with others. Confederate flag or a human skull, represent Further, sharing social identities with others Heavy Metal’s association with expressions of through common practices and the display of rebellion and the darker side of the human shared symbols can constitute community (cf. condition (Weinstein, 2000). Heavy Metal tattoos Charon, 1979; Ethier & Deaux, 1994; McMillan may also represent relevant bands or musicians, & Chavis, 1986; Wenger, 1998). Material as shown by Chopper (see Figures 1 – 3) and link objects, and the interactions surrounding these, the wearer to specific concerts and festivals. can function as signs of community members’ Despite tattoos being described by ties to a larger system in which the individual is Weinstein (2000) as “key trademarks” (p. 129) of a part (Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, Heavy Metal, this art form has largely been 1981). In other words, identities can be viewed ignored by sub-cultural researchers (e.g., Kahn- as ongoing cumulative projects, developed Harris 2007; Walser 1993). Indeed, even through embodied interactions with other Weinstein (2000) devoted only a single brief people (Csikszentmihalyi & Rochberg-Halton, paragraph to tattoos. Tattoos and tattooing are 1981; Kaufman, 2000; Mead, 1934). People also ignored in literature about other forms of often experience themselves as simultaneously music and identity (e.g., DeNora, 2000). individuals and as members of communities Community psychologists have also only paid (Arnow, 1994). Such conceptualisations point passing interest to tattooing and issues of to not only the individual as part of a embodiment in the context of community (Snell community, but the importance of the & Hodgetts, 2007). Given the permanent nature community in the development of personal of tattoos and their relevance to identity, these identity. In this way, communities are absences omit key elements of many peoples’ conceptualised as social networks offering identities and experiences of community. support and a sense and means of displaying Contemporary ideas regarding identity, identities that are derived from social community, materiality and embodiment, which interactions within everyday life (Obst et al., are central to our exploration of Metaller tattoos, 2002; Pretty et al., 2007). As an important site can be traced to the eighteenth century work of in the presentation of identity, the body is a site social psychologist William James. James (1890) for the expression of community (DeMello,

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 10

2000; Williams & Bendelow, 1998). This is held within a broader life world and a particularly pronounced in the case of tattoos. As communal field and has a metonymic Diprose (2005) noted, “the modified or marked relationship with other places and bodies. body is not usually a sign of itself; it only means The interactional nature of the bodyscape something through the expression and sharing of is a common theme throughout this article. By meaning and community with other bodies” (p. exploring Choppers bodyscape as a site for 384). Embodied representations of identities identity and community, we will illustrate how communicate self to others (cf. Edgerton & people such as Chopper work to refine their Dingman, 1963; Nikora et al., 2007). core sense of ‘I’ through the use of tattoos and [The body is a] surface to be their interactions with others. mapped, a surface for inscription, as The case of Chopper a boundary between the individual For readers from a quantitative research subject and that which is Other to it, background our research methodology may be a as the container of individual little unsettling. How can you ‘generalise’ from identity, but also as a permeable a single case? Do we not have to engage with boundary which leaks and bleeds groups when conducting community research? and is penetrable (McDowell & Such questions are often posed to qualitative Sharp 1997, p. 3). researchers who use case study methods. The Symbols and icons on the body such as short answer to such questions is that we are not tattoos can represent identities and relationships seeking generalisations in a statistical sense, that tie a person to a particular community. and if personal identities are communally based Tattoos can also display personal and communal then we can research community by focusing on histories. Tattoos relating to specific events can an individual. “A case is, in an important sense, place their wearer at a particular place or places, an exemplar, which ‘goes to show’ something or can be used to evoke strong memories in about the class to which it and other members others through feelings of nostalgia. As belong” (Radley & Chamberlain, 2001, p. 326). souvenirs, tattoos link self, memory and A case is fundamentally metonymic. We are community (cf., Morgan & Pritchard, 2005). using a case study of Chopper to investigate a The concept of bodyscape is particularly particular situation in relation to the wider relevant to our argument. Within art history and social forces at play and as a way of extending cultural studies the term bodyscape has been used conceptual understandings (cf. Small, 2009) of to describe portrait paintings (Mirzoeff, 1995). the function of tattoos in the Heavy Metal Paintings of people, particularly those who are community. Through the accumulation of well known or famous, are described as a way of multiple sources of empirical material in the representing not only a particular person. These creation of our case study, we seek to images also constitute signs or symbols demonstrate how a myriad of events and representing affiliations to particular places, relationships may be interconnected and times, events and groups. A bodyscape is at once embedded in the life of our participant. personal and communal and is an expression of Findings from the fieldwork are then compared individual interests, tastes and affiliations as well through an abductive process to existing theory as being the expression of individual and and research findings and used to add depth and collective practices, values and ways of being. context to scholarly discussions regarding The bodyscape is a mediating space between the tattoos, identity, community and embodiment. inner world of a person, their participation in Our research strategy is informed by community events and the social negotiation of Simmel’s (1903/1971) approach of looking their identity as a member of a particular group. locally in order to understand systemic elements As a repository for social life, the bodyscape is of the socio-cultural world within which people

