Tattoo's

[Anonymous No.1646056]

Hey
I was just wondering if anyone here had any tattoo's relating to literature? any quotes from books or pictures depicting a scene from a book.

i'm thinking of getting "So it goes" from Kurt Vonnegut's book slaughterhouse 5.

[Anonymous No.1646066]

I'm deliberating tattooing the word "rebel" just below my waist, in reference to Orwell's 1984.

[Anonymous No.1646069]

OP everyone has that tattoo. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get it, just saying that it's pretty common, and that may or may not inform you decision about getting it.

[Anonymous No.1646074]

http://www.contrariwise.org/?s=so+it+goes

[Anonymous No.1646077]

Get a tattoo that says "And the next night we ate whale..."

[Anonymous No.1646086]

I have a literary tattoo so simple and perfect that I'm not posting for fear a bunch of losers will steal the idea.

So there.

[Anonymous No.1646094]

I'm going to show how different I am than the rest of my generation by not getting a tattoo.

Subtle enough, but most people don't notice the irony in it right away.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646097]

Why do fucking degenerate tattoo monkeys always creep into this board?

Seriously, tattoos are the most base, primitive and tasteless form of self-expression. Nobody with a brain will see your stained skin as a reflection of your cultural depth or intricate personality.

In fact they will see the exact opposite.

[Anonymous No.1646099]

>>1646097
tattoos are cool and bitches like them

you mad?

[Anonymous No.1646100]

>>1646097
Tatoos are far cooler than your 2K photos of every square inch of the Kafka Museum, you lousy faggot.

[Anonymous No.1646101]

I want to get Kurt Vonnegut butthole, I think it's at the start of breakfast of champions. It would be cool to get a butthole tattoo but still keep it sorta classy.

anyways, upon looking through >>1646074 this website it has occurred to me that even people who read books get really stupid and trite and cliche tattoos.

[Anonymous No.1646103]

>>1646097
why does a tattoo have to be self expression?

[Anonymous No.1646104]

>>1646097
god damn this faggot, hes in every thread giving his opinions

[Anonymous No.1646107]

This quote is from Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. After reading this book my mind seemed to be opened to a world I had been searching for but was incapable of finding myself. A place where people are respected for their virtues, not for their vices. Where ability is placed above need.

People constantly ask me what it means, who he is. It is difficult to articulate all of Ayn Rand’s beliefs and philosophies. After all, there is a 1200 page book based solely on the answer to this question. In short, it is a cry of desperation and a beacon of hope in the dark. I just pray some day an attractive man comes up to me and, after reading it, tells me what an amazing novel it was so we can get married and live happily ever after. It’s ok to dream isnt it?

[Anonymous No.1646109]

I'm thinking of a few. I'd like to get something written in futhorc but I'm torn between doing "The entropy of the universe tends to a maximum." written around my arm or a rough self-translation of a few lines from Eliot. Something like "fear in a handful of dust" or the closest I could get in OE. Maybe something from Prufrock. Then on the other arm I'd like to get a random distribution in a certain square area of the letters in "Turning and turning"

[Anonymous No.1646111]

>>1646101
>even people who read books get really stupid and trite and cliche tattoos

>implying the act of getting a tattoo isn't in and of itself, cliche
>implying reading books makes you a more cultured individual

[Anonymous No.1646113]

>>1646107

[Anonymous No.1646114]

yeah.
i dunno. what if you find out the author had intended a totally different meaning of the words?
what if you have misinterpreted them and now everyone will go "what a douche"?
plus: in a couple years you might change your mind. maybe you will get super religious and find that "so it goes" conforms to a world view that no longer applies to yours (since you would think everything is in gods big ol' plan)

[Anonymous No.1646116]

>>1646111
those are both debatable points, and I think it would be hard to pin down a definite answer to either of them.

[Anonymous No.1646118]

>>1646114
> what if you find out the author had intended a totally different meaning of the words?

I would not give a fuck at all because I am a badass motherfucker who has just read The Intentional Fallacy.

[Anonymous No.1646119]

>>1646114
>author
>intended
nope

[Anonymous No.1646120]

>>1646097
WTF ?
tattoos do by no means want to forcefully express
>cultural depth or intricate personality.
tattoos are a form of self expression.
a beautiful way to communicate a message to the people you meet.
a conversation starter.
and a way to connect and to learn something new about a person you previously didnt know or understand.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646121]

>>1646099

>bitches like them

I hope the void of crass hedonism you will find yourself trapped in was worth the intellectual suicide.

