Skin: A Mortal Work of Art

I thought it was high time for another tattoo post here. (Who would have thought that the Thursday Thirteen post about the “13 tattoos I would like to get someday” would turn out to be the most popular post of the whole damn blog? Certainly not me when I wrote it.)

Yesterday I stumbled upon a very strange tattoo in a blog (contrariwise.org): somebody had got the word “the” tattooed on his wrist. When I saw the picture I thought this was a particularly stupid tattoo. But then I saw that this guy, or rather his tattoo, is part of a work of art by artist Shelley Jackson.

Having never heard of her before, naturally I checked out her website to find out what it is all about. Turns out she wrote a story and is looking for 2095 volunteers to each get one word of this story tattooed on their bodies. The text will be published nowhere else, and only the volunteers who actually get the tattoo, will be mailed the full story. As if that wasn’t an imposing enough idea, the participants are not even able to choose “their” word. To quote from the guidelines of the project:

You will receive a letter from the author specifying the word you are assigned.

NB: The words will be passed out in strict order. A participant who does not want the word s/he is given may withdraw from the project altogether, but will not be allowed to apply for another word in hopes of getting a “better” one.
The words have been chosen for the purposes of the story, not for their suitability as decorations. Participants must be prepared for the possibility that the word they receive, once tattooed on their body, will suggest meanings unintended by the author and/or bearer.
Some words will come with a period, comma or other punctuation mark attached. For example, you might receive as your word something resembling one of the following:

(if
example,
following:
all.
“I

One would think it would be hard to find people willing to participate in such a project, but apparently there are some out there. The project was started in August 2003 and as of now, according to the status page, the numbers are quite impressive:

Number of volunteers provisionally accepted to date: approx. 1875 of 2095

Words mailed out: 1422

Words inked: approx. 510

Especially nice I found the last paragraph of the guidelines:

From this time on, participants will be known as “words”. They are not understood as carriers or agents of the words they bear, but as their embodiments. As a result, injuries to the printed text, such as dermabrasion, laser surgery, tattoo cover work or the loss of body parts, will not be considered to alter the work. Only the death of words effaces them from the text. As words die the story will change; when the last word dies the story will also have died. The author will make every effort to attend the funerals of her words.

Would you like to be a word?

As with all art one can ask oneself if this is a spectacularly silly idea, or a fantastic one. Personally, I tend to the second opinion meanwhile. I’m not quite ready to actually try to be a part of this project yet, but the thought is certainly intriguing. Especially in light of the fact that this mysterious story will only be known to the participants of the whole thing. And I am nothing if not curious. I will keep track of the progress the project makes, who knows maybe I will participate one day. Certainly looks like I will have a few years time yet to make up my mind.

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Did you hear about the man in Berlin who ripped off Hitler’s head 2 days ago?

Doesn’t that sound exactly like the start of a lame joke? But it’s true: 64 years after Stauffenberg botched his assassination attempt some random guy from Berlin managed to finally fulfill the task and rip off Hitler’s head. High time, if you ask me. I am so proud.

Ok, so it was only the head of a wax figure in the new Madame Tussaud’s branch in Berlin - but it’s the thought that counts. When I first heard of it, I thought it was brilliant. I don’t know if the incident made an appearance in the news in your corner of the world, but over here it was in the 8 o’clock news on 2 consecutive days. I really hope the guy will get some lucrative offer for an exclusive interview or something to help him pay the fines.

Of course, this whole stunt was just an empty gesture, and I’m sure the figure will be repaired soon and Madam Tussaud’s will go on making shitloads of money from hapless idiots. And the guy who did it (apparently an ex-cop, of all things) will have ample opportunity to regret his little exhibition of anti-fascist activity when he goes to court for “causing damage to property and bodily harm” (he pushed aside one of the museum employees guarding the exhibit). He will probably have to pay through his nose for the damages - while Madame Tussaud’s no doubt are rubbing heir hands in glee over the welcome publicity.

I never got the appeal of these wax figure exhibits anyway and to call Madame Tussaud’s a museum is just ridiculous in my eyes. So, while I don’t mind them asking exorbitant admission fees for the chance for people to get their picture taken with the wax effigy of their favorite celebrity (whatever that’s supposed to be good for), I have my doubts about including a person like Hitler in this money-making circus. But if you include such a controversial figure, I guess you have to be prepared for something like this to happen.

The only one I am feeling a bit sorry for in all this is the artist who actually sculpted this particular wax figure. Not enough that he had to stare at this creepy visage while he made it the first time, now he will have to do it all over again to repair the damn thing. Not exactly an enviable task…