Makeup Exploration
Oceania
Includes approx. 30,000 islands along the pacific between America, the Philippines and Australia.
They would wear the ‘mobile’ decorations all over the body but they also had ‘immobile’ decorations which involved tattooing.
The decorations reflected the social standing of their wearers, which is determined by sex, age and rank and then involve the specific ancestor worship. Although wealth is shown not in the number of possessions but by lending valuables to the largest possible number of people as this ties them under an obligation to him.
Raw materials include powdered charcoal, mixed with water or tree-oils producing a black colour. White came from clay/chalk. Blue/green and yellow from mineral earth or plant saps and also rust tinted clay. They would put ochre clays into leaves and then burn them to produce a more intense colour. The colour and its meaning differ from one Oceania culture to another but red tend to represent blood, which is regarded as potent and magical.
When tattooing patterns into the skin, a needle or an adze-shaped implement (known as the ‘tattooing comb’), is used, which is dipped into colour. It would then be penetrated into the skin, colouring the tissue permanently.
On general, men would wear more tattoo’s than women, as men from noble families had patterns all over their bodies, whereas women usually only had their faces and limbs decorated. A boy would receive their first tattoo between 12 and 18 years old and girls were first tattooed when they became sexually mature. Only small areas of the bodies were done at a time, due to the pain, and it often took decades to decorate the whole body.
Scarification is mainly found in the Melanesian islands in Oceania and involves the skin being incised or burnt to form patterns.
Moko is the name of the particular tattoo pattern produced by the Maoris of New Zealand. The most important shape is the spiral, although it is the most basic, its used to create detailed patterns. They use chisel-like implements directly on the surface of the skin when tattooing, which is a different method than as mentioned before. It takes a long time to complete a pattern due to the amount of pain that occurs.
Tradional methods
Africa
Africans used painting, scarification and tattooing all over their bodies. They used their skin as a medium for art, by cutting into the surface to change its natural form. These types of body modification had social and ritual meanings but at the same time they still wanted to satisfy the human need for beauty, so the decoration would be applied to certain areas of the body and then their attractions were emphasized.
On general white paint is used at the ceremony when boys and girls are recognised by the community as adults.
The women within the Berber groups in North Africa, had tattoos passed down from mothers. They are decorative but their main purpose is to ward off supernatural forces that might cause harm. They would be applied to areas that were not protected by clothing such as the face and hands. The designs were known as siyal, which included; crosses, dots, straight lines and triangles – known as. These patterns were seen as the most feminie due them adverting harm and promote fertility.
Geerewol festival with the ‘bridegrooms’ parade involves males enhancing their appearance with makeup to make themselves more desirable to the women and find a mate.
Omo valley groups in the South West Ethiopia are famous for their decorative scars that represent meaningful and complex rituals, where hunting and killing are important but the decoration were also seen to improve the physical appearance. Children are given their first incisions immediately after birth and then more are added at certain points through their lives. The scarification was made from small cuts from razors or thorns and the wounds are then covered with charcoal., which would make them heal as raised scars.
Shilluck in Southern Sudan, decorates their skin with pearl–like scars, made when they are children by pulling up the skin with a fish-hook and then cutting it off with a sharp knife. Circles would indicate the sun and moon, which represented hope and vitality. Double wavy lines signified the human heart as the driving force of human life
India
Facial makeup is important and starts when they are just babies with Lampblack around the eyes to protect them against the evil eye. Body decoration includes; dots, stripes, moon shapes, flower, leaf and tendril pattern, which are applied singly or in rows depending on the part of body. With the main colours being red, orange, ochre and pink, which represent rice, the rising sun, blood and the earth. Is used to show religion rather than social class. The name of this Indian art is Mehndi henna.
Mostly women wear the designs and makeup to show that they are married. For example the bride’s skin is lightened with rice water and rice powder then their faces are made up of red and black patterns and their feet and palms are dyed red with henna. Also the women dye their partings red to show that they are married. However paint on their foreheads are used in hope of securing the blessing of the god they worship and this can be seen on men and women of all ages.
In Gondwana in central India, their mothers tattoo the bodies with sharp iron needle and black powdered charcoal.
North-West India – tattoo is art and handed down by women. They are used to document their life as an adult and show an external sign of prosperity. Also it’s to make them more attractive - Not humanly beautiful until face is tattooed. Only the visible parts of the body are decorated – the face neck and upper part of breasts, arms feet and hands. The palms even though are very sensitive are heavily tattooed in order to be beautiful.
In the West of Indonesia, except for mourning times, both men and women wear decoration. The believe that by tattooing lends the body ‘dignity’ as a persons soul would not feel comfortable in a body that was not artistically decorated. Tattooing does not start until the body is fully grown so that it does not distort. Mostly they consist of spiral drawings on their hands and cuffs and on the leggings of their forearms and thighs. However at puberty the incisor teeth are sharpened, which is another form of body medication not seen in different cultures.
China
Sixth century tattooing was a form of punishment. Marks were made on the foreheads or forearms of criminals to singular them out from the rest of society. By the seventeenth century the skin became a medium to show marriage and religion.
Only few experts now do full tattooing in the old style – the transformation of the whole body into an intricate decorative sculpture. The patterns cover the back as far as the middle of the thighs and the whole front apart from a bare strip in the middle. The tools are needles set in wooden handles.
Japan
On the Japanese islands there are long traditions of body painting, tattooing and scarification, which are used for decorative and religious reasons. Body patterns were a minor reflection of changes in Japanese society.
