1. Body art

2. For extended Project I had a choice of four different types of projects:
 Dissertation
 Investigation/Field Study
 Performance
 Artefact
Decision
 Dissertation
 Title: -'A study into the sociological characteristics and motivations behind body art‘
Chapters: - to understand the addictions/motivations behind tattoo's
- to exam tribal body art in order to understand its relevance within the tribe
- to understand the symbolic messages of gang culture body art

3. Title: 'A study into the sociological characteristics and motivations behind
body art‘
For my dissertation I looked at how tattoos are perceived in different cultures and
by different people. I started off by researching people’s opinions and their reason
for these opinions, especially looking at perceptions of tattoos in the work place.
Secondly I began researching into the relevance and representation of tribal body
art in different cultures.
For my last chapter I researched tattoos in gang culture, Due to tattoos in gang
culture being frowned upon by the general population I decided to look into the
symbolic meanings behind the gangs and their tattoos.
Primary research was also an important part of my project, I asked a wide range of
different people their opinions on certain things so I could compare and back up
my secondary research.
I used a range of different books and websites to find all my research so that I had
a mix of different reliable sources.

4.  To understand the addictions/motivations behind tattoo's
 42 percent of managers said their opinion of someone would be lowered by
that person's visible body art.
 Tattoo ban: Starbucks, subway, Disney world, most corporate offices and many
more.
 1 in 10 people now have one or more tattoos.
 Addiction is something that is highly associated with tattoos: Adrenaline, pain
substitution, self-expression, represent a group/organization, Cultural.

5. To exam tribal body art in order to understand
its relevance within the tribe
 Body art is a very important part of tribal culture. I looked at many different websites and books to find out the
relevance of body art within tribes.
 Aborigines, Indians, Native American , jungle tribes.
 African body art is used to express a certain individual’s status amongst their tribe, spiritual beliefs or ethnic group.
There are many different ways of creating body art such as; Scarification, body painting, beadwork, jewellery and
Mutilation.
 Face painting is probably one of the most important types of body art in the Native American culture. Unlike some
other cultures, to Native Americans it is so much more than trying to make someone more beautiful. However like
most other cultures face painting is used on special occasions to signify social status in the group and boost their
appearance.
 Henna has been around for many years. Traditionally women in India have henna painted on different parts of their
body, mainly their hands and feet, their skins and inside of their arms. This will occur for a wedding for a any other
special occasion. Henna is often linked with religious symbols. Henna history and origin is hard to trace as it has been
around for so many years now.
 Tribal body art is a way of life, rather than just art. To the certain culture the body art is a daily routine that they go
through to bring meaning to the different events that they hold within their tribe. Body art in tribes is highly
important. The body art that is used is a way to express and show many different attributes that are relevant to the
different tribes throughout their culture. Body art is a way of life for different cultures, it is used for nearly every
special event that they hold, without using face and body paints their events wouldn’t be as meaningful and spiritual as
they are. This is because different patterns and colours represent different aspects or emotions of the tribe or the
person wearing the paint/pattern.

6. To understand the symbolic messages of gang culture
body art
 Tattoos are huge part of gang culture. There are many different tattoos that are well known that
represent certain events in a person in a gangs life. Tattoos in gang culture represent a commitment
that stays with the body even after death. Gang members are committed to the gang for life and
shared tattoos are a way of unifying members of a gang.
 Tattoos in gang cultures mostly are done to unify a member within a gang. However tattoos in gang
cultures are used to distance a person from mass society and from other gangs. By a person from a
gang tattooing themselves it is meant to bring about fear and show a documentation of gang life and
it’s culture.
This can be shown in many ways whether it be a tally of the number of crimes that a certain person
has committed, representing a gang, mourning or memory of the loss of a loved one or representing
and showing a life-sentence in prison.
 Many Mexican gang tattoos often have significant phrases personal to that particular gang member.
 Symbolism and specific meaning of many of the tattoos in the Russian mafia are generally not clear
for anyone outside the gang culture .