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 11

reside. This case study allows us to engage in more depth with Chopper over time, to witness and contextualise changes and developments in his life, and to conduct research with rather than on him (Hodgetts et al., 2010). We move with Chopper beyond rich descriptions offered by him to consider the broader societal significance of his experiences. At the time of this study Chopper was 39- years-old and worked as a fitter/welder. He also played bass guitar for a local band. His introduction to Heavy Metal occurred when he was in his early thirties, a time when he began watching friends play Heavy Metal covers and he developed an appreciation for the technical guitar Figure 4. Chopper and Dave playing involved. Two weeks after our initial interaction in the bar, an interview was conducted with Chopper in his home. During the interview provided a further layer of context to this Dave took photographs of items Chopper thought research. Rather than an outsider looking into a were relevant to the study, predominantly his community, Dave’s positioning shifted the tattoos. Chopper also provided a photograph of research to an insider looking around (cf. Davis him meeting Zakk Wylde. A month following the & Ellis, 2008). In this article, Dave is not first interview, Dave twice visited a local Heavy another source of empirical material as this Metal bar with Chopper (see Figure 4) and took would overshadow Chopper’s experiences. extensive field notes. On the second visit to the Instead, Dave’s active community involvement bar Chopper made friends with one of the and positioning provided a further layer of performing bands, Harvest, as three of their context and analysis when exploring Chopper’s members also have the CFH tattoo. A week after accounts, as Dave was able to place the material their meeting at the bar, members of Harvest obtained within wider community practices and visited Dave at his house where photographs his own knowledge and experience of the were taken. The significance of this interaction community (cf. Berger, 2001; Ellis, 2004; cf. will become apparent in the second section of our Hodkinson, 2002). analysis. Outsider supervision and insights were The ethnographic case study approach used provided by Darrin and Colin, who are not in this paper is informed by recent calls in Metallers. These authors provided theoretical community and social psychology for context and methodological expertise from the broader sensitive research that includes a focus on social sciences and literatures on popular music, situations, places and material objects important which were drawn upon in designing and to research participants (Foster-Fishman et al., conducting the study. Darrin and Colin also 2005; Griffin & Bengry-Howell, 2008). More provided a fresh perspective for working with specifically, the research employs an auto- the empirical materials generated during the ethnographic orientation where at least one study. As such, this research represents our member of the research team is a member of the attempt to work with empirical materials that community under study (cf. Hodkinson, 2002). Dave produced through his interactions with As well as being an academic researcher, Dave is Chopper (cf. Davis & Ellis, 2008). The resulting also a Metaller. His community links and interpretation encompasses both etic and emic intimate knowledge of the Metaller community insights.

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 12

Our analytic task was to encourage December 2004 on stage ... Chopper to communicate how he conducts his performing to a packed house. The life by showing and telling us about relationships, lightning bolts around him are a places and daily practices of importance to him. reference to his most famous guitar The concept of metonym was used as a core design, the Dimebolt. Around the analytical device to explore how, as visual front there’s three more crosses... images imprinted onto bodies; tattoos carry that represent the other three people resonances of experience and events central to a who were shot on that night, round broader community to which the wearer belongs. the back is the CFH that is the Brown (2006) stated that “the word metonym Cowboys from Hell logo that was translates from Greek to mean beyond (or after) their first commercially successful the name” (p. 317). This concept of metonym album ... The music underneath is describes a situation where one particular object the bass line from a song from the or name is used to represent something to which Black Label Society called In this it is closely associated culturally and/or spatially River and it’s also the lyrics as well (Brown, 2006). As such, metonym defines a underneath from that song. It’s also situation where a tattoo comes to represent a the song that the Black Label Society wider community. Through talk about tattoos, the dedicated to Darrell after the event practices and events associated with this group and the crowd underneath is just are articulated into view and rendered your standard concert mosh pit intelligible. Tattoos can stand for what lies paying homage to their hero as he beyond them (Selden & Widdowson, 1993) and floats away. Down the back [Figure our analysis traces events, relationships and 2] is a portrait of Zakk Wylde who is practices embodied in and beyond the tattoos. both the author and composer of the Touring the bodyscape lyrics and music up the top, which Tattoos are at once personal and communal has been signed and autographed and icons of identity and group membership tattooed when I met him a couple of (DeMello, 2000). As such, tattoos can trace a years ago. Come round this side complex history of participation and claims to [Figure 3], the next portrait of Vinnie belonging. Chopper takes us on a tour of his Paul who is not only Darrell’s bodyscape and in doing so takes us with him brother but is also the drummer for through time and space. His tour is not only of both Pantera and Damageplan and his body, but also of his cultural place in the was obviously there on the night that world and the events and experiences central to he got shot… that has also been his social and felt identity as a Metaller. Chopper signed by him and tattooed...it’s talks metonymically about, and presents himself basically one big ongoing tribute to as, a Metaller by talking about his tattoos. Thus, the memory of Darrell Abbott... I Chopper’s tattoos render forth contiguity love it. Any opportunity to educate between himself, his body, communal events and someone about the musician that other people. Chopper starts the tour with the Darrell was, the tragedy of his death, portrait of Darrell Abbott, the guitarist who was and I mean, a lot of people come up performing on-stage with Damageplan on 8 to me and go “Who is that?” and the December 2004 when he was murdered (see story begins. I’ve got no problem at Figure 1). all giving twenty minutes of my time Starts at the top [Figure 1], with the to explain who Darrell was and portrait of Darrell Abbott the guitarist exactly why I have him tattooed on from Pantera murdered on the 8th of my arm cos the more people that are

