|
Home>News Center>Life | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Show some skin and the tattoo
June 3rd marks International Tattoo Day and young, edgy Chinese are finding a way to express their individuality - permanently. But it is only recently that tattoos have become in vogue for the mass population.
In Hong Kong, Triad members are referred to as "left a black dragon, right a white tiger" because many sport a black dragon tattoo on the left bicep and a white tiger tattoo on the right. However, the inked art is no longer just criminal territory in China, with the new generation exchanging political rallies for other forms of expression, including body modification and tattoos. The hottest things for China's youth, according to the American public relations firm Hill & Knowlton's cool-hinters' findings are g-strings and extreme sports, along with tattoos and piercing. G-strings symbolize sexual freedom and choice while tattoos "defy tradition," according to answers from the questionnaire. For as little as YY100 a countryside youth will do their best on a Soviet machine formally used for tagging psyche patients. But the thought of rusty machines and untrained hands turns many to the burgeoning group of urban tattoo artists. Behind an unassuming shop-front, nestled between dilapidated hutongs in Beijing, Yang Wei plies his trade. Inside, among the usual tattoo and piercing paraphernalia, are his exotic pets, including a freakishly cartoon-like puffer fish, and a simple, professional work space. Two plaques, one from China's National Tattoo Association and the other from an annual tattoo convention held in Taiwan, are displayed above overfilling binders of tattoo art. Originally from Anhui province, Yang, 25, came to Beijing, became involved with the local metal punk hardcore scene and has been tattooing since 2000. In a month, Yang says he tattoos about 30 people, more women than men. Stylistically he claims a preference for contemporary and historic Western style tattooing: "I don't like the Asian style, it is too classical. I am more interested in the Western style, specifically Western use of color," says Yang. But it would be wrong to think he has totally given up his roots. A look at some of his work and the buzzword fusion springs to mind. The dense mythical imagination of Asia provides plenty of subjects for creative tattoos. Combined with Western color and technique the effect is fresh and, at times, positively psychedelic. Flora: First Chinese people think if you have a tattoo you are a bad girl. But then some think that you have a lot of life experience. Wei Yang's apprentice LiLu: "Tattooing is a good job and I hope it will become my career because it is a job where I can be free and I can eventually be my own boss." Amy: "I got this tattoo simply because I think it looks beautiful." Lisa: "This tattoo is my boyfriend's name and I got it because I have no doubt that we will stay together." Adam: "I didn't tell my girlfriend that I was getting her name tattooed on my neck and she was very mad when I showed it to her."
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
