The influences of primitive cultures in

contemporary tattoo and Body Art-the tattoo as identity indicator-

Bikers, sailors, rock stars, office workers,

prisoners, brokers, professors... Almost every social

class has members that choose to be the adepts of a

cultural phenomenon that has followed us since the birth

of the first civilizations... TATTOO.

In the following lines we will summarize this

cultural phenomenon (as well as some others that derive

from this) that became so strong in the present day and

we will also draw a parallel with it’s characteristics

from the primitive period, focusing on those that

continued to influence today’s tattoo. We will briefly

speak about tattoo’s role of identity marker as well.

Although in the field of tattoos there are numerous

influences from the primitive period, we have to

understand that an enormous change tooked place in its

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characteristic. If the tattoo was invested in the

beginning with magical attributes, it being entirely

charged with sacrality and so not allowed for everybody,

nowadays this characteristic is totally lost, it becoming

extremely popular. This desacralization of the tattoo,

about which we have to mention the fact that it started

during the Antiquity1, also entailed an unpleasant

feature, the kitsch, about which we will not talk though.

The tattoos continues to inspire, yet, in today’s

society fear, particularly because some ideas, mostly

religious ones, that aren’t so permissive and targets the

perfection given by God, Allah, etc. to the human body,

the modification of it being considered as an

intervention in the divine creation. The range of

reactions raised by this practice also goes through

interest showed to the different techniques of body

modification, admiration, etc. “Tattoos will always raise

questions, either in the mind of a friend or an enemy, conscious or

unconscious, not regarding if the person that judges is and educated and

open one or one with a lower intelligence and more obtuse in front of

1 the desacralization of the tattoo happened because of the need to permanently mark the slaves in order to be recognized if they would escape

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changes. These questions aren’t asked regarding the technique involved in

the process but rather the message that is being carried, the purpose of it2”

The word tattoo first come into the European

continent in 1771 when the brave sailor and explorer

James Cook returned from his first journey in Tahiti and

New Zeeland. Aboard the ship of which he was the captain,

HMS Endeavour, was also the naturalist Joseph Banks to

whom it belongs the first mention of the word in his

diary. The term has its roots in the geographical area

that overlaps the Pacific Ocean, more exactly the

Polynesian archipelago, where it was found under

different forms amongst the different primitive

populations founded there, amongst others being tatu,

tatau, tattaw, tattow or tattaow. We can in this way guess the

characteristics that derived from the primitive area and

become influencing the contemporary tattoo.

But what does the tattoo stand for today and how is

it done. By tattoo we understand a complex technique of

incision into the layers of skin until the derma,

followed by applying various pigments specially conceived

for this purpose. The complex technique is done with a2 SCHIFFMACHER, Henk; RIEMSCHNEIDER, Burkhard, 1000 Tattoos, Köln, Taschen, 1996

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tattooing machine that relies, largely, on the same

principle that was used before, namely the repeated

incision with the aim of several needles. The first

electrical tattooing machine was invented in 1891 by

Samuel Reilly and became increasingly popular ever since,

although, in many cases, like for example the prisoners

or beginners, when such a precise machine that uses

needles that have a thickness of 0.33 mm it is replaced

with other more rudimentary mechanisms

that uses nails, guitar strings,

automatic pencils, etc. The pigments

used are synthetically ones and are

obtained from a multitude of chemical

compounds as iron oxides, titanium

dioxide, acridine, etc., some visible

under normal light, other only under U.V. light.

When it comes to the reason of making a tattoo and

its functionality we can affirm the fact that besides its

esthetical purpose it satisfies a series of other roles,

more or less important about which we will talk in the

following lines.

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We need to understand that the tattoo plays a very

important role in transmitting a nonverbal message, it

having the extraordinary capacity of overcoming the

cultural-linguistic boundaries. In this case we have for

instance the tattoo as a carrier

of personal optimistically beliefs

about life, love for the wife or

lover, mother, patriotism, etc. In

this way we have the example of

the most famous contemporary tattoo, the marking on

visible surfaces of the body of the name of the wife,

lover or mother, often associated with a heart or some

flowers. The patriotism (which sometimes degenerates in

some subcultures like skinheads with their extremis

nationalistic convictions) is illustrated by tattoos like

Made in and the name of the mother country.

Another type of messages transmitted with the help of

tattoos is constituted by happy or sad milestones from

the life of the tattoo bearer. The wedding day, the day

of achieving a certain goal,

the birthday of a son or

daughter or other important

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places and memories are reasons for this tattoos. Sailors

for instance mark their first sail near an important

maritime checkpoint (Equator line, Cape of Good Hope or

Cape Horn being only a few of them) with a tattoo.

Soldiers put into their tattoos information about won

battles, this practice being used by primitive societies

also where heroes were tattooed after each wined battle.

We can talk also about memento mori3 and in memoriam4

tattoos that are done to commemorate the death of someone

loved. Suggestive images reminding about death are often

putted together with the portraits of the deceased ones

in this kind of tattoos. Either if we’re talking about

skulls, graves, blood or sometimes the place in which the

loved one died they are only a few of the elements of

these tattoos. This kind of tattoos has its roots in the

primordial need to keep alive the memory of a loved one,

believing that if this thing is done the deceased one can

continue its life after death. This belief gave birth to

an entire death cult that is the natural response of the

human reason to the unknown, the death.