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 13

educated about it the better. In the above excerpt Chopper presents a life map in the form of tattoos that are landmarks on his bodyscape. The tattoos, in one sense, comprise monuments (Favro, 2006) of the Heavy Metal community. These monuments commemorate events such as Dimebag’s death, as well as concerts where Chopper met with high profile band members. Such tattoos, and in particular the portrait tattoos, serve as exemplars for a larger community with its own affiliations to people, material objects, events and places (cf. Mirzoeff, 1995). Through sharing his experiences and insider knowledge Chopper’s tour also provides an opportunity for personalising the Figure 5. Zakk Wylde signing Chopper’s arm images as icons for his own biography and links to Metaller culture. In his commentary, Chopper communication of his community biography. attempts to create a focus on the tragedy of Figure 5 shows Zakk Wylde signing Dimebag’s death, positioning his tattoos as an Chopper’s arm at a local music store. Wylde is ongoing tribute to a ‘fallen comrade’. Through one of Chopper’s musical idols. Such is the tattoo tour, Chopper is able to communicate Chopper’s identification with this Heavy Metal the perceived tragedy of the circumstances icon that the autograph is tattooed on his arm as surrounding the musician’s death. He sees this as a permanent reminder of the event. a way of educating others and through doing so [I thought I’d] get a portrait of Zakk he experiences positive feelings of community. done on there as well and then In participating in the tour community knowledge hopefully if I get a chance to meet is passed on to the observer, with Chopper him he can sign it and that’s how it deciphering meanings and identifying the tattoos’ happened, pretty much exactly how significance as exemplars or landmarks. Given it happened. The tattoo was finished the number of Metallers who wear tribute shirts two weeks before the concert which or hold tribute nights on the anniversary of his gave it just enough time to heal and death, it is evident that Dimebag is viewed as a then got up there, the band did a tragic figure. Chopper’s tattoos are a way of signing at the Real Groovy store up metonymically drawing these elements together in Auckland and that was when he as they can be traced back to people, places, signed it and the next day I got it events and objects. tattooed and basically the same This tour also takes us across the boundary thing happened with Vinnie . I between public and private, from Chopper’s thought I should really do inner thoughts and memories to public displays something for Vinnie so I put of identity and community (Morgan & Pritchard, Vinnie on the other side and up at 2005). A given tattoo of an event takes on the Hellyeah gig I got him to sign meaning in the context of other tattoos; when that and got it tattooed as well. combined, these tattoos create a history of The tattooed autographs on his arm represent participation in concerns and efforts to meet significant monuments on Chopper’s community leaders (band members). This is the bodyscape. They locate him at a particular bodyscape in action. Tattoos become central moment in time in relation to a famous props to Chopper’s identity and the musician. Not only does it identify him as being present at the event, but the tattooed autograph

