Call for Submissions - Literary Tattoos

THE REST IS SILENCE:

Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide

Edited by Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor


CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS! We are seeking high quality photographs of your literary tattoos for an upcoming book. Send us your ink! Submissions are open to all kinds of literary tattoo work: quotations from your favorite writer, opening lines of novels, lines of verse, literary portraits or illustrations. From Shakespeare to Bukowski to The Little Prince in a Baobab tree, if it's a literary tattoo and its on your body, we want to see it.

All images must include the name (or pseudonym) of the tattoo bearer, city and state or country, and a transcription of the text itself, along with its source. For portraits or illustrations, please include the name of the author or book on which it's based. We'd also like to read a few words about the tattoo's meaning to you -- why you chose it, when you first read that poem or book, or how its meaning has evolved over time. How much (or how little) you choose to say about your tattoo is up to you, but a paragraph or two should do the trick.

Please send clear digital images of the highest print quality possible to tattoolit@gmail.com. Pixel resolutions should be at least 1500 x 1200, or a minimum 300 dpi at 5 inches wide. Text should be included in the body of the email, not as an attached document. Also be sure to include one or more pieces of contact information, so we can let you know if you're going to be in the book.

Anthony's Pin-Up

Many people may wonder, when I pass out a card or flier, how often do people write to me and share their tattoos?

Not often.

But I'm cool with that. And it makes it extra special when someone does, especially when they're sharing a nice tattoo.

I ran into Anthony back in June coming up from the subway at 34th Street in Manhattan. We e-mailed back and forth a couple of times and then he sent me this tattoo, which I hadn't even seen when I saw him in the station:


I'll let Anthony do the rest of the talking:

"The tattoo I adore the most is my pin-up girl. I named her Amber, I just love that name the most. My tattoo artist is name Twace. I got my tattoo done at Gotham City Tattoos out in Brooklyn....I have about ten tattoos all in total but she is my favorite one 'cause growing up I just love pin-up girls. It took me nearly three years to find the right one for my arm. I came across to this girl doing a pose wearing nothing but a button down men's shirt with her heels and long black hair. She's the one for me, plus it is sexy when a girl is wearing a men's shirt...even in the morning. My back is getting done, a gypsy woman. So it will be awhile to get that one done."

Thanks to Anthony for sharing his awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Butterfly Effect: Susan's Ink

I met Susan at the laundromat a couple weekends back and took pictures of the butterfly tattoos on her right arm:


She loves these colorful insects and, like many people who get butterfly tattoos, appreciate them as symbols of freedom:


Susan has her whole back tattooed (she showed me a bit of her lower back and said she'd think about sending in a photo) and got these tattoos on an impulse, in December 2004. She was living in the Bronx at the time, and when she was unable to get into Manhattan due to the last transit strike, went to a local shop and had the butterflies added to her arm.

Thanks to Susan for sharing these cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

High Culture Vs. Low Culture: Two of Sam's Tattoos

Sam has seven tattoos, but it was this one that first caught my eye:


Yes, that is an exclamation point (!) on the back of her neck and head, inked by Mony at Body Graphics Tattoo in Philadelphia.

So why an exclamation point? Sam explained that, in the video game Metal Gear Solid on the Nintendo System, an exclamation point appeared over a character's head when he was spotted by a villain. The programming was very basic, so when the technology developed to improve on the (!) appearing over the head, the makers of the game kept the symbol, and it became
somewhat camp.

Sam remarked that her nod to "low culture" is offset by this tattoo which is on her outer right arm:


I recognized the insignia immediately, having read Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49 in college. Sam reminded me that this symbol is that of the muted post-horn, a key plot element in the novel.


This is her "high culture" tattoo to complement her video game punctuation mark.

Thanks again to Sam for sharing her interesting tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Spike's Tattoos Are Out of This World

Spike stopped and talked to me several weeks ago outside of Madison Square Garden.

His right forearm bore many different stars and his upper arm displayed the solar system.

I didn't get all the details that I wanted to, as there was a lot of information to process, but I filled in the blanks as best as I could to get a very loose interpretation of his star art.

This theme, in particular, was the most fascinating aspect of his tattoos, because his cluster of stars are all uniquely designed by different people, from children to friends.

This one was drawn by a five-year old:


Spike said he and the child's parents were fascinated by the inner design, and only later discovered he had been trying to replicate the NY logo of the New York Yankees.

