Norris 1 Celeste Norris Mr.

Borrero English 1101 (4/24/12)

Ethnography: Tattoo Artist What is culture? What influences determine whether someone shares the same culture? Is it common interest, beliefs or even where someone initiates from? Subcultures are comparable. Subcultures are defined as a group inside of a larger culture that shares the same literacy beliefs. Literacy is the ability to comprehend as well as express ones feelings towards a particular idea. Tattoo artist use literacy daily by communicating with the customers or even composing the tattoo. I have chosen tattoo artists as my sub-culture to research how they view literacy. The purpose of this ethnography is to inform those who are interested in becoming a tattoo artist on how tattoo artist use literacy and what they would need to know to be literate in this sub-culture. I will do so by conducting research on tattoo artistry, hosting interviews and observing at Uno Tattoo in Asheville, North Carolina. In this ethnography I will be discussing the antiquity on tattoo artistry as well as how this sub-culture practices literacy. I observed tattoo artist at Uno Tattoo is in Asheville, North Carolina. This tattoo shop is I very trivial and is not very popular in the Asheville area. When I arrived at the shop I noticed that the shop was grimy on the outer appearance as well as on the inside. There were skull moldings and drawings all over the blonde and navy walls. There was a mix of carpet and tile, carpet in the waiting room and tile in the tattooing room. There were couches and chairs to make the setting comfortable. The majority of the employees were Caucasian and they were smoking cigarettes and eating McDonalds. When I pulled up I asked are you all open? Joey replied are

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Norris 2 Celeste Norris Mr. Borrero English 1101 (4/24/12)

you getting a tattoo? I said no he then replied then were open, not a very warm welcome but I knew that was the place I wanted to observe. The history of tattooing. Tattoo Art has been around since 10,000 B.C. Archeological findings suggest that Stone Age folks inked their skin using primitive equipment and natural dies. (Clerk) According to Katherine L. Krcmarkik, Tattoos were believed to be discovered on an iceman named tzi that had been mummified; later it was discovered by Europeans, specifically James Cook who was traveling to the south pacific in 1769. He decided that the word tattoo came from the Tahitian word tattau meaning to mark. (Krcmarik, p.4) The tattooing procedure has evolved since the 10,000 B.C. According to the article Teen Health for Nemours, different cultures would stick the needle into the skin and manually inject the ink through a tub, which was very time consuming, but in todays society we have machines that perform at a rapid pace, automatically injects the ink and is operated by a petal (Tattoos p.3). In 1891 Samuel O Reilly patented the first electric machine, making tattooing quicker, less painful and unsurprisingly, more popular. People began to become interested in tattoo art in the 1870s when Prince Constantine joined Barnums great traveling exposition. (Clerk) In the world of tattoo art, communication is a major key to their sub-culture. As I observed Uno tattoo, I noticed that the owner named Neko, had ornamented the place in skulls, so I asked what are you trying to communicate to the customers? he answered everyone has a
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Norris 3 Celeste Norris Mr. Borrero English 1101 (4/24/12)

skull, and everyone should have a tattoo. Also Uno Tattoo had gum machines for their customers to use to tranquil their nerves. Generally speaking, Tattoo artist communicate to their customers through the scenery around the shop. Scenery sets a tone for the clients, as well as gives the clients ideas on what they want as a tattoo.

Secondly, Tattoo artist have to be capable to communicate with their customers verbally. Becoming a tattoo artist means you have to be able to construe what the clients want as a tattoo if not direct. For example, if someone was to come into the shop and ask for a red rose with green thorns, the tattoo artist would need to understand what the customer was communicating to them and pursue the drawing. Another way tattoo artist communicate with the customers is greeting them as they enter the shop, greeting the customer and making them feel welcomed and comfortable plays a significant role; making the customers uncomfortable could cause a decrease in industry. I noticed at Uno Tattoo, while most of the communication is verbal, they also have non-verbal communication, which leads to non-verbal communication.

