I Tattooed Lives: the Indelible Experience of Meaning and Identity
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Tattooed Lives: The Indelible Experience of Meaning and Identity in Body Art by © Chris William Martin A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Memorial University August 2018 St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador i Abstract This dissertation explores the increasingly popular practice of tattooing from the perspective of tattoo enthusiasts and tattoo artists. While the topic of tattoos and tattooing have been researched by sociologists and cultural theorists in the past, this treatment of the subject uniquely combines the perspectives of symbolic interactionism, social semiotics, and Bauman’s ideas about liquid modernity, to help understand the meaning-making semiotic potential of tattoos for enthusiasts and artists within the context of their wider socio-cultural environments. This thesis is informed by in-depth qualitative research data gathered from over a year of ethnographic field research in a tattoo studio. It also offers enthusiast narratives which were gathered from semi-structured interviews. It is important to better understand a practice like tattooing in a post (or liquid) modern era which prizes a more ephemeral existence, especially in relation to fashion, technologies, and human relations. Appreciating the meanings and reasons behind tattoos and tattooing is highly relevant in order to understand why the practice is more common, culturally relevant, and artistic than ever before despite theories of impermanence associated with liquid modernity (Bauman 2000). Indeed, some estimates say that up to 40% of those 18-35 have at least one tattoo and that it is a billion-dollar industry (Pew Research 2008). My results show that despite liquid modern life, tattoo enthusiasts continue to indelibly mark their skin with ink to express (1) self- identity (2) cultural and gender shifts and (3) artistic and emotional connections. From the perspective of tattoo artists, this research shows how artists must demonstrate dramaturgical discipline and navigate symbolic interaction to effectively traverse the cultural shifts occurring in their practice and work with their clients to produce and co- construct body art. These cultural shifts have led tattooists to become better known as tattoo artists and caused for tattoos to be more artistically demanding and aesthetically sophisticated than ever before. ii For Alex iii Acknowledgments I would like to offer the deepest gratitude to all the people who made this work possible. This includes, first, and foremost, my mentor, friend, and the person who, in many ways, has made this work possible, Stephen Harold Riggins. Working with you has meant so much to me. I could not have done this without you, nor would I have wanted to. I offer the deepest thanks to all the tattoo artists and enthusiasts who shared their time and stories with me. I hope I do you justice and represent how unique you are. Specifically, I thank Alex Néron, Marta Jarzabek, Steph Courchaine, Julien Detillieux, and Yves Néron. You have made this work both possible and meaningful. Special thanks to my committee members Scott Kenney and Liam Swiss for your valuable and respected feedback. Thanks to Memorial University Department of Sociology for financial support as a graduate student conducting the research for this project. To my lovely and brilliant wife April Lee, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to me and helping me do this. It was not always easy, but it would have been impossible without you. Thanks to my wonderful baby, Daisy for showing me what really matters. And a loving thanks to the rest of my family, Carol, Bob, Robby, Heather, and Hank. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv List of Tables, Figures, and Appendices vii-viii Introduction 1 Chapter 1 Tattoos and Tattooing in the Era of Liquid Modernity 20 Chapter 2 Methodology 45 Chapter 3 The Art and Artist Behind Your Tattoo 70 Chapter 4 Tattoo Artists as Artists 92 Chapter 5 Permanence as Rebellion: Skin and Self 133 Chapter 6 Of Cultural Change and Gendered Bodies 164 Chapter 7 Tattoos as Artistic and Emotional Signifiers 183 Conclusions 208 References 214 Appendix A Pre-Interview Brief 226 Appendix B Research Consent Form 227 Appendix C Interview Schedule 231 v List of Tables Table 2.1 Selected background characteristics of research population Table 2.2 Ethnography as a product of the Chicago School of Sociology Table 4.1 Description of Select Popular Tattoo Art Style vi List of Figures Figure 0.1 A flyer advertising the fundraising efforts of the “Manchester Tattoo Appeal” Figure 3.1 Receiving the first of many tattoos from Alex at The Studio. Figure 3.2 The client waiting area of The Studio Figure 3.3 My left arm featuring a leopard as part of my tattoo sleeve Figure 4.2 