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 14

also identifies him as having met an influential fully appreciate this significance and to community member. Chopper found the ascertain meanings not visually obvious in such experience important and meaningful enough to tattoos. The tour functions as a way of ‘filling permanently tattoo their autographs on his in the gaps’ in the same way a guided tour of bodyscape. Anyone who is willing can have Paris may uncover the Eiffel Tower’s history tattoos of famous musicians; however the wearer and deeper significance to the people who live gains further status when the tattoo is signed by there (Favro, 2006). In the same way that the person depicted, given such autographs are people in Paris are more likely to know the difficult to obtain. This signifies connection. history of the Eiffel Tower, so are Metallers While autographs can be forged, the ability to more likely to recognise the values and places discuss the circumstances surrounding their Dimebag represents. While some tattoos may procurement in detail as Chopper does, as well as have immediate visual meaning to other supporting evidence such as photographs of the Metallers, such as Dimebag’s portrait or Zakk event, authenticate the autograph tattoos and Wylde’s autograph, other tattoos on Chopper’s confirm Chopper’s status as an influential arm may not. These tattoos demand more community member. explanation due to their specialised nature. For Chopper’s tour locates him in relation to example, the CFH logo (see Figure 1), as key landmark events depicted as visual mentioned by Chopper in his tour, is a reference monuments (with their own histories) on his skin. to Pantera’s first commercially successful His tattoos speak metonymically to past events album Cowboys from Hell (Pantera, 1990). To and add depth and meaning to his body and Metallers it is visually self-explanatory and associated account. His tour takes us on a does not necessarily require a verbal narrative, pilgrimage or organised journey to sites although such a narrative explains how the associated with ritual, faith, myth and past action tattoo came to be imprinted. Other symbols (cf. Coleman & Elsner, 1995). In one sense, contained within the tattoo may require further tattoos constitute a celebration of community explanation to fully understand their relevance events traced onto skin, which allows for even for highly knowledgeable members of the resonances of moments in time to be carried community. For example, Dave did not at first forward. His tattoos bring past moments of time realise that the lightning bolts were a reference into the present as a way of remembering to a guitar design. Despite being very familiar historical community moments while at the same with Metaller culture and even with the time reminding others of these events. Dimebolt guitar, Dave did not at first recognise Subsequent references to the tattoo are also the symbolic reference until Chopper included references to the events that then transport the it as part of his tour. In this way talk in the speaker and listener back in time and space. The interviews often refers to the hidden tour is co-constructed between speaker and relationships, objects and places central to listener when a listener draws on their own Metaller culture. While there are metonymic knowledge. This is even more relevant in relation processes and relationships at play here, such to a celebrity’s death as people share where they representations still need to be explained in were when they heard the news, who they shared order for the viewer to fully ascertain their it with, and related emotions and feelings. In this interconnected meanings and relationships way, tattoos manifest in dialogue as beyond the image itself. communicative aids and landmarks for shared Tattoos provide a shared ground for the history and affiliation. The tattoos constitute key establishment of the status of interlocutors as embodied monuments on a metonymic Metaller members of the Metaller community with a landscape or bodyscape. shared history. The function of language and Insider knowledge is needed in order to embodied displays may be witnessed in the co-

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 15

construction of meaning, identities, affinities, through discussing and comparing tattoos places and events (cf. Tilley, 2006). directly. Social identities and associated [L]andscape becomes a locus of communities manifest in these interpersonal identity formation by virtue of how it interactions. In this way, like identity, was read about, toured through, community can be approached as a fluid experienced, viewed physically or in process experienced through participating in print, spoken about and painted. shared practices (cf. Jovchelovitch, 2007; Snell Here it is not the biography of the & Hodgetts, 2007). Chopper’s tattoos and monument that provides the lure, but associated tours are ways of performing identity the historical constructs of and community that is acted out and felt significance of ‘place’ that are through the body. His tattoos comprise physical cultivated by people, and emotional objects to be interacted with, directly or and affective experiences that are indirectly, and so are not limited to the encountered at these symbolic. They can not only be seen but they ‘places’ (Nesbitt & Tolia-Kelly, can also be physically touched or felt by the 2009, p. 382). wearer or observers. In this way, tattoos are a Such ideas have been voiced in relation to way of creating and articulating attachments landscapes for some time (Urry, 2005). Here we between the body, the self and community have applied them to the more intimate (Bradley, 2000). bodyscape communicated by this participant Figure 6 depicts three members of the through the display of, and talk about, tattoos. Rotorua band called Harvest displaying their The interactional character of the bodyscape tattoos. Of particular note is the CFH logo As stated previously, peoples’ bodies are prominent on all three band members. This is what they use to interact with the world. As also a tattoo Chopper has as part of his right such, how bodies are shaped and what they look arm (see Figure 1). While at the Heavy Metal like greatly influence the nature of these bar with Harvest, Chopper and Dave initiated a interactions. McNay (1999) stated that “As the conversation about Pantera. During this point of overlap between the physical, the conversation Chopper turned to Dave and asked symbolic and the sociological, the body is a “Should I?”. Chopper then handed Dave his dynamic, mutable frontier. The body is the jacket and rolled up his sleeves to show the threshold through which the subject’s lived band members his tattoos. Harvest already had experience of the world is incorporated and knowledge of the band and associated symbols realized and, as such, is neither pure object nor and so a detailed tour was not necessary. Each pure subject” (p. 98). Chopper’s bodyscape is member of Harvest then rolled up their sleeves central to his everyday interactions with other to show their own tattoos. Chopper then people. mentioned that a door man at the bar also had a Tattoos are not simply pictorial displays of Dimebag portrait tattoo. The door man was identity imprinted on to bodies. If a shared social brought over and a large Pantera discussion and identity bonding people in a community consists ‘tattoo exhibit’ ensued. Each tattooed Metaller of similarities in symbolism and art (cf. told their own story regarding their relationship McMillan & Chavis, 1986), then feelings of to the band and its music. Chopper held a community and belonging can be experienced higher status amongst this group as his tattoos through sharing of such art with others. In other contained autographs. These key landmarks words, it is not just about seeing someone else held even more meaning for community with a Heavy Metal tattoo and feeling like you members and so Chopper instead focussed on belong. Although this can happen, feelings of the circumstances surrounding him meeting belonging and social networks can be extended these influential community members. This

