Tattooing involves various performative rituals and elements. Tattoo artists have strict processes for setting up their workstations in a certain order and provide the same aftercare routine each time. Getting a tattoo itself involves preparation, the event of being tattooed which exposes part of the body, and then showing off the new tattoo. The decision to get a tattoo marks a liminal transition period and involves anxiety about making a permanent change to one's appearance. Tattooing has become more respected in society today compared to its past taboo status.

1. Tattoo artists
Boundaries of performance

2. Ritual
• ‘Secular’ as apposed to ‘sacred’
• Processes – the underlying dynamic driving
rituals
• Element of OCD
– Bench set up in order of
colour
• Inventing rituals in
order to provide stability
• Aftercare – same every time

3. How are tattoos performative?
• Reflection of the self
– Meaning behind tattoo’s
– Lack of meaning
– Depending on the person
• Placing
• Pain level
• Element of vanity
– Something can mean
a lot to you without getting a
tattoo

4. Getting a tattoo – its status as a
performance event
• Preparation
– Designing the tattoo or deciding what you want to get
• Event
– Exposing a part of your body
to be tattooed
• Reaction
– Showing people afterwards,
infusing a sense of pride in
your tattoo.

5. Liminality
betwixt and between
• Separation
The moment you decide to get a tattoo & book
an appointment.
The thoughts you would
go through knowing what you
are going to do will change
your body visually
forever*.
* Laser removal is an option!

6. Margin/Limen
• The moment someone gets a tattoo.
• Anxiety
• Nerves
• Knowing if it is the right thing
• Not being able to turn back.
• Changes in society.

7. Re - Aggregation
• Moving back into society with a physically
different appearance.
• Knowing that you have changed your body as
a consequence of a decision
you made yourself.
• Knowing that you can’t
change it instantly if you
regret it for any reason.

8. The social status of tattoos today
• Taboo in the past
• Respected today
• Seen as elitist
• ‘Designer’ tattoo parlours
vs. cheap shops
• Celebrities with tattoos
• An accessory

10. Idols
• Pioneers
– Guy Atchison – colour blocking
• Experimentation
– 10 years experience
• Artists vs. Tattoo artists
– Artists assuming they can
be tattooists

11. Bell’s six elements
“Formalization forces the speaker and the audience
into roles that are more difficult to disrupt”.
Hierarchies are naturally formed.
Formalisation

12. Bell argues that sometimes things can become
traditionalised despite not being formal. “Often
formalisation and traditionalism go together
and underscore the nonutilitarian nature of
activities, further heightening their ritual-like
manner”.
Traditionalism

13. “A disciplined set of actions marked by precise
repetition and physical control”.
Disciplined invariance

14. When rules constrain contenders and make
them follow controlled pattern of interaction;
“rules define and regulate the activity”.
Rule-Governance

15. Many activities “simply assume and variously
express a fundamental difference between
sacred things on the one hand and profane
things on the other”.
Sacral Symbolism

16. “By virtue or framing, performance is
understood to be something other than routine
reality, it is a specific type of demonstration.”
Performance