>>1646103

Of course it's self-expression, but it's in such an immature and unartstistic way. Just because you have an interesting or cultured tattoo does not mean you are an interesting or cultured person.

The fact that you are so desperate to appear as one probably means you cannot easily convey it in the things you say and do because in fact you suffer from the severe cultural void which is endemic to America.

[Anonymous No.1646125]

>>1646121
> Of course it's self-expression

It is conceivable that someone could put a permanent mark on their skin that they did not intend to express something about them self.

[Anonymous No.1646128]

>>1646121
it may be unartistic because you didnt do any of the actual work.
but what about designing your own tattoo?
elaborate drawings and tattoo desing can take ours, days, sometimes they are years in the making.
are they not to be considered art?

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646131]

>>1646125

The meaning would be their expression, a viewpoint they want other people to see as theirs. There would be no point in willingly proclaiming something you don't believe in.

[Anonymous No.1646133]

>>1646125
yes. it is also conveivable that someone puts a tattoo on himself without being aware of the meaning.
analphabets have tattoos.
some people have chinese letters on them without speaking chinese.
that could mean anything.
in that case it would express their lack of knowledge and how they are naiv and take risks without thinking or doing research.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646135]

>>1646128

The inscriptions may be beautiful or unique, but it is still very unartistic and disingenuous to relate the art so heavily with yourself.

Art is about looking at meanings, not looking at the artist.

[Deep&Edgy !pSkjEcB9sQ No.1646136]

>>1646135
>Art is about looking at meanings
sooner you go to college the better

[Anonymous No.1646139]

>>1646135
i can say pretentious and be sure it's the right time to say it

[Anonymous No.1646140]

>>1646107
At a red light the other day, as I was driving to work, a middle-aged man in a blue mini-van rolls down his window and started making frantic gestures at me. At first startled, I remembered that this is a common thing. I have a simple sticker on the back of my car. Four simple words, none more than four letters. It reads, "Who is John Galt?"

For those of you who don't know what that means, click this link to purchase the book "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.

For those that do, imagine the scene. Police station in the back ground, the NPR on both radios, two cars neck and neck. Me, unsuspecting, and another person foaming at the mouth to make a comment.
"Oh man, I love your sticker. 'Who is John Galt?' My god, there's a hope for this world yet"
I couldn't help but notice the Christian Family Bookstore bumper sticker and shudder.

Amicably, I smiled, grabbed the copy of Atlas Shrugged I 'just so' happened to have with me, held it up and said:
"Words to live by, friend."


We drove on.

I went to work, I pressed the buttons on the cash register, and I dreamed of times to come. Soon enough, just eleven short hours later, I would be out of work and traveling down the street on the way to the grocery store. I hear a horn blare from a car speeding past me as they lean out the window and scream:
"Who is John Galt?!"

[Anonymous No.1646141]

>>1646140

Two in one day makes a good day. I sit in the coffee shop and pick through the book. A man, well-dressed, and in his late forties taps my table. I look up to see a smile.
"Great book you have there"
"I know it"
"First time?"
"Seventeenth"
"Hence the highlighter"
"Yes, and you may call me Hugh Akston if you wish"

We both share a quick laugh, and he walks out to his car. Shiny, red, extravagant. his new car blurs into the the motion of the passing traffic and he's gone. Three in one day is uncommon.

Settling in from the journey home, I started watching classes on Academic Earth as I got ready for bed. I watched the first lecture of four in a series on Copyright Law by Keith Winstein. As he instucted the class, he looked up from his book and said:
"Anyone read Atlas Shrugged? Any objectivists here?"

::silence::

He shakes his head as I laugh out loud, and explains how a theoretical Randian ideal has to do with a certain viewpoint of the law.

I found myself wishing I was in his classroom to be the person that jumped up and screamed

"Who is John Galt?"

Four references in one day leaves me resting assured that the world hasn't gone to an idiotic hand-basket hell.

[Anonymous No.1646143]

Unrelated, but for a while I wanted a little Spanish Galleon tattoo, to represent discovery and risk taking and adventure, but I've since changed my mind. Now I'm getting a tiny Ouroboros.

[Anonymous No.1646144]

>>1646135
even so, the meaning of the tattoo is precisely what I want to convey!
its not about "look at me, I have a tattoo" it is about
"IF you should choose to look at me here is a HINT (meaning of the skin art) of what I am about"
the meaning of the tattoo is all it is about.
and not only for the onlooker, the tattoo is also important because of
>the meaning
to the person who gets it because it has not only supervisial meaning but also
>deeper meaning
relating to personal history, experience or in this case
>important works of literature in ones life.
it is all about meaning, not about the artist

[Anonymous No.1646154]

Guys, come on. Not all tattoos are meant to make a statement to people around you. That's why some people get them in places you don't normally see. Others put them in really obvious places. That's different.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646172]

>>1646136

I should have worded that better. I don't agree that art with no meaning is valuable.