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 16

Figure 6. Harvest members’ CFH tattoos Figure 7. Chopper and his Pantera inspired licence plate social situation represents a performance of as not only do they prove communal affiliations identity that differs from Chopper’s originally and identifies the wearer as ‘worthy’ of having stated function of the tour. Chopper is no longer them but they are also permanently carved into educating others, but is instead sharing the body. They identify the wearer as loyal to community affiliations and the shared the group, a loyalty they intend to maintain for admiration of community leaders, while at the life. Other community members possessing and same time establishing himself as a more displaying similar tattoos constitute a display of influential and distinctive member of the group. affinity, with the tattoos functioning as items In this instance a community discussion, for recognition and focal points for connections. initiated by Chopper, was conducted in the In such instances, metonymic representations middle of the bar with tattoos providing focus are used to present and position a particular for engagement. Having an affinity for a social identity to others. particular band and its associated image, and Figure 7 depicts Chopper with the then sharing this affinity with others and D1ME licence plate for his jeep. Chopper discovering they think similarly, elicits feelings describes how he has connected a specific event of belonging and relationships between their of the anniversary of a celebrity’s death with bodies and community (cf. Bradley, 2000). In the material possession of a car license plate: this way tattoos function as visual, material and When I ordered the plates the guy embodied substitutes for the larger whole (cf. said you should get them on or Favro, 2006). Such tattoos comprise claims to around the 6th of December which is stature and are used to constitute the self as a two days before the anniversary of dedicated fan who has a high level of community [Dimebag’s] death so to have the 1 capital. They identify the wearer as not only there is sorta a subliminal reference possessing a very distinctive form of such to the first anniversary when I capital, but also as being sufficiently actually got the plates so in that knowledgeable in community and Heavy Metal respect it worked out brilliantly. I music history and thus being ‘deserving’ of not mean the…response I get to those only his tattoos but also community membership plates…there isn’t a day goes by (cf. Thornton, 1995). Tattoos are a highly visual that someone doesn’t drive past and and distinctive way of presenting the wearer as point at the plates and gives me the an influential and dedicated community member, thumbs up...Got talking to these

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 17

young fellas in a bar and [a friend] objects can “encode a variety of functions and noticed a couple of them were certain objects which acquire a secular sacred wearing Pantera shirts... [He] comes character (such as photographs that encode up and he goes “Show them your memories or mark personal histories) are arm, show em your arm” and by this retained and cherished because of their stage they were all like “What’s he extraordinary status and their implications for got on his arm? What’s he got on his self-definition. In short, it is well established arm?” The sleeves come up and they that objects mediate human relationships” (p. were all “Ohhhh my god!”. We had 32). Through sharing tattoos and an affinity for people queuing to have photos taken a certain band or style of music, connections of us with our tattoos and it’s like I and a sense of belonging to something bigger didn’t spend another dollar on than the individual are constructed through whiskey that night, an instant display and discussion (cf. Csikszentmihalyi & celebrity status, but again that’s not Rochberg-Halton, 1981; Hurdley, 2006). In what it’s about but again that shows sharing tattoos and experiences Metallers the level of feeling people have articulate a sense of community and belonging about it. on their skin that is carried with them as they While Chopper is unclear as to which came first, perform identity through a variety of different his tattoos or the plate, his affiliation and places and situations (cf. Back, 2004; Paechter, identification with the deceased musician has 2003). leaked across two different objects. Having these For Chopper his tattoos are not simply tattoos and this licence plate has earned Chopper depictions of various people, places and events, admiration (and free drinks!) from other as his bodyscape has been shaped as a source of community members. In considering such community engagement and belonging. It has interactions we enter into the domain of the come to metonymically represent Heavy Metal social life of things (Appadurai, 1988; Hodgetts not only through the tattoos themselves but also et al., under review) and recognition of how through the reaction to the bodyscape from tattoos and other objects render shared affinities, others. These reactions reify and confirm his events and practices visible (cf. Garner, 2004). community membership and in doing so are a We also see how the consumption of Heavy source of social identity and belonging. Metal music and associated symbols is an active Tattooing and interactions surrounding the process of social engagement, which involves display and interpretation of these objects also the negotiation of shared identities and exemplifies how the identities of others can meanings. In sharing a community event across become part of us, literally being imprinted a range of different mediums, a sense of onto one’s skin through portrait tattoos. In this community is established. These interactions way the personal life world is reshaped and around a shared icon provide an opportunity for expanded to encompass the images and public the expression of affinity. identities of admired band members and In interviews, Chopper is very careful to community leaders. explain the rationale behind obtaining his tattoos Discussion as not simply attention seeking. Tattoos Tattoos illustrate peoples’ connections represent his identity whilst commemorating one within the social world (Te Awekotuku et al., of his heroes and offering a basis for engaging 2007). As pictures imprinted on bodies, tattoos with others. He describes this shared affinity as draw together both the symbolic and the relating to the depth of emotion and admiration physical into the creation of a bodyscape. other Metallers have for Dimebag Darrell. Tattooing represents a way of making the Morgan and Pritchard (2005) noted particular internal visible and legible. Tattoos can also

