A friend and I rocked up to the movies on a Tuesday night to check out whatever was on.
The movie we watched began with some sort of disturbing pop music montage and Zac Efron. (“This better not be god dam High School Musical!” we said.) In the movie, squeaky clean Zac Efron gets called a douche bag for wearing a bedazzled Ed Hardy t-shirt. It planted a niggly little seed in the back of my head, which has been niggling ever since.
Ed Hardy - who is he? Donald Ed Hardy is a tattoo artist from California, who, like most tattooists, doesn’t look very scary. He set about publishing a series of books called “
Tattootime” which helped popularize tattoos. It was not long before he was approached by a company who wanted to create a clothing line based on his awesome art. Of course this is something you say yes to… but did he realise 99% of these clothes would be covered in
sparkles???
Christian Audigier (previously of Von Dutch) has been producing the high-end Ed Hardy line and has been marketing the clothing and accessories to celebrities. I hold him responsible for the tacky Rhinestone overkill. Thanks to him, amazing tattoo artwork has declined into something that even dorks like Zac Efron get hassled for wearing.
I’m all for mixing fashion with tattoos, in a confused Keith Richards, I-mean-for-my-hair-to-look-like-this sort of way, but I feel like we’ve just lost The Beatles to Paris Hilton fans. Very sold out.
When did tattoo art start to decline into something less?
During my last year of High School I pursued what I fondly refer to as “piss around subjects” - design and photography. (I failed both, but still got an A Bursary, thanks to being a geek in general). My design portfolio was a work inspired by music and tattoo art. I contacted my all time favourite artist for inspiration,
Martin Emond, who was working with the NZ
Illicit family. He actually took the time to write back to me. He told me, “I don't have any advice for you because what you are doing is it. There is no right or wrong path , just the one that you end up being on at the time. Keep up the love and keep looking for things in unusual places that keep you excited and inspired.”
A few months later I found out that he’d killed himself.
What do you do when you lose your inspiration? Even Illicit has changed since Martin left. Illicit Clothing, once produced to advertise the artwork of Emond, Misery, and Co. has now become less about the awesome designs and more about lame attempts to sell shirts with some swear word scrawled over it. In both of these cases, with the Ed Hardy and Illicit lines, it has become less about the art and more about money.
I don’t care what I wear.
I just want my bogans back.
Comments
Well done dallas, Great to
Well done dallas,
Great to see the country bumpkin bogan hasn't left you even after your world of travelling.
Dam straight! Ahahahahaha :B
Dam straight! Ahahahahaha :B
Well done dallas,
Well done dallas,
I have tattoo and like this
I have tattoo and like this article very much. I love your writing style. Please keep it up.
Thanks Marc!!
Thanks Marc!!
nicely written dallas :)
nicely written dallas :) keep it going :)
like this blog, totally
like this blog, totally agree with what you said about money ruling over the art...dunno about the photography and design being 'piss around subjects" though
Hi thanks for the comment...
Hi thanks for the comment... Last year I actually worked as an adventure tour photographer for 6 months, so I do have to eat a bit of humble pie for calling them "piss-around subjects", because I loved that photography class and really learned a lot... all thanks go to Mr Chadwick!!!
tattoo's to me are a way of
tattoo's to me are a way of showing who you are and what you are feeling about life. they show the lookers where and how we feel inside.i have 2 tattoo's 1 of a lone wolf on top of a cliff howling at the moon; means for me, i am alone in this world and am trying to attract another wolf (female thats for sure) to come join me.
the second is a dragon around a blue rose; means for me. the fight between good and bad,love and hate,right and wrong.
by puting these on tee's would be wrong because the wearer wouldn't be wearing them for the reason they came about for.leave tattoo's for the skin and funnies for the tee's!!!
Que tuanis ver como las
Que tuanis ver como las culturas de otros lugares permiten esta forma de expresarse ya que donde yo creci fueron vistos de manera muy diferente , como solo la gente que salia de la carcel entre otros eran los unicos que se los hacian, hasta que mi madre me dijo quiero uno, y creo que deberia hacerselo , muy buen articulo la felicito!
Muchas gracias Julito! Eres
Muchas gracias Julito! Eres tan guapo como eres inteligente! :B
me equivoque con el correo
me equivoque con el correo suyo pero es el mio ok!
Jajajaja o.k. no hay
Jajajaja o.k. no hay problemo jupo.