Dean Schubert

To me, unless you are from Japan, and a member of a Japanese "business" family, the Japanese suit is out of place. The more you learn about the culture and the history of Japanese tattooing, the "mystery " and fantasy of the work dissolves. What's left is a very rigid culture that is out of synch with western ways. The work is no doubt beautiful when done properly. But think of this, those suits are earned within their culture. When Americans, and other westerners coop the style, the core intent of the suit in Japanese culture, has been stripped away, and we are left with surface decoration mostly derived from Chinese art and literature. I like it when westerners add their own flavor. If a westerner is making what they consider traditional Japanese work, they are posing. Even if some of your relatives lived in Japan generations ago. You are living in Japan making tattoos in that system, or, you are offering imitation Japanese traditional work. With that in Mind, there are some awesome, inspiring tattoos made by Traditional Japanese artists. And on occasion, I do some poser Japanese work myself. As a westerner, the idea of middle age men having "masters" just does not work for me. The Japanese philosopher, DT Suzuki said something to the effect..... If you want to understand Japan, you must start with India. On that note see you in a couple of weeks, time for another digital cleanse.

To me, unless you are from Japan, and a member of a Japanese "business" family, the Japanese suit is out of place. The more you learn about the culture and the history of Japanese tattooing, the "mystery " and fantasy of the work dissolves. What's left is a very rigid culture that is out of synch with western ways. The work is no doubt beautiful when done properly. But think of this, those suits are earned within their culture. When Americans, and other westerners coop the style, the core intent of the suit in Japanese culture, has been stripped away, and we are left with surface decoration mostly derived from Chinese art and literature. I like it when westerners add their own flavor. If a westerner is making what they consider traditional Japanese work, they are posing. Even if some of your relatives lived in Japan generations ago. You are living in Japan making tattoos in that system, or, you are offering imitation Japanese traditional work. With that in Mind, there are some awesome, inspiring tattoos made by Traditional Japanese artists. And on occasion, I do some poser Japanese work myself. As a westerner, the idea of middle age men having "masters" just does not work for me. The Japanese philosopher, DT Suzuki said something to the effect..... If you want to understand Japan, you must start with India. On that note see you in a couple of weeks, time for another digital cleanse.

To me, unless you are from Japan, and a member of a Japanese "business" family, the Japanese suit is out of place. The more you learn about the culture and the history of Japanese tattooing, the "mystery " and fantasy of the work dissolves. What's left is a very rigid culture that is out of synch with western ways. The work is no doubt beautiful when done properly. But think of this, those suits are earned within their culture. When Americans, and other westerners coop the style, the core intent of the suit in Japanese culture, has been stripped away, and we are left with surface decoration mostly derived from Chinese art and literature. I like it when westerners add their own flavor. If a westerner is making what they consider traditional Japanese work, they are posing. Even if some of your relatives lived in Japan generations ago. You are living in Japan making tattoos in that system, or, you are offering imitation Japanese traditional work. With that in Mind, there are some awesome, inspiring tattoos made by Traditional Japanese artists. And on occasion, I do some poser Japanese work myself. As a westerner, the idea of middle age men having "masters" just does not work for me. The Japanese philosopher, DT Suzuki said something to the effect..... If you want to understand Japan, you must start with India. On that note see you in a couple of weeks, time for another digital cleanse.

To me, unless you are from Japan, and a member of a Japanese "business" family, the Japanese suit is out of place. The more you learn about the culture and the history of Japanese tattooing, the "mystery " and fantasy of the work dissolves. What's left is a very rigid culture that is out of synch with western ways. The work is no doubt beautiful when done properly. But think of this, those suits are earned within their culture. When Americans, and other westerners coop the style, the core intent of the suit in Japanese culture, has been stripped away, and we are left with surface decoration mostly derived from Chinese art and literature. I like it when westerners add their own flavor. If a westerner is making what they consider traditional Japanese work, they are posing. Even if some of your relatives lived in Japan generations ago. You are living in Japan making tattoos in that system, or, you are offering imitation Japanese traditional work. With that in Mind, there are some awesome, inspiring tattoos made by Traditional Japanese artists. And on occasion, I do some poser Japanese work myself. As a westerner, the idea of middle age men having "masters" just does not work for me. The Japanese philosopher, DT Suzuki said something to the effect..... If you want to understand Japan, you must start with India. On that note see you in a couple of weeks, time for another digital cleanse.

I didn't know who Holly Madison was. That was one of Hugh's former prostitutes right. Nice try on the property patch removal. The media should throw up more real photos. Or better yet stop tuning into or buying that crap. Our country is retarded. No offense to the developmentally disabled.

We once had a guy in the shop who was of Japanese descent who picked out a number of Kanji . None of the symbols went together. They were chosen for their "look". I feel that symbols and images also function on innate feelings. Everything human is a continuation of activity. There is no start or finish in defining imagery. Certain groups, cultures, clubs, gangs, etc. claim images and restructure them from time to time. This usually takes place as a tool to maintain control over other humans. When a person chooses a tattoo, they have the right to allow that image to speak to themselves however they like. Meaning is personal and should remain so. Meaning is always evolving. However, If a person chooses to adorn themselves with tattoos that are earned within particular sub-cultures, it would be in their best interest to understand the implications of wearing said tattoo. Is this conversation about blackwork? oh yeah. that shit looks cool.