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 18

provide a way of imprinting and picturing the such these meanings are constructed through external world onto the self (Back, 2004). This interactions with other bodies (Diprose, 2005). external environment includes the communities In geographical terms, landmarks and other to which we belong and the people with whom icons become visual substitutes for the much we share affinities (cf. DeMello, 2000). This larger city or town they come to represent. supports the assertion that our identities are not Favro (2006) described icons as “visual located purely within our heads. Our identities substitutes for the multi-faceted whole. They are also evident in display and social interactions must have a broad identity, readily recognized (Jovchelovitch, 2007); we shape and alter our by the majority of people who share a common bodies to reflect not only inner cognition but visual vocabulary and similar viewing also our external environments and interactions. skills” (p. 20). Such meanings can, however, While the body is a boundary between the require an explanation and for socially internal and the external, this boundary is disruptive tattoos they can even demand permeable (McDowell & Sharp, 1997). Our explanation as they are challenged by non- body (and the ‘I’ and ‘Me’ contained by it) not tattooed people in everyday interactions. only bleeds literally, but also leaks symbolically Metonym then involves the constructions and out through our interactions with other people to descriptions of wider meanings and associations be represented through the objects we possess or through symbolic interactions between people the way we look in order to co-construct the self in order for them to represent wider communal (cf. Tilley, 2006). affiliations and memberships. The bodyscape is both a physical entity Picturing then not only involves the and a social practice. It is a process to be built symbols themselves, but also the physical and upon, much like a geographical landscape can be symbolic interactions that construct meaning, conceptualised as a process with meanings such as the explanations we give others (Radley constructed through our engagements with it (cf. et al., 2010). Tattoos can represent relationships Wylie, 2005). The bodyscape is dialectical, and interactions beyond what is contained being constructed through the response of others within the image carved into the skin, further (cf. Gleeson & Frith, 2006). The bodyscape is a illustrating the need for explanation. For reflection of our individual thoughts and feelings example, as materially and embodied objects, while simultaneously representing the groups to tattoos can act as metonyms which transport which we belong. It comprises a physical and people to other times and places. When symbolic space for community. One of the ways communicating such narratives the in which this bodyscape is altered and used in photographer, or in this case the tattooed the presentation of identity and community person, is reliving moments and relationships affiliations is through tattoos. Tattoos are a way with others (cf. Bourdieu, 1990). Hodgetts and of not only picturing our identities, but provide a colleagues (2007) discussed how images and focal point for discussions and interactions their associated discussions are inseparable and which further shapes and are shaped by our when combined are a way for people to attempt identities. Tattoos used in this way have a to communicate their own histories and metonymic relationship with other people, identities to others. Academic literature communities, places and objects and can be an concerning the practice of walking through effective way of drawing these elements physical locations, such as Favro’s (2006) together. discussion of landmarks in ancient Rome, has Tattoos represent and connect people to described it as a way in which places are made things larger than themselves (cf. Back, 2004). as we move through various spaces (de Certeau, They have meanings requiring a shared 1984). Radley and colleagues (2010) discussed vocabulary between wearer and observer, and as how walks can be verbally recalled and