7. Do you What are your If approached by a man in a suit or a man with many tattoos, which would you, feel more comfortable having a conversation with? Why?
have/want a perceptions of people
tattoo? with tattoos?
yes I think people with I would feel comfortable speaking to either. Because they’re exactly the same
tattoos are exactly the
same as everyone else
yes I think people with The person with tattoos, I’d have more to talk about with them
tattoos generally tend to
be more interesting than
other people
yes I think people with Either, however I’d be more interested in what the person with tattoos had to say.
tattoos are normal.
no I find them slightly The person in a suit. I’d feel too intimidated by the person with tattoos.
intimidating
yes I think people with I’d be more interested in speaking to the person with tattoos, purely because I find tattoos interesting and I’d like to ask some questions about them. But I would
tattoos are exactly the feel comfortable speaking to either.
same as everyone else. It
doesn’t make them a bad
person because they
have decorated their
skin. Everyone has the
right to do what they
want to their body.
no I don’t find tattoos The person in a suit. I really don’t like tattoos.
attractive and i don’t
understand why
someone would want
one. I think they’re
stupid
no I don’t have a problem Either of them. It doesn’t matter whether they have a tattoo or not.
with people with tattoos;
they’re exactly the same
as everyone else. I just
wouldn’t get one myself
yes Even though I have a Probably the man in a suit. I’d feel intimidated by the other person
tattoo, I feel slightly
intimidated by other
people who have loads.
yes If they have one or two The man in a suit. Because I’d just think the other person is stupid.
tattoos I think its fine. If
they’re covered in them I
just think they’re stupid
and will regret it.
no People with tattoos Depends who had a better personality. I wouldn’t care if they had tattoos or not though.
aren’t any different. They
could be a bad person
but that’s due to their
personality not due to
the fact they have a
tattoo

8. What do you think of gang culture tattoos, If you were approached by someone with a teardrop
for example; the teardrop and the three tattooed below their eye, what would your reaction be?
dots?
I think they’re scary, purely because of the I would feel slightly scared because I know what the tattoo
meanings behind them means
I’ve heard the teardrop means that they’ve I would feel intimidated, and probably try and avoid talking to
killed someone. I don’t really know what to them
think about gang culture tattoos.
I think they’re interesting and creative; also I wouldn’t be scared; I’d be more interested and ask them why
the way they get them and the tools they use they have that tattoo.
is fascinating.
I have no knowledge about gang culture I would probably walk the other way
tattoos
I think they’re interesting, they tend to have I’d talk to them like a normal person. They have that tattoo for
deep and personal meaning which is always a reason and want it to be seen and I have no problem with
interesting to hear about. that.

9. Corey Newham Free lance tattoo artist
Question Response
Did you have tattoos before you got into Yes I had about 5 of 6 tattoos before I
tattooing? started tattooing. I always wanted tattoos
since I was young. The meaning behind
them is the most important thing to me.
How do you feel about tattooing people? It’s an intense experience. You get to hear
about and deep event or stage in someone’s
life. It’s always fun though, I really enjoy
what I do, and meeting all the different
people that want tattoos. However there is a
lot of pressure, you can’t erase what you’ve
drawn so no mistakes can be made.
How has tattooing changed in recent Tattooing has become a lot more popular
years. over the years for good and bad reasons.
Some of the work people do can be shabby
due to the people that want the tattoo and
how impatient they are. I think now there is
a lot of people in the trade it pushes people
that have been in the trade for a long time
to get better and push themselves.
Do you prefer to tattoo someone that I think it’s a lot more interesting, we can ask
wants a tattoo with meaning? them about it and usually the outcome is
much better because we want to make sure
the tattoo portrays the meaning perfectly.
Tattooing just a design is just as fun and
exciting.
Do you regret any of your tattoos? No I don’t. I got all of my tattoos for reasons
and they will stay with me for the rest of my
life, just the way I want it.

10.  The meanings behind gang tattoos.
 Judgement for trials are often swayed by whether the convict has tattoos.
(Joseph Bearden).
 Inmates will often get tattoos in jail to help them survive.
 Tattoo meanings can change over time, for example; The teardrop
 Tribal body art is a very important part of their culture.
 Tattoos are highly frowned upon in the work place, unless covered.
 There are many different forms of body art

11.  Now I have completed my project I feel that I did an exceptional job on achieving what I set out to.
After researching about each chapter of my project I felt more and more confident that I understood
the motivations, relevance and symbolic meanings of body art in many different cultures and
societies. Because I understood the research that I found I was able to then put it into my own words
and concentrate on the different chapters in detail. I was able to write about understanding
addictions and motivations behind tattoos, understanding the relevance of body art within tribes and
also understand the symbolic messages of body art in gang cultures.
 During the research stages I was able to find information on each of my chapters easily, at the
beginning though I struggled with what to research having not thought of titles for my chapters. After
I realised how in depth I wanted my research to be I was then able to easily find websites and books
that I could research from.
 I found it difficult to put an argument together, I found myself just writing about facts and statistics
rather than creating an argument either for or against body art in different cultures.
 Furthermore, having completed this project I have had time to think about what kinds of things I
would do differently. Firstly I would do much more research in the time I allocated myself to
complete the research, I had to do some extra research due to running out of aspects of each chapter
to write about, which then gave me less time to complete the dissertation itself. Also I would have
referenced my dissertation as I wrote it. By referencing everything at the end I had to go back and
find where and when I found each piece of information.