Unlock the psychological insights behind tattooing and its profound impact on identity and self-expression. Explore how this ancient art form serves as a transformative conduct, allowing individuals to symbolize key moments in their existence and construct their sense of self. Discover the intricate dynamics between the tattoo artist and the tattooed, and how their co-libidinal excitement shapes the tattooing experience. Delve into the world of body modification and uncover the complex interplay between pleasure, pain, and the unconscious expression of internal conflicts. Learn how tattooing can be a powerful tool for self-discovery and identity formation.
Extract
[...] that was important, and I wanted it to be the first tattoo so I had really thought about it. And to confirm: "Yeah, actually almost all tattoos that have a meaning, they've been thought about. This would confirm the hypothesis that the more the subject moves away from the impulsive act of the tattooing gesture and leaves room for the planning of the tattoo, the more it inscribes itself in an act symbolizing favoring elaboration. - The choice of the tattoo artist, as we have seen previously, has its importance as S.R reminds us: 'she was a tattoo artist in Toulouse that he liked a lot ( . [...]
[...] Among the M?ori, the moko' marks an individual's personal history with complex motifs. Each technique, each symbolism is the mark of stories that transcend ages and borders. The 8th century sees the advent of the Christian era in Europe and with it, the decline of tattoo. In fact, it is then perceived as a barbaric act, associated with pagan practices, it has therefore been rejected by the dominant societies. It is only the 18th century that rehabilitates it with maritime explorations. [...]
[...] The image of tattooing is then transformed, moving from that of a stigma to that of a work of art. Today, tattooing is generally accepted and appreciated, it crosses social and cultural barriers and attracts a diverse audience. It has emancipated itself from the stereotypes that were attached to it, long associated with a marginal practice and linked to the world of delinquency, aggression, but also to violent experiences of bodily mutilation and transformation. Celebrities and the media have largely contributed to the social acceptance of tattooing. [...]
[...] It also becomes a link and a mark of trust towards the tattoo artist, passing through the need to get inked and to anchor oneself to the other in this given trust. The tattoo artist becomes the custodian of the tattooed person's history, their emotions and their experience, which they entrust to retranscribe on their skin. The role of the tattoo artist as 'therapist', a role that goes beyond the simple technical realization of the tattoo. It is the expression 'to get' that gives the third time of the drive: to tattoo, to be tattooed and to get tattooed. [...]
[...] If the drive is at play in the field of the visible, it is the gaze, just as in painting, which is central in this practice; namely around a given to be seen or half-seen on a body, source of jouissance." It is at this point that it can lend its form to the symptom with, in each case, the singular contours of the subjective history of each one. Later, he defined the symptom as what never stops writing.The symptom as a fact of writing, a particular writing, that of the unconscious. (The tattoo: a certain regard on the body,Catherine Rioult, 40-44) E. Tattooing as a passage through the act: from the act to symbolization? [...]
