Tattoos: The Strange, Funny and Weird Art of Modern Life

Tattoos are no longer a trademark for sailors, sideshow artists, criminals, drug addicts, gangsters, and bikers as more people have worn tattoo on parts of their bodies in recent years. The public, in general, have an extreme bad impression towards those who are wearing tattoo as they have been regarded as a life related to crime. Nevertheless, nowadays, this bad perception has changed in accordance to the progress of the society as more and more people tend to have parts of their bodies tattooed. Therefore, it will not be surprising to know that celebrities and even political leaders are wearing tattoo as the surge of the modern trend of fashion that have invaded modern human’s lifestyle.

According to a 2006 study by the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, 36% of Americans ages 18 to 29 have parts of their bodies being tattooed. Some of them thought that the tattoo they are wearing might have eased their regret and eliminated their shameful feeling due to the physical abnormalities and appearance.

The tattooing pictures are created by artists by injecting ink into a person’s skin with a dental drill-like electrically powered tattoo machines into the dermis (second layer of the skin) to deposit the insoluble ink into the skin for a person’s permanent lifetime. The machine moves the needle up and down with a drop of insoluble ink in order to puncture the skin between 50 and 3,000 times per minute by penetrating the skin deep down into about a millimeter thick.

The tattooing pictures, logos or symbols, sometimes, have been regarded as a permanent makeup to further emphasizing the physical appearance of the individuals. The styles and designs they chose reflecting the diverse consumer choices in arts, Science, nature, computer, Mathematics, games, medicine and even some abstract expressions.

Basically, there are four types of common tattoo designs, among them are Tribal, Polynesians, American, Japanese and Chinese tattoo arts. Polynesians portray the designs of island, scenes, tropical images and picturesque ocean views; Tribal designs symbolize the random pattern of lines and curves being incorporated to form an abstract form of arts; American designs symbolize American cultures such as eagles, the American flag, cross bones, and roses; Japanese tattoos are more popular with the designs of dragon, fish, and Japanese characters; while Chinese designs include complicated subjects of dragon, god, mountain, fountain, Great Wall of China, Chinese symbols and characters which are popular among its communities.