>>1646144

>"IF you should choose to look at me here is a HINT (meaning of the skin art) of what I am about"

Would it be so difficult to discern what you are about through conversation or some other less intrusive display?

It makes it seem as if you are uncomfortable that you will be able to convey the interests and experiences you claim to have through real interaction.

It's like the more a guy tells you he has a million pounds, the less chance there is of the guy actually having a million pounds.

>>1646154

>that's why some people get them in places you don't normally see.

But never in places you never see.

[Anonymous No.1646182]

If I were to get a Vonnegut tattoo it might be "busy busy busy".

[Anonymous No.1646187]

>>1646172
Tattoos also serve psychologically as a physical affirmation of something to the one with them.
This can help people keep certain aspects of their life strong,
instead of fading away through time or whims (Ironically, since many tattoos are such).

Isn't necessarily my argument as it is an assertion by various psychologists, tattoo junkies, and artists.
Definitely does not apply to everyone.

[Anonymous No.1646191]

>>1646097
With respect, you are generalizing an entire subculture. Intelligent people don't do that.

I have my country's coat of arms tattooed on my back, and it is only visible when I'm swimming or having sex. It's a personal thing that I like to wear, like a favorite shirt or haircut.

[Anonymous No.1646195]

>>1646172
>But never in places you never see.
Considering you've never seen anyone naked, that's quite a claim.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646197]

>>1646187

Attaching sentimental value to something might be your thing, but why would you need to engrave it into your skin in order to remind you?

I think psychologically it's to show other people that you are remembering something and also to show others what is important to you in order to perhaps extract pity for some loss or respect for your work as a soldier.

The exhibitionist element of tattoos do apply to everyone. No exceptions.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646200]

>>1646191

You want other people to respect you for your patriotism.

[Anonymous No.1646203]

>>1646197
all right. lets say I tattoo "welcome on board" on my penis.
then the exhibitionist aspect of the tattoo comes to play in . . . .. . my bedroom? with my gf ?
that is were all exhibitionism should take place!

[Anonymous No.1646206]

idea for a tattoo:
"tomorrow" on your wrist or the back of the hand.
that way you should be able to remember to relax and live a less stress-ful live

[Anonymous No.1646207]

>>1646197
>Attaching sentimental value to something might be your thing
I am robot. What is human?

>why would you need to engrave it into your skin in order to remind you?
It's an interesting question. Tattooing as a practice is thousands of years old, and it seems that it developed EVERYWHERE (no exceptions), likely with a lot of independent development. It lost favour in north western Europe due to Christianity, and then was reintroduced when the navies got bigger and we started exploring new lands.

So, tl;dr the act of tattooing is one of those quirks it seems human beings have, and it only fell out of favour here due to medieval Christianity.

[Anonymous No.1646217]

I've been toying around with the idea of getting a tree tattoo. The tree should be almost barren, but instead of leaves I'd want them to be miniature books. Maybe a few fluttering to the ground with a small pile at the base of the tree.

[Anonymous No.1646219]

>>1646200
you're alright. i love morrowind.

but tattoos are stupid. some people are too lazy to develop a personality so they try to attract attention with useless tattoos. tattoos only tell me how superficial you are.

[Anonymous No.1646218]

I have a full sleeve. It consists mainly of a large portrait of Apollo on my upper arm and a large portrait of Dionysus on my forearm. I also have Icarus on my inner bicep.
On my ribs I have a letter from Bukowski, 'these words I write keep me from total madness' and then his signature and his little drunken man doodle.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646221]

>>1646203

You are trying to impress the girl you are fucking with your clever tattoos which are supposed to be indicative of your clever personality.

>>1646207

You know what made it fall out of popularity?

Sophistocation and culture.

I hope you're not seriously advocating a return to the tribalistic and primitive tattooing as a fundamental aspect of 'human nature', because it's not.

It's and obsolete social construct, revived through pop culture and the hedonistic lust for attention and identity in a 21st century minds devoid of any real cultural or historic substance.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646222]

>>1646219

I agree with you.

[Anonymous No.1646224]

Tattoos can be really beautiful. If you don't like them, that's fair enough, but to try and enforce your view is so disrespectful and self-righteous it's unbelievable.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646226]

>>1646224

I'm sure they can be beautiful, but the intention is to make the person beautiful. If the beauty of the art alone was what mattered then why not just paint it on a canvas?