Hokkaido, Southern Sakhalin tattoos show myths but a full tattoo on women symbolizes that she is married. Powdered charcoal was rubbed into cuts made in the skin with small sharp knives, giving the young girls a blue black tattoo that would go up to the sides of the mouth. The areas around the eyebrows had wavy lines, and the hands and forehands had a variety of patterns.
Decorated skin in present time is rarely be traced back to its historical origins but instead is purely for artistic creativity. For example, punks decorated their body to show counterculture, allowing them not to follow what is expected and mainstream.
Tattooing
Can be produced artificially by applying pigments. Designs can include zoological or botanical still lifes, all kinds of creatures, historical paintings, autobiographical scenes or symbolic marks. Anyone can get tattoos, it doesn’t matter what the social class, gender or age is. The reasons why people want tattoos include; self-affirmation, vanity or wishful thinking, decoration, confirmation or rejection of moral concepts or an indication of social kinship and status. White inked tattoos produce a more sutle appearance on pale skin and resembles a more even tones scar appearance without the raising of the skin structure.
Present methods -Western Culture
Scarification
Scarification is still used at present time, however rarely for religious reasons but instead aesthetically.
Using a scalpel to cut an image/design into your skin to eventually turn into a scar produces it. It then needs to heal, although the longer for a wound to heal the more pronounced and obvious it will be. Therefore to achieve this the wounds need to be kept open for a longer amount of time. Abrading scabs and irritating the wound with chemical or natural irritants such as toothpaste or citrus juice will achieve this. Some people will use tincture of iodine, which has been proven to cause more visible scarring
Scarification may not result in being precise as skin type, cut depth, and how the wound is treated while healing, can alter the outcome. Each part of the body will determine how deep or wide cuts would need to be. Also the scars tend to spread as they heal, so outcome design is usually simple, the details being lost during healing but again differs depending on the person.
Scarification woman. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://static.wixstatic.com/media/655ed1_5cb0caf4493e4192933ad91753040356.jpg_srz_812_600_75_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].
Scarification Flower design. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://static.wixstatic.com/media/655ed1_b611fc47dcfd4ab2b78af090ee429da1.jpg_srz_477_604_75_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz [Accessed 15 Jan. 2015].
Ken The Living Doll | My Strange Addiction. (2013). [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KNWWUX38W0 [Accessed 17 Jan. 2015].
Surgical Modification
Cosmetic
In the current time many people undergo surgery in order to improve their appearance, and not just because they have defeats but because they do not like the way they look. This is mainly caused due to the 'ideal' image that is portrayed through the media.
Although some people have taken it to the extreme such as ... who has had 125 procedures, that have costed £158,000. His aim is to resemble a doll in his body structure and sees it as the ideal male figure, as stated in the video. He sees his figure as resembling one of a hero. It's interesting to see how some people can get caught up with an image to go to the extreme and put their health at risk.
Un-human
Some people choice to sugergically modify their body in order to look less human and go away from 'beauty' as seen in the media. This could include implants under the skin, tongue splitting, tooth filling etc. Alot of the time these people perform in side shows, such as; Lizard man who has sharpened teeth, full-body tattoo of green scales, bifurcated tongue, subdermal implants and recently, green-inked lips. Vampire woman who is covered head-to-toe in tattoos, had dental work to have fangs and titanium horns inserted into her head.
It is often done for aesthetics, sexual enhancement, rites of passage, religious beliefs, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, for shock value, and as self-expression, among other reasons.
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scarification or branding
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tattoo
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piercings
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surgical implants
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cosmetic surgery
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tooth filing
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Corsetry or tightlacing - binding of the waist and shaping of the torso
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Tongue splitting - bisection of the tongue similar to a snake
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Foot binding - compression of the feet of girls to modify them for aesthetic reasons
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Neck ring- multiple neck rings or spiral are worn to stretch the neck (in reality lowering of the shoulders)
The video shows an interview with Rick Genest, who known as Zombie Boy for the corpse tattoos covering the majority of his body.
He states how as soon as people saw him on tv, he became more accepted rather than people avoiding him. This shows the impact that the media have on the public. He embraces the idea that everything is different.
He is a performing artist, who has many jobs within the fashion industry and has been seen in Lady Gaga music video.
Lizard man. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://staugustine.com/sites/default/files/610lizard-man_1.jpg [Accessed 25 Feb. 2015].
Vampire Woman. (n.d.). [image] Available at: http://i2.wp.com/radaronline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/vampire-woman-ripleys-museum-1_-_1.jpg?resize=415%2C623 [Accessed 25 Feb. 2015].
A maori chief with the spiral tattoo pattern of his rank. The tattoo covers the whole face and the lines flow with facial structure. The tattoo is so large that the man's appearance can not be seen that well.
Scars on the bacj of a Nuba woman from Sudan. The pattern indicates that she has had at least one child. Its alot of scarification to just signify having children. Its very precise for the fact that it is produced by hand and home made tools.
Scarification on Karo woman from the south-west Ethiopia, to indicate their age and status. I feel that this pattern is less precise as the ones seen in the previous image, this may due to the skin being of different elasticity and therefore alters during the healing.
Massika, a Saki Indian, included body painting to show social status. The pattern resembles strength and honour.
As shown in the image on the left, the face painting styles are very different from one person to the next. It acts as showing their identities. Normally bright coloured pigment is applied and the majority of the face is covered.
Patterns painted using Henna Dye, just before a wedding. It is believed to give strong protection. The details are much more intraciate and precise than seen on the other types of traditional body modifications.