I labeled each star in my notebook, but didn't get much elaboration.

Here's a star comprised of Star Trek logos:


And an atomic representation of a star:


I'm not sure about this one:


The Madonna star?

This star with sparks shooting out of its points was also drawn by a child, an eight-year old:


And this complicated one incorporated many symbols, including an ankh, a cross, and the circle revolving around the star is a peace symbol:


Spike did not identify the six-pointed star as a star of David, but as the symbol of Solomon:


And another:
And another:
I believe there were eight in all, and Spike acknowledged he would most likely add more if the right design came along at the right moment.

Here's part of the Solar System:


The Sun occupies the elbow and the planets revolve upward. Saturn can be seen near the shoulder. Here's a closer view of the Earth and her satellite, our Moon:


The two different sections of Spike's arm are unified under the celestial theme.

On his other arm, on the bicep, the theme becomes more fantastic:


What appears to be a space ship racing away from an exploding planet is precisely that.

The tattoo represents Superman as a child fleeing the exploding planet of Krypton.


Much of Spike's work was tattooed at Avalon II in the North Park section of San Diego.

Thanks to Spike for sharing his intergalactic tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Behold, Quadrapus!

I met Colleen on Penn Plaza and her ankle tattoo jumped out at me from a distance. It was so unusual, I just had to stop and ask her about it.

Behold: Quadrapus!


If this four-limbed octopus-like creature looks fanciful, it's because it is based on a child's beach toy used to mold sand shapes.

Colleen explains that she and about twenty of her friends all got this same tattoo, but in different colors, to commemorate their summer where a majority of time was spent at the beach. There was a house involved, which was the epicenter of activity, and the plastic octopus beach toys were on the walls, used as decor. "Quadrapus" became a symbol and mascot for a memorable season.

This was inked by Josh at Broken Heart Tattoo in Keyport, New Jersey. Coincidentally, a tattoo from Broken Heart appeared just this past Saturday here on Tattoosday.

Incidentally, Collen has seven other tattoos, and I couldn't resist snapping a shot of this literary ink:


The quote "You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake " is from the seminal first novel Chuck Palahniuk novel Fight Club. Tyler Durden's character states:

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all a part of the same compost pile."

Palahniuk is her favorite author and she loves the meaning behind this quote, from a passage where the speaker is questioning the notion of individuality. Deep down, Collen explained, he's saying we're all the same, that no one is as special as they think they are. Juxtaposed with the snowflake, the symbol of uniqueness, this tattoo makes a bold statement.

Check out a couple other Palahniuk literary tattoos here over on the awesome site dedicated to literary ink, Contrariwise.

This was inked at Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey by Chi Chi Gunz. Work from Silk City is New Jersey has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Thanks to Colleen for sharing her fun and interesting tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Two for Tattoosday: Two Sisters Share Their Awesome Ink

Jenni estimates she is 35-40% covered in tattoos. When I stopped her and her sister Kailla, I was interested in seeing what she would offer up to Tattoosday readers.

Even though we can't see it in it's entirety, she offered up this chest piece:


Jenni, who was visiting from Philadelphia, says the tattoo honors her mother and father, whose names, Bogda and Adam , are enclosed in the heart at the center of the piece.

When I asked her what he folks thought of this, she smiled and said that they were both "flattered and horrified". Yet, they recognized that the sentiment behind the tattoo was sweet.


The piece which extends out and over the shoulders, was tattooed by Don McDonald at Bodyworks Tattoo Studio in Pittsburgh. She estimates that the whole thing took about seven hours in two sittings.

When I finished talking to Jenni, I turned to Kailla and asked if she was interested in sharing, as well. Unlike her sister, she didn't appear to be tattooed much. In fact, I'd estimate all I could see was about this much of her left bicep:


Much to my delight, she peeled her shirt back to reveal this astonishing tattoo:


Still only about two weeks old, this amazing tattoo was also done by Don McDonald in Pittsburgh (where Kailla resides).

She says the center of the tattoo is a Polish falcon which honors her family ancestry in Eastern Europe.

The whole piece took ten hours, which is evidenced by the scale and detail of this wonderful tattoo.


Both Kailla and Jenni were kind enough to take the time to chat with me about their beautiful body art, and I thank them for their contributions here on Tattoosday!