Add colour to a blank canvas.

I have recently toiled with the idea of getting a tattoo (perhaps to stick it to my conservative Afrikaans upbringing), but I am too scared to do it. Not because of the pain or that I will regret it later, but just because I would never be able to decide what symbol/image I would carry with me for the rest of my life. (I can hardly decide what top to wear for the rest of the day.) Earlier this year we did a project where we had to digitally manipulate a photograph and apply a tattoo to our own bodies. This was a great chance to experiment!

I must just add that I think tattoos are an awesome form of expression. Alexandra Howson mentions in The Body in Consumer Culture;

"Societies have developed their own culturally specific ways of reshaping, moulding and marking the human body in order to signal changes in social status....or to demonstrate social value through painting or masking (Falk 1995)."

I feel that getting a tattoo is a form of demonstrating social belonging or status, even if this "belonging" is not to the mainstream mindset. Although some would argue that this is not an attempt to conform but rather an act of rebellion, having a tattoo will give you status amongst non-conformist subcultures. There is a sense of empowerment even if others don't agree with this method of "body marking".

I don't really know where I am going with this. The point I am trying to make is actually quite simple- I view the body as a blank canvas and even though I don't have the guts to add anything permanent to it's surface, I still see my semi-permanent attempts (i.e make-up and clothing) as adding colour to a blank canvas.