Body art is the term used to refer to tattoos, piercings, and other similar forms of physical modification. Body art has long been a part of cultures around the world, but it has only recently begun to spread more widely across the globe. While some may view body art as a form of self-expression or decoration for the body, others consider it an act of rebellion against traditional norms.
The first recorded examples of body art can be found on ancient Egyptian mummies and in various cave paintings. The most common type was the tattoo, which was used as a form of identification or rank within the military or by prisoners. Tattoos were also used to represent certain religious beliefs, such as that found among the Maori people in New Zealand. In modern times, tattooing has become increasingly common among those who wish to express themselves through this means.
A variety of different types of body modification have been practiced throughout history and are still being practiced today. While tattoos have remained popular through much of history, lip plates have become less common over time. Lip plates are a type of jewelry that is placed on or inserted into the lower lip and worn by women in parts of Africa and Asia. The lip plates have developed into different styles over time, with some being added at
There are many different body arts out there. The main ones that have survived through to the modern day are: Tattoos, Body Piercings and Brandings. Each has it’s own history and meaning.
Body Piercings is a relatively recent form of body art. It dates back to 2000BC in Egypt where it was very popular among women of high social standing. The ear lobe was the most popular place for a piercing. Nowadays Ear Lobes, Nipples and Septum are the most common forms of piercings.
Tattoos were first used as a form of decoration for tribal markings but were observed as early as 4000 BC in China, Japan and Mexico as religious symbols and signs of spiritual strength. Today Tattoos often symbolise something personal to the person who wears it or something which is important to them.
Branding or Scarification is the oldest form of body art. It dates back 6000 years ago when primitive tribes would scar their bodies with hot metal which left a permanent mark on the skin. However some cultures still practice this today, such as Aborigines in Australia who use special tools to cut designs into their skin which they then rub ash into to decorate themselves.
On average 80% of teenagers have at least one body
The first thing that surprised me was how common it was. In the U.S., something like 12% of girls are tattooed or pierced in some way. I had expected this fraction to be lower, but once I saw that it wasn’t, I revised my mental definition of “common.”
The second thing I noticed is how little attention is paid to them. Girls with visible piercings or tattoos often seem to find themselves in social situations where the other participants are uncomfortable or embarrassed, and if they want to avoid causing awkwardness they have to work at it–either by concealing their body modifications, or else by making extra efforts to put everyone at ease about them. But since most people don’t have any reason to think about visible body art, for the vast majority of observers it just doesn’t come up.
For someone with a piercing or tattoo, there is an additional problem: other people’s discomfort can make you feel self-conscious about displaying your body modification. When someone looks at you funny, it’s natural to wonder what they’re thinking, even if you know rationally that the answer doesn’t really matter. Maybe they’re thinking, “that girl has a bad taste in earrings,” when in fact they’re thinking, “that girl
Body art is a term that encompasses all the ways that people modify their appearance. The most famous are tattoos and piercings. The least famous, though no less common, are things like hair styles and clothing.
Body art has been done for thousands of years, but it was particularly popular in ancient Egypt and has seen a surge in popularity in the last century. At first glance it seems to be mostly about aesthetics – body art is widely seen as “art for art’s sake” – but in reality most body modifications have little or nothing to do with artistic expression.
The reason we decorate ourselves is to advertise what kind of person we are. The better we can do this, the more likely we are to find mates and allies. We may not be able to say exactly what we want, but our bodies tell other people what we’re looking for. And this gives us a clue to how body decoration evolves:
When a new technology emerges, it is inevitably very expensive. If it is seen on a man or woman who catches our eye, we will assume they got it because they were so attractive that someone else paid for it. This means the decoration must be attractive either as an abstract work of art or as a message about its owner’s overall quality and
Body art is a term that refers to the use of the body in a visual form of expression. Body art can be created using the body itself, by painting or tattooing it, or using materials such as food to create a sculpture. Body art can also take the form of performance art, during which the artist creates the art in front of an audience.
The term “body art” is also used somewhat interchangeably with “performance art”, and some people consider performance art to be a subset of body art. However, others say that performance art covers much more ground and is more broad than simply using one’s own body as an artistic medium.
Body modifications are another related term. Some types of body modifications include piercings, tongue splitting, scalp micropigmentation, subdermal implants, scarification and branding. These are generally considered permanent forms of body modification due to their permanence and inability to be “undone”.
These forms of expression have been around for thousands of years as well as being enjoyed by many cultures throughout history. The oldest known tattooed mummy was a female dated between 5500BC and 5700BC was discovered on Russia’s north-east coast near the Arctic Ocean in 1995; other tattooed mummies have been found on
If you thought tattoos were a modern invention, think again. The oldest known tattoos—on the mummified bodies of Ötzi the Iceman dated to 5300 B.C.—are small crosses and lines inscribed onto his body using an ink made from charcoal or soot, and a needle fashioned from a bone or bronze. But this ancient form of body art wasn’t used just for decoration. Tattoos have been historically linked with religious, magical, and medical practices around the world.
In Polynesia, for example, tattoos were used to signify status and rank within the tribe as well as to protect against evil spirits that may attack the man or woman wearing them.
Tattooing is also associated with spiritual beliefs throughout other cultures including Africa, Japan and China. The practice of tattooing was believed to provide protection against evil forces, bring good luck, or communicate with ancestors or deities. In parts of Africa where malaria is common, for example, women commonly wore facial tattoos to ward off harmful spirits that brought on illness in children and adults alike. In Japan and China, geisha tattooed their faces to hide their identities when they went out into town. Although tattoos were worn by men in most cultures throughout history to signify social status or religious beliefs, they
When she first saw the body art, my wife didn’t like it at all. It wasn’t just a question of taste; she felt that it was trying to get something across, and that this effort only made it less good art. I felt the opposite: I thought it was better when it tried too hard.
The artist was a young woman who called herself a “body mod,” which we understood to mean that she did things to people’s physical appearance, in this case by adding decorative lines and shapes cut into their skin with a needle tool or chisel. She was doing her best to be scary and shocking, but it seemed to us that she had fallen short. She just looked like a normal person wearing an unusual outfit – sort of like someone walking around in a Halloween costume that showed through her clothes.
But then we realized what was going on: her body art was a kind of costume that hid her real self from view. We watched as she worked on one client, then another, and they gradually realized this too. When they talked about the experience afterwards, they said things like “I came out more confident” and “I feel much more beautiful inside.”
This got my wife thinking again about the subjectivity of beauty, and how the ideal