My body, my art

Some children quickly express streaks of independence, wanting to choose clothes or change the appearance of their hair before the age of two. Others patiently sit back, watching and learning the norms of their family, society and cultural group until one day they will imitate them.

But whichever the case, children quickly learn the “proper” codes of dress and adornment. Whether they consistently follow these rules is another matter, with teenagers everywhere often rebelling or protesting adult ways by purposely adorning themselves against common practice.

In Western society this has become so prevalent that whole subcultures have arisen with their own rules and modes of body art and practice. The consequence is that today, in modern day Australia, America or Europe, to get a tattoo or piercing might more be an expression of conforming rather than rebelling.

Interestingly, in recent years there has been a movement toward indigenous tattoo designs among Western youth, and a comparable inverse preference toward Western designs by the young of the Pacific Islands and other traditional tattoo-practicing nations.

Even some bikie gangs are changing from heavy metal and rose designs to elaborate displays of native Australian flowers, sometimes revealing glimpses of the Opera House or even the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Body shaping is another area that has undergone a transformation in recent times. Head binding, neck stretching, foot binding, and corsets were once all the rage in some cultures. Tooth filing, finger amputation, lip stretching and ear elongation were also practised in a variety of ceremonial and cultural contexts. Then came facelifts, nose jobs, tooth rearrangement by specialists called “orthodontists”, and breast implants.

Today, changes to the shape of one’s body are limited only by money and imagination. Liposuction - the vacuuming of fat from under the skin - is increasingly being used to lose weight quickly, to shape and sculpt a “new you”

Nips and tucks can be performed almost anywhere one desires; the length or width of the penis can be increased; and almost any blemish considered unsightly can be removed.

Plastic surgery is not just for accident victims but more often is a tool for body art. However, this form of body art can be particularly painful, expensive and time-consuming; a sacrifice that many feel is worth making because of the resulting perceived attractiveness, self-confidence and self-esteem.

For many people, the more time, dedication, pain and toil put into their adornment, the more they feel empowered. In group settings, this is often associated with some form of initiation, and initiation always involves sacrifice and confrontation.

For individuals, the pain and endurance of some forms of body art mimic those of group initiation, giving highs worth repeating. For others, their body is a life’s work, a piece of performance art that is continually being refined and added to.

In extremes, this leads to every part of the body tattooed, from head to foot. Or it may lead to an eclectic composition of ink, steel, scar tissue, animal products, clothing and precious stones set on a sculpted human form that continually changes with the application of paints, dyes and hair-pieces.