Gone are the days when art tattoos were the domain of sailors and circus performers. In fact, three in ten Americans now have some form of ink. As the world shifts to a digital model and revives itself from a pandemic, the tattoo industry is evolving alongside it.
Unlike many industries, the tattoo business has moved slowly but steadily. The method of consumption is changing, but artists and customers are beginning to adapt. Read on as we discuss the place of tattoos in the digital age.
Tattodo
Tattodo is an innovative website aiming to bring tattoo culture into the digital age. It is one of the first all-in-one tattoo solutions. Imagine a Pinterest and Google Business hybrid for tattoo artists, studios, and customers.
A Copenhagen-based startup, the website is run by Hannah Smellie and Brady Mason. Their slogan is “Everything Tattoo” and the site lives up to expectations. It streamlines the process of getting ink, from finding inspiration to getting the right professional to do the job.
In addition, they are building a social media network of fans and artists. This allows personalized recommendations and if you can’t find an artist, they can even come and find you. By offering geolocation and mobile applications, Tattodo is changing how tattoos are bought and created.
New Technology For Art Tattoos
One technology that is sure to have a huge impact on tattoo culture is augmented reality. The team at Tattodo is already working on an AR application. This will allow you to superimpose an image of an artist’s work on your skin, resize and move it around to see how it works.
In essence, this is actually better than the real process you get when viewing a potential tattoo. You would normally get the blue-lined stencil on your skin before you decide to have the actual job done.
This is your solitary guideline. With AR, you can see it in full color without ever visiting the studio.
AR is making the process of selecting a tattoo much more enjoyable. It is almost like a try before you buy experience.
Crypto Tatts
Another example of the value of the tattoo within the digital world is that of tattoo culture within the cryptocurrency sphere, particularly with the platform BitClout.
BitClout lets you buy creator coins valued against a person’s reputation, both socially and artistically. And a few creators have scored large investments as a consequence of their clout-themed ink.
One website, BitClout Pulse, paid an alleged $50,000 for someone to get their logo tattooed on their backside! Is anyone else worried that the more tattoos are used as marketing, the more the art form might disconnect from the essence of what makes it cool?
A movement toward matching tattoos has also begun which aims to show belonging and community. Individuals such as photographer Ayla Croft, musician Clay Perry and creator Wendy Leigh (the latter two have launched an official tattoo registry) have had a diamond logo tattooed on their hands, showing their support for the BitClout platform.
As tattoos have often done, they are being used for affiliation to a cause or group. In this case, it is a crypto-based social network. What is a better way to show your dedication to something intangible then representing it with something so physical?
The Permanence of Art Tattoos
New technology is connecting artists and customers much better than they ever could before. Platforms like Tattodo will lead to much more transparency and better quality work. This has happened with everything from restaurant delivery apps to tradespeople review websites. But by bringing the tattoo into the digital domain, are we devaluing its process?
For many people, a tattoo is more than an image. It is something that represents their being, a memory, a milestone event, or a change in their life. The permanence is why art tattoos are so important as a medium.
But with thousands of new corporate logo tattoos happening, are we at risk of the art form of the tattoo degenerating into a form of marketing?
Skin and Ink
In the forward to The World Atlas of Tattoo, written by James Elkins, he gives a touching description of why skin is so beautiful to write on:
Your skin tells people you’re healthy, how old you are, whether you are embarrassed, nervous, or sick. That’s the language of skin. “I’m getting older,” it says. In a wrinkle, or a blush, “I love you”.
Whatever happens, Elkins is right. The real beauty of tattoo art is not the image or the message it conveys, but the skin it is upon. That is a beauty no filters, AR, or JPEG image compression can take away.
Featured image credit: Cottonbro on Pexels