[Anonymous No.1646227]

ya full chestpiece of ayn rand swimming in a vat of gold krugerrands

[Anonymous No.1646229]

>>1646206
So I can learn to be a procrastinator? No thanks, I do that enough as it is.

[Anonymous No.1646239]

>>1646226

Why has art moved beyond the canvas into other media. Why canvas at all, in fact. Why aren't we still painting vases.

[Anonymous No.1646240]

>>1646226
Yeah and fuck all this digital art too. I mean, if you want to enjoy art why not paint it like a real artist? Digital pictures are so stupid.

[Anonymous No.1646241]

>>1646239

Vases? Why would anyone paint on a vase? Are they fucking stupid? You don't decorate a vase, the flowers are the decoration, anything i
else would be so horribly vulgar I refuse to even imagine it. I'll stick to painting my caves thank you very much.

[Anonymous No.1646242]

wearing a tattoo is just as lame as wearing a name brand. except its worse because you don't change tats like you change a shirt.

and i don't need tats to remind me of anything because i use my brain for that. and my life is ever-evolving, and the blank slate of my body reflects this.

but for serious. i don't care if people have tats. adults should do whatever they want with their own bodies. it's not like they're physically hurting anyone else. but i'm never impressed by tattoos either.

[Anonymous No.1646244]

>>1646221
had nothing to do with "culture".
tattoos were a mayor thing in the religions that christianity wanted to replace.
the rite of getting tattoos had a deeper meaning every time: slain foe, adulthood, blessing from the gods, etc.
they were also used to show to which tribe/citystate you belonged.
when the romans moved in, bringing christianity, it was unnecessary to show to which side you belonged through tattoos. everyone was roman.
and christianity beat down on tattooed people, because tattoos were a sign of paganism.

[Anonymous No.1646246]

>>1646241
or something.

[Anonymous No.1646259]

>>1646226

The intention is whatever the person getting the tattoo thinks her intention is. This is the point.

I don't have any tattoos, and whenever I've thought about getting one, I've decided against it ~0.3 seconds later by the same reasoning you cite. I see no reason for getting a tattoo _on myself_

But that's all I can say against tattoos. 'I see no reason for getting a tattoo.' This is all anyone can say against tattoos. Anything beyond this is silly and selfish and self-righteous. It's playground-type thinking.

[Anonymous No.1646270]

ITT a tripfag calls tattooed people out for trying to be unique when really they're just mediocre and self-serving.

I'm gonna say that again, this time emphatically:

ITT a TRIPFAG call tattooed people out for trying to be unique when REALLY they're JUST MEDIOCRE AND SELF-SERVING.

[Anonymous No.1646284]

>tattoo's

59 replies and nobody called him out on that shit? Seriously? You illiterate fucking peasants...

[Anonymous No.1646286]

>>1646284
Hm. Maybe we'd rather talk about the subject at hand than quibble over stupid shit like an aberrant apostrophe.

Way to be so very irrelevant, though.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646311]

>>1646241
>>1646240
>>1646239


Paint it on a canvas or a vase or on a computer or whatever. All those things are more progressive and sophisticated than painting on yourself because they do not forcibly associate any beauty or meaning with the object which is being used to convey the art.

The art is free to be beautiful alone, without the egotistical exploitation of tattoos.

>>1646259

I can see a reason for people who are:

1. Ugly and want to appear beautiful
2. Ignorant and want to appear intellectual
3. Superficial and want to appear cultured

[Anonymous No.1646313]

Do people still whine over tattoos? They're just another form of entertainment and expression. They're not needed of course, and are entirely based on the individual. I don't understand why people get multiple piercings, wear uncomfortable bracelets, wear tight rings, and 6 inch heels. They aren't necessary and can be impractical. But hey, it makes the wearer happy. That really is all that matters.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646318]

>>1646313

>But hey, it makes the wearer happy. That really is all that matters.

Integrity matters for most people too.

[Anonymous No.1646319]

>>1646286

I just thought it was hilarious that a person who can't handle basic grammar wants to get a lit. tattoo...

[Anonymous No.1646320]

>>1646313
gtfo with your reasonable bullshit.

and tattoos aren't even painted by the people wearing them.

>i'm expressing myself with some shit i had someone else draw for me hurrrrr

[Deep&Edgy !pSkjEcB9sQ No.1646324]

So Trufax how do you feel about that time Banksy spray-painted the cows

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646331]

>>1646324

I think in that case the canvas (cows) actually complimented the art, and not the other way around because the cows were not conscious of the art and couldn't receive any egotistical benefits from it.