and 4.3 Photos taken at the Royal Ontario Museum Figure 4.4 Photo courtesy of Tim Hendricks, reproduced with permission. Figure 4.5 The Semiotic Square distinction of craft vs. art in tattooing Figure 5.1 and 5.2 Dr. Harry’s black outline tattoos Figure 5.3 Zoë’s Frida Kahlo inspired tattoo Figure 5.4, Sadie’s origami crane tattoo Figure 6.1 and 6.2 Jones’ Japanese-influenced crouching tiger and a portion of Sato Masakiyo's “Tiger Hunt” Figure 6.3 Helen’s skate tattoo Figure 7.1 Helen’s camera tattoo Figure 7.2 Tattoo inspired by Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon (1907) Figure 7.3 Portraiture tattoo of Hunter S. Thompson Figure 7.4 Susan’s quill pen and Canterbury Tales tattoo Figure 7.5 Rhyanne’s Banksy tattoo vii List of Appendices Appendix A. Pre-Interview Brief 226 Appendix B. Research Consent Form 227 Appendix C. Interview Schedule 231 viii Introduction My most recent tattoo is a daisy on my right hand. I see it now while I write. Getting a tattoo on the hand, neck, or face is a point of no return. It means crossing a symbolic line which carries a lot of significance in regard to things like job prospects or future situational identities (Thompson 2015). The tattoo was executed at “The Studio,” the ethnographic research site explored in this thesis. Our daughter Daisy will celebrate her first birthday in a couple of months. I like having a constant reminder of her, but I chose to tattoo my hand because its visibility symbolizes a key part of my identity. Both of my arms are tattoo sleeves; my chest, back, legs, and feet all have tattoos and most were acquired because of my research. Still, that evening, while driving, I looked down to see my freshly tattooed hand and an overwhelming wave of anxiety hit me. I pulled into a parking lot and contemplated. Did I go too far? The anxiety I felt is the fear of permanence. The fear is real even if a person could credibly argue that in the long run everything in life is ephemeral. Permanence in this work is considered primarily in its phenomenological sense as an idea shared by research participants as a subjective perception of the irreversible and irreducible. While tattoos change with time and space, both physically and with regard to its meanings, the initial practice of getting tattooed has a feeling of commitment to the finite. Indeed, as a concept, permanence is one of the major recurring themes explored in the following 1 pages. Readers will see it as an antecedent to fear and as a force to spur a sense of defiance. Sociologist Michael Atkinson divides the history of Western tattooing into six eras or generational moments: the colonist/pioneer (1760s-1870s), circus/carnival (1880s- 1920s), working-class (1920s-1950s), rebel (1950s-1970s), new age (1970s-1990s), and supermarket era(s) (1990s-2003). His book Tattooed: The Sociogenesis of Body Art (2003) is on the verge of becoming a classic within the tattoo literature. But today, it is time to update the history because the increasing social acceptance and artistic nature of tattooing is changing its meanings. We have also moved further into the era sociologist Zygmunt Bauman called liquid modernity. Ours is a world loud with desires in which stability and permanence must contend with insatiable consumerism, swift-paced existence, throw-away products, and a globalized world of humans ever competing for the newest and the best. Changing fashions and the transitory are increasingly powerful social forces and may be a challenge for practices like tattooing which command devotion, commitment, and permanence. In some ways tattooing is inconsistent with the spirit of the age. If Bauman is right, liquid modernity is more of a threat to tattooing than its earlier associations with deviance and disrepute.1 This thesis is about tattoos and tattooing in liquid modern times. I study the social semiotics (investigation of meaning-making potential) of tattoos for enthusiasts and artists 1 While Atkinson’s (2003: 46) supermarket era—characterized by choice—is still relevant in considering tattooing today, I suggest that framing the current period as the liquid modern era helps us appreciate the ambivalence we feel because of our choices. Overwhelmed with choice, the liquid modern citizen must navigate an uneven terrain and will often avoid making decisions (like getting a tattoo) because they are limiting, constraining, and permanent. 2 in the wider socio-cultural environments they inhabit. Although the research that informs this thesis took place in Canada and is of a Canadian context, I believe it has a degree of theoretical generalizability applicable to a broader Western context. For instance, in the narratives of tattoo enthusiasts in later chapters, which were collected and analyzed under a social semiotic lens, I will argue that tattoos provide an anchor of stability in the treacherous waters of contemporary society.