3 (lat.)remember you die 4 (lat.)in the memory

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Another type of messages transmitted this way is the

protest against authorities. The tattoo becomes this way

the most extreme form of protest against the leading

class because it can not be

removed any other way than by

painful methods like acid

rinsing or removing the

entire skin, or by killing

the bearer. As illustrative

examples for this kind of message are the tattoos of the

prisoners from the Russian gulag5. The dissidents

imprisoned there wrote, for example, on their bodies

words like “I thank communists for my happy childhood” and added,

for increasing the satirical character of the message, an

image of a child suffering of starvation. Other tattoos

illustrated the rulers of the communist state, Lenin and

Stalin, as pigs in various situations. Sometimes they

were represented with swastikas or being crucified, at

other times having sexual intercourse’s with other pigs

or even with the devil, smoking from a pipe filled with

opium, etc. another manifest materialized in the art of

body modifications is the famous tattoo with three dots

made between the opposable finger and the index, better5 Soviet labour camps

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known as “mort aux vaches”6, which is a undermining message

targeted towards the French police authorities, it’s

members being identified as cows. The police is very

often the target of such protesting tattoos in most of

the cultures.

The tattoo as indicator of group or life style

appurtenance is probably the most often one today. We

have in this way the so-called American gangs7 or the

infamous motorcyclist bands as Hells Angels, which have

their own distinctive signs tattooed on the skin of their

members. Those tattoos are as important today as they

were for the members of the kakean society for example, a

society of head hunters from the Indonesian archipelago,

for which the appurtenance tattoo was vital in order to

not be mistaken with an outsider and be killed. The same

thing happens in the case of the tattoos of the gang

members, they also being extremely violent. Also today’s

consumerist society ended up reflecting its influences

even in this field with tattoos that illustrates

different logo’s, usually being preferred those of famous

brands such as tobacco, alcoholic drinks or clothes. The

6 (fr.) Death to the cows7 groups with a strong “territory instinct”, organized around a neighbourhood

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profession is in many cases another influence factor in

determining the model of the tattoo, the objects or

episodes that are most characteristic

being chosen to be illustrated.

Another strong field of influence is

made up by the music field, the fans

of music stars taking their

obsessions so far that they choose to

tattoo the name of the band or their

sign.

Another purpose of the tattoo is the intimidation.

The tattoo that is done to serve this reason misleads the

enemy’s focus in the middle of a street fight, thus

offering the chance to strike back. This role was present

also amongst the primitive populations, they often

choosing to tattoo their skin in such manner that it

would induce the illusion of a bigger physic. The

warriors sometimes resorted to an

entire arsenal of monstrous images

to serve this purpose, like for

instance another pair of eyes over

the real ones. Today violent

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messages are used in order to stir fear and to make the

opponents conscious of the physical superiority of the

bearer. Words like “death before dishonour” or “born to fight” are

building up this category of tattoos and as

representative images that have the power to impress the

enemies are those filled with power such as skulls,

daggers, black panthers, etc. Japanese gangsters, the

so-called yakuza are covering their entire body for

helping them in the illegal card games, hanafuda. The

skinheads about which we have already talked are marking

the signs of radicalism groups that are known for the

strong racism that characterizes them. Nazi swastikas

are some of the symbols that offer a hint about the

violent character of such persons

The sexual tattoo, filled with erotic meaning, can

let to be known the sexual orientation of the bearer or

can be done as a “sexual ornament” that indicates the

virility of the one that is tattooed with it. The most

often symbol used is the famous sign of the band Rolling

Stones which illustrates some lips with a hang out tongue.

Messages such as kiss this, placed on the buttocks or in

the pubic area, represents an explicit call for sexual

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intercourse. This is found out on the bodies of sado-

masochists, perverts, gays, lesbians, etc.

The protective tattoo is one that lost the importance

that it used to have but which continues to exist even

today. The reason why this kind of tattoos lost its

importance is the technological progress seen all over

today’s society, progress that makes our world safer.

Despite this it continues to exist even today under

various other forms, it’s role not being the protection

against diseases, for instance, anymore, how the majority

of them used to be but for protection against some

dangers that can not be controlled by science, hazards.

In order to illustrate this we have the example of

sailors that have tattoos that protects them against

death by drowning. They are tattooing on a leg the image

of a rooster and on the other the one of a pig. This kind

of tattoos that protects the bearer against the dangers

raised by the sea were also seen amongst the old

populations, Maoris for instance chose the image of a

dolphin to protect themselves against sharks. The often

snake or dog bites are another reason for making this

type of tattoos. Protection against today’s biggest

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danger, guns, constitutes the strongest reason for making

a protective tattoo. We see this kind on soldiers, police

man, gangsters, generally on those that have to deal with

guns on a regular basis. This kind of tattoos originates

in the protective tattoos used once by the warriors in

battles to be protected against enemy weapons.