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 19

communicated in order to allow people to approach. Journal of Jewish Communal “weave together past, present and future” (p. 43). Service, 71, 29-36. Such verbal tours or narratives can re-create a Back, L. (2004). Inscriptions of love. In H. past event in the present, linking together places Thomas & J. Ahmed (Eds.) Cultural and times. They also illustrate how histories, bodies: Ethnography and theory. (pp. 27- relationships and events can be linked to a 54) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. landmark, or to the image of it, but may not be Berger, L. (2001). Inside out: Narrative contained within the image itself (cf. Hodgetts et autoethnography as a path toward rapport. al, 2007). Through our discussions and co- Qualitative Enquiry, 7(4), 504-518. constructions we draw together the relationships Black Label Society. (2005). In this river. On behind the tattoos. While the bodyscape can Mafia [CD]. New York: Artemis Records. include the inscribing of histories onto the skin, Bourdieu, P. (1990). Photography: A middle- through our talk and interactions with others we brow art. Cambridge: Polity. tie together the important places, people and Bradley, J. (2000). Body Commodification? events much like a tourist guide giving a Class and tattoos in Victorian Britain. In walking tour of a city. J. Caplan (Ed.) Written on the body: The Through being the focus of the tour, tattoos in European and American tattoos provide a focal point and a practical history. London: Reaktion Books. context for discussions in order to create shared Brown, M. (2006). A geographer reads meanings (Hodgetts et al., 2007). As Hodgetts Geography Club: Spatial metaphor and and colleagues (2007) stated: “photographs and metonym in textual/sexual space. Cultural discussions are inseparable; they are points of Geographies, 13(3), 313-339. progression in participants’ attempts to show and Charon, J.M. (1979). Symbolic interactionism: tell their experiences and situations” (p. 278). An introduction, an interpretation, and Similarly, tattoos and related discussions are integration. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. inseparable. Tattoos are also points of Coleman, S., & Elsner, J. (1995). Pilgrimage. progression in a person’s life and are a way for London: British Museums Press. people to share their experiences and life worlds Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Rochberg-Halton, E. with others. While tattoos do need a “common (1981). The meaning of things: Domestic visual vocabulary and similar viewing symbols and the self. Cambridge: skills” (Favro 2006, p. 20), the meanings of Cambridge University Press. tattoos often need to be explained in order to De Certeau, M. (1984). The practice of establish a shared vocabulary. In other words, everyday life. Trans S. Randall. London: such codes need to be taught or passed on in University of California Press. order for them to be shared. While a picture may DeMello, M. (2000). Bodies of inscription: A tell a thousand words, images often carry cultural history of the modern tattoo multiple meanings that can vary from person to community. Durham, North Carolina: person. In this instance, an image can say too Duke University Press. much, and so viewers may need to be steered in DeNora, T. (2000). Music in everyday life. order to garner the particular meanings that are Cambridge, New York: Cambridge trying to be represented. University Press References Diprose, R. (2005). Community of bodies: Appadurai, A. (1988). The social life of things: From modification to violence. Commodities in cultural perspective. Continuum: Journal of media and cultural Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. studies, 19(3), 381-392. Arnow, D. (1994). Toward a psychology of Donovan, L. (1997, November 16). Wearing Jewish identity: A multi-dimensional their art. Bismarck Tribune, p. C1.

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 20

Edgerton, R.B. & Dingman, H.F. (1963). Hodgetts, D., Chamberlain, K. & Radley, A. Tattooing and identity. International (2007). Considering photographs never Journal of Social Psychiatry, 9(2), 143- taken during photo-production projects. 153. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 4(4), Ellis, C. (2004). The ethnographic I: A 263-280. methodological novel about Hodkinson, P. (2002). Goth: Identity, style and autoethnography. Walnut Creek, sub-culture. New York: Berg California: AltaMira Press. Hurdley, R. (2006). Dismantling mantelpieces: Ethier, K.A. & Deaux, K. (1994). Negotiating Narrating identities and materializing social identity when contexts change: culture in the home. Sociology, 40(4), 717- Maintaining identification and 733. responding to threat. Journal of James, W. (1890). The principles of psychology Personality and Social Psychology, 67 (Vol. 1). New York: Henry Holt. (2), 243-251. Jovchelovitch, S. (2007). Knowledge in context: Favro, D. (2006). The iconicity of ancient Representations, community and culture. Rome. Urban History, 33(1), 20-39. New York: Routledge. Foster-Fishman, P., Nowell, B., Deacon, Z., Kahn-Harris, K. (2007) Extreme metal: Music Nievar, M. & McCann, P. (2005). and culture on the edge. New York: Berg. Using methods that matter: The impact Kaufman, S. (2000). The ageless self. In J.F. of reflection, dialogue, and voice. Gubrium & J.A. Holdstein (Eds.), Aging American Journal of Community and everyday life (pp. 103-111). Boston: Psychology, 36, 275-291. Blackwell. Garner, A. (2004). Living history: Trees and McDowell, L. & Sharp, J.P. (1997). Space metaphors of identity in an English gender knowledge: Feminist readings. forest. Journal of Material Culture, 9 London: Arnold. (1), 87-100. McMillian, D.W. & Chavis, D.M. (1986). Sense Gleeson, K. & Frith, H. (2006). (De) of community: A definition and theory. constructing body image. Journal of American Journal of Community Health Psychology, 11(1), 79-90. Psychology, 14(1), 6-23. Griffin, C. & Bengry-Howell, A. (2008). McNay, L. (1999). Gender, habitus and the field: Ethnography. In C. Willig and W. Pierre Bourdieu and the limits of Stainton Rogers (Eds.), The handbook reflexivity. Theory, Culture & Society, 16 of qualitative methods in psychology (1), 95-119. (pp. 15-31). London: Sage. Mead, G.H. (1934). Mind, self and society: From Hermans, H.J.M. (2001). The dialogical self: the standpoint of a social behaviourist. Toward a theory of personal and Chicago: University of Chicago Press. cultural positioning. Culture & Mirzoeff, N. (1995). Bodyscape: Art, modernity Psychology, 7(3), 243-281. and the ideal figure. London: Routledge Hodgetts, D., Chamberlain, C., Gabe, J., Morgan, N., & Pritchard, A. (2005). On Dew, K., Norris, P., Madden, H., souvenirs and metonymy: Narratives of Nikora, L. & Carlson, T. (Under memory, metaphor and materiality. Tourist Review). Emplacement and everyday Studies, 5(1), 29-53. use of medications. Health and Place. Nesbitt, C., & Tolia-Kelly, D. (2009). Hadrian’s Hodgetts, D., Drew, N., Sonn, C., Stolte, O., Wall: Embodied archaeologies of the linear Nikora, L.W. & Curtis, C. (2010). monument. Journal of Social Archaeology, Social psychology and everyday life. 9(3), 368-390. New York: Palgrave MacMillan. Nikora, L.W., Rua, M., & Te Awekotuku, N.