Tattoo artists interconnect with their customers through a consent form verifying the age of the customer as well as informing the customer that there will be no refunds or responsibility if something happens to the tattoo. Although this form of communication is non-verbal it still plays an important role in communicating with the customers because it is important to warn the customers about all the precautions of getting a tattoo. It is imperative that the customer sign the consent form uplifting all the responsibilities from the tattoo shop or the tattoo artist will not proceed.

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Norris 4 Celeste Norris Mr. Borrero English 1101 (4/24/12)

In addition to communication, Tattoo artist also have their own unique language and terms that they use to communicate with each other. Karen L Hudson States There is a lot of slang terms you will hear in and outside the tattoo shop. Some of them are primarily used by tattoo artists to describe their experiences, and some are used by enthusiasts as slang terms for their tattoos. Either way, the tattoo community has broken the rules and come up with their very own vocabulary! some of these terms include: guns, irons, tats and works. (Hudson, p. 2)

Tattoo artist use every form of literacy is some way which brings me to the most important form in this sub-culture; writing.

In the tattooing industry, writing plays a significant role. While Observing Uno Tattoo, I was fortunate enough to interview Joey, I asked him what do you as a tattoo artist do on your spare time here at the shop? he answered Draw stupid shit, watch documentaries on artist and tattoo on each other. So I interpreted that as in they practice in their spare time. Tattoo artist also practice different languages like Chinese as well as different fonts. Joey also mentioned Writing is art, from books to short stories or even drawings. Tattoo artist are artist who express their artistic ways by writing them out and drawing them on other bodies as well as on their own, but practicing isnt the only writing involved. In order to get ready to perform on someones body you have to follow the standard procedure; after the sterilization and the shaving, the artist must draw/ sketch the tattoo on a

Norris 5 Celeste Norris Mr. Borrero English 1101 (4/24/12)

stencil and place the outlined stencil on the customers skin to achieve an appropriate outline. Finally, the tattooing action, the tattoo artist takes the machine, fills the tubes with ink and starts to trace the outline from the stencil. Tracing the outline is the most important because one blunder could cause the whole tattoo to be disfigured.

Last of all, reading is imperative in this sub-culture as well. Tattoo artist have to learn from their apprenticeships and the way the apprentice does things. Tattoo artist view reading in a different way rather than reading text books and newspapers. In the earlier years, it was not a requirement to have a high school diploma but according to Karen L. Hudson, in certain states a high school diploma is required. Tattoo artist also have to read up on their literary art therefore when theyre asked to do a free hand, they are able to transform the literary art in to visual art. I asked Joey what type of reading is required to become a tattoo artist? and his response was well, we have to be able to read everyones skin, for example: we dont tattoo over skin grafts. So not only do they read text, they also have to scrutinize the skin to make sure its acceptable to tattoo on.
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In conclusion, Literacy plays a major role in the sub-culture of tattoo artistry. I have discussed many factors such as history, reading, writing and communication. With this information I hope that I was able to inform those with interest in becoming a tattoo artist with the literacy that tattoo artist use on a day to day basis, so that someday if anyone is interested they will be able to understand how literacy is important at pursing a tattoo artist career.
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Norris 6 Celeste Norris Mr. Borrero English 1101 (4/24/12) Works Cited

Clerk, Carol. Vintage Tattoos the book of Old-School skin art. 300 Park Avenue South, New

York, NY: Universe Publishing, Print.

Hudson, Karen L. "How to become a tattoo artist ." About.com.tattoo/Body Piercings. N.p., n.d.

Web. 8 Apr. 2012. <http://tattoo.about.com/od/tattoosgeneralinfo/ht/beatattooartist.htm>.

Krcmarik, Katherine L. "History of tattooing." The art of tattoo. N.p., 2003. Web. 8 Apr. 2012.

<https://www.msu.edu/~krcmari1/individual/history.html>.

"Tattoos." Teen Health for nemours. n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2012

<http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_body/skin_stuff/safe_tattooing.html#>.