[Anonymous No.1646390]

>>1646331
Fuck people who buy art. How fucking egotistical brute must you be to actually want to BUY a piece of art. It is free to be beautiful alone, without someone buying it for themselves to hang it on such an uncomplimentary thing as a wall just to want to appear intellectual, cultured, rich or so on.

[Anonymous No.1646394]

>>1646331

Didn't banksy receive egotistical benefits from it, though? Don't painters who sign their canvases receive egotistical benefits? Authors with their names on their books?

You will say, 'But they, the artists and writers, actually created the piece. People who wear tattoos artificially associate themselves with art which they did not create, in order to give off a basically false impression of themselves.'

Fine. But do you have a bookcase where you live, lined with books that you enjoy or admire? Would it be fair to say that through this bookcase you're associating yourself with books which you had no part in writing? If someone else saw the bookcase (it wouldn't be unreasonable to suppose that someone might see the bookcase), wouldn't that be the same as someone seeing another's inconspicuous tattoo during sex or swimming or something?

The real issue here is that you don't understand that everything about you is calculated, consciously or not, to impress a certain image of you on others. It doesn't matter if it's a tattoo or a hat (neither is permanent). 'But tattoos are so goddamn phoney' is all you're saying.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646419]

>Don't painters who sign their canvases receive egotistical benefits? Authors with their names on their books?

Those things are far more practical than anything else. There is no practical reason for tattooing yourself, there is no way to justify it.

[Anonymous No.1646430]

>>1646311
> All those things are more progressive and sophisticated than painting on yourself because they do not forcibly associate any beauty or meaning with the object which is being used to convey the art.

I get your idea about tattoos being in some way egotistical, although I don't think that is always the case, nor do I think even when it is the case it is much of an argument against them. However, art and "the object which is being used to convey the art" are not the separate things you suppose them to be. They are very much interrelated. Think of a sculpture. Could you separate the sculpture from the medium? Probably not.

[Anonymous No.1646429]

I don't know man, I never got any practical use out of a painting. You can maybe talk about the monetary value of a painting as practical value, but that's a whole other quagmire.

[Anonymous No.1646434]

children, all of you.

[Anonymous No.1646436]

i think tattoos and piercings in some are just a fashion. but when it goes seriously over the top, when its clearly very aggressive, eg. facial tattoos, its probably an expression of trauma more than anything else.

[Truman Capote !!cO9KVBDtkqQ No.1646456]

>>1646429

>I never got any practical use out of a painting.

I'm not talking about the practical use of the painting itself, but our association with the art. Hanging a painting on a wall in your house is a practical choice because it's easy to see and you can enjoy it, and the fact that other people who come into your house and see it is incidental, and may give you some egotistical enjoyment but it's secondary to the locations primary function.

>>1646430

>Could you separate the sculpture from the medium? Probably not.

This is similar to my views on banksy's painting of the cows. In this sense the medium compliments the art, but the art does not serve to compliment the medium.

[Anonymous No.1646458]

bump

[Anonymous No.1646484]

>>1646456
> but the art does not serve to compliment the medium.

wat. I think a lot of people would disagree with you. Let me use a different example 'cause I don't know much about banksy or his work. Think of Native American Totem Poles. If I were to write something about Totem Poles I'd probably say something about the opposition of culture and nature, and how in the case of the Totem Pole they are very much interconnected. Not only it the Totem Pole a piece of nature made into culture, but nature could only ever exist along side culture. That is to say that nature is implicated in culture, and vice versa. The Totem Pole not only compliments the nature it is built on, but it in a sense brings nature into being, because nature can only exist through the lens of culture. So here we have our understanding of nature, the medium, deepened by the Totem Pole.

[Anonymous No.1646505]

>>1646311
So then what's your opinion on Performance Art?
Marina Abramović did an exhibition in Germany where she used her own body in the process. Does this cheapen the artistic value of the piece?

[Anonymous No.1646523]

I'm considering getting a very simple tattoo of the lyre from John Keats' gravestone. Still not sure if I want it enough.

[Anonymous No.1646529]

>>1646456
A lot of art was made to compliment the medium. Just think of elaborately decorated antique furniture. I'm not just talking of ornamentation, but about paintings on wooden panels of pieces of furniture.

[Anonymous No.1646554]

>>1646224

I agree. Tattoos can be very beautiful. Pic related: it's my personal favourite.