The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
INK'D interne
From Page 11B rity's t:
est boa
hurried
"Tatooing, right now, is allow- get the
ing for a handful of individuals Caporu
who are skilled enough at the Arbor c
craft, and imaginative enough, to aged ne
work towards influencing their "Larg
own aesthetic and style inside of walk-in
tattooing," Zuck explained. "(The heavily
artists) are selling paintings and modern
expressing themselves. So it's stuff: lit
legitimate artists coming out of on t-shi
the movement, and in Ann Arbor of thos
is where it's really amazing." first tat
As Zuck put it, this is the tattoo tattoo,
renaissance. and end
But not every artist welcomes
the revived interest. As an art E
form, tattooing is the culmination
of hours spent refining a design, The
working towards a portfolio to the new
showcase the artist's preferred ers to
style. Just like painters or musi- research
cians dedicate their lives to the artistry
paintbrush or a sheet of music, differen
so do true tattoo. artists dedicate "The
themselvestothe artofembellish- you tur
ing skin. Now, that long-expended they we
time is often being reduced to get hoo
drawing a feather exploding into and the
birds on a naked shoulder. I try to
"We're not pirates ... well we part of
kind of are," Nugent admitted. Desp
"But, we're not scummy, bikery, siasm,
dirty ... but at the same time, you want w
almost want certain types of peo- how che
ple to have that kind of perception Here, C
to retain that kind of mystery and alongsi
mystique." agree: T
The access, though, seems to "I rea
follow in the ever-growing trends can do
oftattoo artistry. a proble
"When I first started, it was the it lastin
Tasmanian devils:the classic, Tas- should,
maniantattoo, the Yosemite Sam," change
Zuck mused. "Then, dolphins too - th
jumping over the sun were the wise," C
'90s era, the lower back tattoo ... Nuge
today, things are flowing in multi- import:
ple directions: One in the creative no mat
direction towards symbolic tat- the desi
toos, and the other as very literal, "I'm
straightforward tattoos, such as pickup
lettering and script." the tatt
The straightforward direction said. "I
of tattooing comes from the col- to be do
lege and young professional gen- work at
eration who, after scouring the and can,
tht b-sidt
Thursday, December 5, 2013 -3
t saw their favorite celeb-
attoos, filled their Pinter-
rds with "ink ideas" and
to their nearest parlor to
ir favorite quote tattooed.
sso described the Ann
lientele as mostly college-
wbies, eager to get marked.
gely it's a lot of college
s and first-timers. They're
influenced by the web and
ndesign, so it's alot ofrecent
ttle arrows, stuff you'd see
rs," Caporusso said."Most
e people are getting their
too, and, largely their only
so that's where that begins
ds for college students."
Evolution ofthe art
hope, though, is to allow
generation of tattoo seek-
explore the vastly under-
Ihed possibilities of tattoo
, teaching the newcomers
t styles and techniques.
other side of the coin is,
*n them on to something
eren't expecting, and they
ked on to that kind of style,
y come back, which is what
do: Education is a large
it." Caporusso added.
ite persistence and enthu-
some customers simply
hat they want - no matter
eesy the ink will come out.
aporusso, Zuck and Nuget,
de most other artists,
'he customer comes first.
ad the situation, and say'I
that for you,' and if there's
em with the design or with
:g and looking the way it
then I will recommend a
to it to make it a better tat-
iat's as far as I'll go design-
aporusso said.
nt, likewise, realized the
ance of being able to tattoo
ter how cliche or menial
gn is:
happy to tattoo. Anytime I
the machine, and am doing
oo, I'm grateful," Nugent
understand it's a luxury
ing something like that, to
mong people who are good
teach me something."
The act oftattooingis an artthat
is unlike any other: At a most basic
level, tattooing is an artist loaning
his skills to create a lasting depic-
tion for another. And though he is
an artist in his own right, with his
own, dynamic style, the premise
of tattooing is allowing another
individual to express themselves
through an artist's work.
"That's what a tattoo is: it's an
oraclethat you can look at and you
can carry it with you. And what-
ever fits for you and your culture,
I think it's right either way," Zuck
added.
The increase in tattoo interest
created a spike for master tattoo
artists; though there's more work
now than ever, there are more art-
ists, vying for customers, awards
and apprenticeships.
