Boundaries of performance

Tattoo artists

Ritual

• ‘Secular’ as apposed to ‘sacred’

• Processes – the underlying dynamic driving rituals

• Element of OCD– Bench set up in order of

colour

• Inventing rituals inorder to provide stability

• Aftercare – same every time

How are tattoos performative?

• Reflection of the self– Meaning behind tattoo’s– Lack of meaning– Depending on the person

• Placing• Pain level• Element of vanity

– Something can meana lot to you without getting atattoo

Getting a tattoo – its status as a performance event

• Preparation

– Designing the tattoo or deciding what you want to get

• Event

– Exposing a part of your body

to be tattooed

• Reaction

– Showing people afterwards,

infusing a sense of pride in

your tattoo.

Liminalitybetwixt and between

• Separation

The moment you decide to get a tattoo & book an appointment.

The thoughts you would

go through knowing what you

are going to do will change

your body visually

forever*.* Laser removal is an option!

Margin/Limen

• The moment someone gets a tattoo.

• Anxiety

• Nerves

• Knowing if it is the right thing

• Not being able to turn back.

• Changes in society.

Re - Aggregation

• Moving back into society with a physically different appearance.

• Knowing that you have changed your body as a consequence of a decision you made yourself.

• Knowing that you can’t change it instantly if you regret it for any reason.

The social status of tattoos today

• Taboo in the past

• Respected today

• Seen as elitist

• ‘Designer’ tattoo parlours

vs. cheap shops

• Celebrities with tattoos

• An accessory

Idols

• Pioneers

– Guy Atchison – colour blocking

• Experimentation

– 10 years experience

• Artists vs. Tattoo artists

– Artists assuming they can

be tattooists

Bell’s six elements

“Formalization forces the speaker and the audience into roles that are more difficult to disrupt”. Hierarchies are naturally formed.

Formalisation

Traditionalism

Bell argues that sometimes things can become traditionalised despite not being formal. “Often formalisation and traditionalism go together and underscore the nonutilitarian nature of activities, further heightening their ritual-like manner”.

Disciplined invariance

“A disciplined set of actions marked by precise repetition and physical control”.

Rule-Governance

When rules constrain contenders and make them follow controlled pattern of interaction; “rules define and regulate the activity”.

Sacral Symbolism

Many activities “simply assume and variously express a fundamental difference between sacred things on the one hand and profane things on the other”.

Performance

“By virtue or framing, performance is understood to be something other than routine reality, it is a specific type of demonstration.”