Many of my followers have been waiting to see some impressions of my trips to the States. But I lost all the memories that were stored on my old laptop. Luckily I found some very old ones from 2011 and thought to share them with you...
Have you heard of the world’s largest tattoo and body art convention, hosting with over 200 artists per show! Well, I have been there and it was an adventure. But who invented the tattoo ?
A tattoo is a form of body modification where a design is made by inserting ink, dyes and pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment. Tattoos fall into three broad categories: purely decorative (with no specific meaning); symbolic (with a specific meaning pertinent to the wearer); pictorial (a depiction of a specific person or item). Brought to Europe from Polynesia in the early 19th century through naval routes, it was originally largely restricted to naval use, and was a male-only domain. By the later 20th century its use was more widespread and extended to female users. By the end of the 20th many stigmas of the tattoo culture had gone and it moved into the realm of being a fashion accessory for both men and women.
The body art was invented in the 19th century which means it has a lot of history. The tattoo was brought to Europe by Cook when he returned in 1769 from his first trip to Tahiti and New Zealand.
I was always interested in skin art even though nobody in my closer environment got tattooed instead of older sister. I am not planning on getting lots of tattoo´s but I am so in love with some artistic, meaningful pieces immortalized on the skin. My family and I made a trip to Los Angeles in 2011 and my parents had the idea to visit the world´s largest tattoo expo. I was very young but it was no problem to get in since I was there with both of my parents.
It didn´t look special from the outside. It was just a big car park with a building. Nothing special at first sight.
Please keep in mind that I was very young and all the pictures were taken at young age. No current pictures...
This picture was actually taken in front of the entrance showing the parking space.
The artists come from studios nationwide. The convention has MANY tattoo & piercing contests, as well as live music, a variety of entertainment, retail vendors and tens of thousands of enthusiastic attendees! It is like a festival for tattoo lovers! They say it´s one of the West Coast’s wildest Skin Show off parties...
You can visit so many shows such as the freak show, become miss body art expo, art fusion show, human suspension show ( which was a little too scary for me to look at ), hot babe contest, fake orgasm contest and many more. I haven´t been to all of them because we weren´t interested in watching others faking an orgasm especially because I was at such a young age. Anyway, they didn´t save on entertainment. There was a lot to explore and definitely worth seeing!
Of course the whole convention was packed with tons of tattoo fans. There were many booths with the possibility to get tattooed right away. People came from all over the world and were fascinated by the talents!
I am so happy that I found at least a few pictures that I can share on Steemit. Let me know if you want to see some more impressions of my trips to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Miami. I have found a small folder with a few pictures of my adventures. Anyway, the convention was such a great experience. Seeing all those crazy individuals and all those amazing artists was a pleasure for me. It was an experience that I will never forget and I would love to visit the expo one more time.
A tattoo is a true poetic creation, and is always more than meets the eye. As a tattoo is grounded on living skin, so its essence emotes a poignancy unique to the mortal human condition. ― V. Vale, Modern Primitives: An Investigation of Contemporary Adornment and Ritual
Let me know if you have any tattoos. I love to hear the story behind a tattoo and the reason for it! Of course humans have invented technologies to remove the color from the skin but it´s normally created for a lifetime! This is exactly the reason why I would love to hear your stories!
Love, Soldier