"What has influenced the art
as a whole is the influx of art kids,
whohaveaBachelor'sofFineArts.
And then they pick up a machine,
learn the technique and when
they do, show's over," Nugent said.
"They create beautiful pieces that
change the face of tattooing as a
whole, and it contributes to this
evolution of the art itself. I'm not
angry with that. A lot of people in
the industry don't like to see that,
but you have to step your game
up."
For artists like Zuck, stepping
his game up means taking on the
smaller projects, taking time to
speak with his walk-in customers,
paying attention to tattoo-new-
comers.
"The grass is greener on the
other side. I keep a full schedule,
I get to do whatever I want to do,
when I want to do it, and so when
it comes down to it, I can do that
so much that I lose distance from
my walk-in customers," Zuck fin-
ished. "So to sit down with some-
one and have a brief moment and
find out what's going on in college
land, I like that, that's fun.
Zuck added: "If you're hav-
ing a hard time with something,
you have to switch it up. If you're
eating the same sandwich over
and over and over, you have to try
something different."
Kanye West's
incongruous
racial persona
Jessica Ann Mitchell,
Your article, "Kanye's
Frantz Fanon Complex,"
is the most persuasive argument
against Kanye West's incongruous
social mes-
sages that I've
read thus far.
In his recent
overindulgent
onslaught '
of media
appearances,
Kanye has JOHN
repeatedly LYNCH
shown that
his intentions
of breaking
up the racial barriers of the fash-
ion world and his denouncing of
corporations are superficial and
hypocritically self-centered in
focus.
Since The College Dropout,
Kanye's once poignant social and
political message has undoubt-
edly become increasingly mis-
guided and egoistic in nature.
As the substance of his message
becomes increasingly diluted by
fame or ego, it's certainly our job
as journalists to call him out on
his mistakes.
My point in writing this let-
ter, then, is to assess the poten-
tial cultural significance behind
Kanye's recent, seemingly irra-
tional ambitions.
So what makes Kanye West,
as you said, an artist with a "tre-
mendous impact on the music
industry and pop culture?" In his
nearly decade-long career, Kanye
has transformed the world of rap
music
introsp
sounds
toire.
Kanye
consist
curve,
his mu
shaped
music i
release
At
Kanye
ing po
talk s
has re
regress
to crea
seems i
ing pro
el fashi
rap mu
matter)
repeate
shapec
calls hi
Michel
his gen
by introducing emotional of the future for the better, it's
'ection and progressive Kanye West. The reason we care
into the genre's reper- about Kanye's stance on racial
With each album release, issues is because his voice is one
has proven that he's that immediately grabs public
ently years ahead of the attention and holds a certain
and as a result, each of cultural significance. If he could
sical projects undeniably transform the world of rap music,
the course of popular who's to say that he couldn't re-
in the years following its appropriate the Confederate Flag
by claiming it as his own and
this moment, though, changing a long-standing sym-
is at a crucial turn- bol of hate into a new mark of
int in his life. In recent fashion, as he has attempted to
how interviews, Kanye do with his controversial Yeezus
peatedly stated that he tour t-shirts?
ed to a childlike state As cultural critics, then, we
te Yeezus, and today, he have an obligation to hold Kanye
more interested in creat- to the same cultural standard
vocative art and high-lev- that he believes he can hold.
on than socially conscious Behind every headline-grabbing
sic (or any music, for that faux pas that Kanye makes are
. At the same time, Kanye more subtle glimpses of power-
edly expresses a desire to ful truth and self-assessment.
culture for the better and After being overly "turnt" for
mself a "futurist" and the the majority of his recent radio
angelo or Andy Warhol of interview with The Breakfast
eration. Club, Kanye admitted that he's
fallible, far from self-actualized
and in need of the guidance of
I others to achieve the lofty goals
rovoCative he's put forth. With the press's
art Should continued pressure on the issue
of race, then, Kanye will hope-
be socially fully refine his perception of
race and culture and return
conscious. from this "childlike state" to the
same path of racial reform that
he originally pursued - creating
provocative, original art that's
rsonally believe that his as socially conscious as it is pro-
ins are not unrealistic. If gressive.
ist has the ability to influ- Best,
he aesthetic and culture An Optimistic Fan
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ambitit
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