What I See with Peter Fiorenza: I’ve learnt to appreciate tattoos as an artform but am I willing to get one?

Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo? When I was younger, I thought the idea was horrid. Firstly, I was a bit dubious about the process, knowing that I would have to go through some pain, and, also back then “tatts” were a little rough and ready. There were the bold black ones you saw on the arms of bikies, which often denoted something significant about their group, or the crass love hearts on the shoulder blade, or the girlfriend’s name emblazoned on the back of the neck. Actually, I didn’t mind small animals tattooed on the ankle, but not really enough to want one myself. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that my interest grew. One day, I came across a television show about tattoo artists in Miami. You could describe the show as a reality TV program that followed the lives of a couple of tattoo artists and selected clientele. Each program would follow the journey of a customer, who would come into the shop and sit with the artist and design their own original tattoo. For instance, in one episode, the artist created a design of a client’s dog, and this would eventually become a sleeve on the fella’s arm. Another might recreate the faces of a client’s child or family and put together a unique sleeve (tattoo along the length of one arm) from that design. The program demonstrated that tattoos were more then just an artistic design on an arm or chest but had some special significance in respect to that person. So, from this point of view, and checking out some impressive creations on the bodies of some locals, I started to really admire and appreciate the artform. And it seemed as though quite a few others were, too. Was this now a tattoo revolution? Great tattoo designs were being spied all over the place, and on a myriad of people from tradies to policemen to school-teachers. There was Ben Cousins who had “Such is Life” (the reported last words of Ned Kelly) written across his lower torso, and David Beckham, I’m led to believe, had an artist design a crucifix that stretches the length and width of his back. I also like the clever coloured sleeves and chest designs, but I’m still unsure if tattoos are for me. The pain factor is still there and I’m not quite sure “Such is Life” would quite look as impressive on my 50-plus year old torso. But a man can dream, hey? Peter Fiorenza hosts Fiorenza on Sunday between 10am and noon on Radio MAMA