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 21

(2007). Renewal and resistance: Moko in of Chicago. contemporary New Zealand. Journal of Small, M. (2009) ‘How many cases do I need?’ Community & Applied Social Psychology, On science and the logic of case selection 17(6), 477-489. in field-based research. Ethnography, 10 Obst, P., Zinkiewicz, L. & Smith, S.G. (2002). (1), 5-38. Sense of community in science fiction Snell, D. & Hodgetts, D. (2007). Heavy Metal, fandom, Part 1: Understanding sense of identity and the social negotiation of a community in an international community community of practice. Journal of of interest. Journal of Community Community & Applied Social Psychology, Psychology, 30(1), 87-103. 17(6), 430-445. Paechter, C. (2003). Masculinities and Te Awekotuku, N. (2004). He maima aroha: A femininities as communities of practice. disgusting traffic for collectors: The Womens Studies International Forum, 26 colonial trade in preserved human heads (1), 69-77. in Aotearoa, New Zealand. In A. Kiendl Pantera. (1990). Cowboys from hell [CD]. Irvine, (Ed.). Obsession, compulsion, collection: TX: Atco Records. On objects, display culture and Pitts, V. (2003). In the flesh: The cultural politics interpretation (pp 77-91) Alberta: The of body modification. New York: Palgrave Banff Centre Press. MacMillan. Te Awekotuku, N., Nikora, L.W., Rua, M. & Polhemus, T. (2004). Hot bodies cool styles. Karapu, R. (2007). Mau Moko: The world London: Thames & Hudson of Maori tattoo. North Shore, New Pretty, G., Bishop, B., Fisher, A. & Sonn, C. Zealand: Penguin Viking. (2007). Psychological sense of community Thornton, S. (1995). Club cultures: Music, and its relevance to well-being and media and subcultural capital. everyday life in Australia. The Australian Cambridge: Polity Press. Community Psychologist, 19(2), 6-25. Tilley, C. (2006). Introduction: Identity, place, Radley, A., & Chamberlain, K. (2001). Health landscape and heritage. Journal of Psychology and the study of the case: from Material Culture, 11(1), 7-32. method to analytic concern. Social Science Urry, J. (2005). The place of emotions within & Medicine, 53, 321-332. place. In L. Bondi, J. Davidson and M. Radley, A., Chamberlain, K., Hodgetts, D., Smith (Eds.) Emotional Geographies. Stolte, O. & Groot, S. (2010). From means Aldershot: Ashgate. to occasion: walking in the life of homeless Walser, R. (1993). Running with the devil: people. Visual Studies, 25(1), 36-45. Power, gender and madness in Heavy Selden, R., & Widdowson, P. (1993). A reader’s Metal music. Hanover: University Press guide to contemporary literary theory. of New England. Lexington: University of Kentucky Press. Weinstein, D. (2000). Heavy Metal: The music Sever, J.M. (2003). A third of Americans with and its culture. New York: Dacapo Press. tattoos say they make them feel more sexy. Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: The Harris Poll. Retrieved from http:// Learning, meaning and identity. www.harrisinteractive.com. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Silverstone, R. (1999). Why Study the Media? Press. London: Sage. Williams, S.J. & Bendelow, G. (1998). The Simmel, G. (1903/1971). The metropolis and lived body: Sociological themes, mental life. In D Levine (Ed.), On embodied issues. Routledge: New York. individuality and social forms: selected Wylie, J. (2005). A single day’s walking: writings (pp303-313). Chicago: University Narrating self and landscape on the south

The Australian Community Psychologist Volume 23 No 1 April 2011 © The Australian Psychological Society Ltd Chopper’s Tattoo Tour 22

west coast path. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 30(2), 234-247.

Address Correspondence to Dave Snell University of Waikato Private Bag 3105 Hamilton 3240 New Zealand Email: [email protected]

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Chopper for taking part in this study and his further cooperation in the writing of this article. This research was supported by grant No: 2397 from the Tertiary Education Commission of New Zealand.