We once had a guy in the shop who was of Japanese descent who picked out a number of Kanji . None of the symbols went together. They were chosen for their "look". I feel that symbols and images also function on innate feelings. Everything human is a continuation of activity. There is no start or finish in defining imagery. Certain groups, cultures, clubs, gangs, etc. claim images and restructure them from time to time. This usually takes place as a tool to maintain control over other humans. When a person chooses a tattoo, they have the right to allow that image to speak to themselves however they like. Meaning is personal and should remain so. Meaning is always evolving. However, If a person chooses to adorn themselves with tattoos that are earned within particular sub-cultures, it would be in their best interest to understand the implications of wearing said tattoo. Is this conversation about blackwork? oh yeah. that shit looks cool.

"tribal" is the ultimate traditional style. I have had the great pleasure of tattooing many of our local Native Americas, with their imagery. It's a real honor to make these tattoos. While these tattoos have a fashion aspect to them, they seem about as "real" as it gets to me. Whenever I work on these folks, it makes me think of the rest of what I do as kind of corny.

"tribal" is the ultimate traditional style. I have had the great pleasure of tattooing many of our local Native Americas, with their imagery. It's a real honor to make these tattoos. While these tattoos have a fashion aspect to them, they seem about as "real" as it gets to me. Whenever I work on these folks, it makes me think of the rest of what I do as kind of corny.

"tribal" is the ultimate traditional style. I have had the great pleasure of tattooing many of our local Native Americas, with their imagery. It's a real honor to make these tattoos. While these tattoos have a fashion aspect to them, they seem about as "real" as it gets to me. Whenever I work on these folks, it makes me think of the rest of what I do as kind of corny.

"tribal" is the ultimate traditional style. I have had the great pleasure of tattooing many of our local Native Americas, with their imagery. It's a real honor to make these tattoos. While these tattoos have a fashion aspect to them, they seem about as "real" as it gets to me. Whenever I work on these folks, it makes me think of the rest of what I do as kind of corny.

Petri, great topic with a lot to think about. That's a really good Cliff Raven quote, too! It's strange, too, because I've been thinking a little bit about blackwork tattooing lately as I've been reading up on plains Indians (this is a really fantastic book on the Blackfeet, by the way if anyone has any interest) and learning about some basic things, especially how artwork reflected their beliefs and what was important in their lives.. seeing some old photos of the men and women, and gathering little tidbits about the importance of tattoos across different groups. Which also ties in to the sun dance that the Blackfeet participated in, incorporating some serious piercing… Anyway.
I think this topic is pretty huge but I'll try keep it short. In my opinion, with tattoos, we're all struggling to apply ten million things to our bodies, most of which we’ll never fully understand. Aside from our struggle to reconcile our own mind and spirit with our physical world, we obviously latch on to art that we can identify with, be it music, tattoos, or the argument could even be made for clothing. And so much of it is ingrained in our culture and subconscious, it's tough to step outside those parameters, tattoo or otherwise. I do love blackwork tattoos and I do appreciate what those (growing) few have done and are doing by exploring different styles of the artwork. I do think it suits a lot of people but I think there's a certain... not problem, but maybe an uncertainty, when it comes to co-opting various styles and designs from other cultures. It's powerful and striking and instantly more "meaningful" or "exotic" than traditional western tattoos, but sometimes what happens is just a bunch of borrowing from other cultures. Now -- there's not necessarily anything wrong with it and, in fact, there's something very American -- and very human -- about that. We consume and incorporate and for the most part it's to understand and gain knowledge. And in that way, we create a new tattoo language, which is really exciting and maybe even necessary.
All of this is to say, I’ve had a real, growing interest in blackwork/native tattooing as I’ve gotten older. And I think it’s because I’ve made myself think about things a bit more, try to understand the whys of tattooing and expression; whys that probably won’t ever be fully answered. I think folks that exploded the possibilities for our modern times, like Leo Zulueta, and those that are building on that foundation, like Thomas Hooper, have the right idea. When I mentioned “co-opting” and “borrowing” I didn’t mean it in the negative, I think that’s just our nature because we’re all trying to understand something we can’t put our finger on. Who knows – maybe as I get older I’ll get really into black-only tattoos. I identify a lot with both Celtic and American Indian designs but maybe that’s my own subconscious connecting slivers of my ancestry to my geography to my own search for meaning. I’m glad for the renewed interest in tribal tattoos, I just keep my fingers crossed people will treat it with respect.

Well put Jack! the current paradigm is completely lame, However, I'm having the time of my life doing what I've been working towards for the last twenty years!

Well put Jack! the current paradigm is completely lame, However, I'm having the time of my life doing what I've been working towards for the last twenty years!

Well put Jack! the current paradigm is completely lame, However, I'm having the time of my life doing what I've been working towards for the last twenty years!