There is a type of tattoos that has an extremely

pragmatic reason, them serving for finding out someone’s

identity if mutilated, in time of war for instance or for

marking the medical history or blood type. Let’s remember

about the Maori tattoos that consisted of numerous curved

lines scattered on the face,

representing the genealogical

line or in other words the

identity of the person. We can

say about the above mentioned

tattoos that have their origins precisely from these

genealogical tattoos. The identity becomes this way

integrated in the physiognomy of the person through

imagistic means. Today we have the example of American

soldiers that are tattooing on their under arm region

their blood type or the SS soldiers on their forearm.

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The last but not least of the influences of primitive

culture in the field of tattoos about which we want to

remind is the famous tribal tattoos. We can not speak

though about any other kind of functionality besides the

purely aesthetic one or, although no so often, to mark a

travel in an exotic region. This kind of tattoo is today

totally destitute of any kind of hidden symbolism like it

was when every line, point or spot had its own hermetic

meaning. The only aspect kept from this kind of tattoos

is the reach palette of signs and patterns.

Now we will begin to talk about another field that

interests us regarding our discussion about primitive

influences in body changing. We are talking about a

relatively new founded movement which nevertheless

presents some archaic aspects, Body Art.

Although the tattoo is included in the field, Body

Art doesn’t limit itself only to this. Body Art is a

category of body changing techniques taken to the extreme

and which intends changing the public’s perception over

the human body by desacralizing or on the contrary, by

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sacralising the human body. Among the techniques involved

in this cultural phenomenon we reckon subdermal implant

or transdermal8 one, skin perforation, piercings, tongue

splitting, modifying the shape of the body by encorseting

or other mutilating methods.

Defining for this movement is the pain and radical

changing. In the primitive societies where to achieve a

spiritual goal, usually communication with gods, a

physical sacrifice is needed. Exactly this is aimed

during different Body Art performances, giving up the

consciousness by submitting the body to pain by extreme

body modifications until falling into unconsciousness.

Let’s begin the series of presentations by displaying

those who chooses to radically change

their bodies so that they resemble

animals. The concerned modifications

remind us to a great extent about the

primitive cult of animism, of The Animal

Spirit. We have the examples of Denis

Avner, cat man, Erik Sprague, lizard man and

Jocelyn Wildenstein, cat woman. We need to8 which penetrates the derma, coming out to the surface

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understand the fact that these people subdue themselves

to this kind of modifications not only because they want

to resemble them but also because they’re actually

identifying themselves with them, exactly like the

shamans illustrated in caves like Lascaux or Altamira.

Those shamans embodied on the divine level into animals

during the ecstatic processes they subdued.

Another primitive cult that still makes its presence

felt by its influences in Body Art is the death cult.

Body Art, as we already

mentioned wants that

through its performances

to emphasize the human

body’s ephemeral

character. We have as an example Rick Genest, the zombie man

that chosed to tattoo his entire body so that it

resembles a decomposed human body. Noticing that he

illustrated a skull on his face we can not forget about

the importance showed by the primitive societies to the

skull and skeleton which were considered the shrines of

the soul. We also need to remind about Orlans for whom the

change of aspect is on a regular basis. For example she

tooked some pictures with women that personified the

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canon of beauty in different periods and submitted

herself to surgical operations so that she will resemble

them. In the moment in which the procedures were done she

choses another canon and started the whole process from

the beginning.

We would like to briefly remind about a technique

that’s used also by Body Art. We

are talking here about attaching

metal rings around the neck. We

can not overlook the women from

the Chiang Rai region in

Thailand whose most well known tradition, preserved from

ancient times, is exactly this practice, the attaching of

metal rings.

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Maybe the most known representative of

Body Art who’s influenced by primitive

cultures is Fakir Musafar. He is considered

to be the father of modern primitive

movement, which is formed by people that

are submitting themselves to extreme and

painful body modifications which resembles

some techniques implied by passing

rituals. The artist executed during his

1966 performance a so-called O-Kee-Pa suspension,

technique that is found amongst the Mandan American

Indian tribes on the banks of the river Missouri. These

practices, similar to those involved in the Sun Dances from

other tribes, targeted the achieving of a state of

unconsciousness which was liken to be assimilated to a

trance, ecstasy, contact with the spiritual world, such

moments being an occasion for a journey into the upper,

sacre world. Being done as part of crossing rituals, the

pain was the sacrifice that every neophyte had to make in

order to access specific powers and atemporal universes.

Musafar accesses those shamanic realities, him being

closer than anybody else who practices Body Art.

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As a conclusion we would like to affirm the fact that

Body Art is one of the most important art from the point

of view of conceptual connection with the primitive

cultures. This art calls in different body modification

and pain induction techniques that are similar to those

used by primitive cultures

Bibliography

SCHIFFMACHER, Henk; RIEMSCHNEIDER, Burkhard, 1000 Tattoos, Köln, Editura

Taschen, 1996

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_art

23.05.2013 19:37

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_modification

23.05.2013 19:45

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fakir_Musafar

23.05.2013 19:58

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_primitive

23.05.2013 20:16

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suspension_(body_modification)#Chest

23.05.2013 20:25

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlan

23.05.2013 20:33

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