Oct
Grand Lineages of Tattooing
By Carmen Nyssen
A year ago, or so, a very “loud” thought popped into my head, while I was dozing: “The sum of the whole is the trump of the whole.” Since that day, the ideal of it has stuck with me in my creative process of researching and writing for various tattoo history projects.
It first off made me think of my Great, Great Uncle Bert Grimm, who said he got his best ideas while dozing; he kept a pad & paper on his nightstand so he could write them down. My Grandma told me Bert and some of his siblings were pretty intuitive, so for me, that ‘epiphany’ while dozing has a meaningful ancestral connection to what I do.
In fact, the idea of ancestral ties led me to reflect on the grand design of tattooing: how a tattooer, like Bert say, honed abilities through mentors and/or partners and friends (in his case George Fosdick and Charlie Barrs, etc.), and how those tattooers had learned from countless others, while also handing-down the sum of their accumulated knowledge. Lineages ad infinitum!! It’s awe-inspiring to try and wrap your mind around the huge ‘family tree’ of tattooers …their threads of influence and its powerful impact overall.
Tattooing’s continual absorbing and renewing of knowledge and tradition is an expansive living dynamic. At any given point in a tattooer’s career, they hold the sum knowledge of their journey, shaped not only by inherited knowledge within the trade, but also personal life circumstances. And, at any given point, tattooing as a whole is the sum influence of every tattooer who has contributed across time. All of it imbues the trade with such richness & creative flow—all the parts & the sum whole resonate thru-out the trade & crown it.
Serendipitously, while working on a special project recently, I came across a German word that defines it perfectly: lichtgestalt. It means “shining light” or “exemplary.” Literally, it means light + gestalt, gestalt meaning collective parts that make up a greater entirely new whole. The word no doubt has various usages, but it aptly applies to the above …it’s about holding a sacred place for all the facets that continually come together in tattooing & letting it shine …in other words, tattooers aligning with the creative flow of the grand whole (generations-old) & their authentic creativity (aka personal touch) within it—all at once. It’s exemplar! It’s magic! And it’s what makes tattooing shine overall—past & present.
For more see my Buzzworthy Tattoo History post: Tattoos: Magical Iterations of the Past
Questions or Comments? Email:
carmennyssen@buzzworthytattoo.com
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