Will I Be Shunned?

macgregor · Post by **macgregor** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:14 am

This will be my first Burning Man. And there's no way in hell I'm going as a spectator. I have an idea or two of what I want to do...along the lines of drawing on folks...temporary "tattoos".

My idea roughly is intentioanlly bad drawings on people. Intentionally bad being my way to express what the tattooee wants drawn on them.

I feel like this is a fun idea. And that people would be into it. And that they'd enjoy a bad tattoo for a day or so, until it sweats off.

Any thoughts on this? As it's my first time, I really am not sure what to expect. Even after reading everything on the site and talking to folks who have been. Are people's exhibits and performances ever scoffed or laughed at? I would hope not. I hope this will be the fairly harmonious event I am planning in my mind.

So do I need to worry about jerks telling me what I do sucks? That's pretty much what I'm wondering.

(And even if people do tell me what I do is dumb...I'd do it anyway, because it's an idea I'm becoming more and mor enthused with...)

Post by **actiongrl** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:19 am

WEll, I think it's funny...reminds me of the Family Guy moment where the tattoo artist is muttering something like "I'm really good at drawing Snoopy" and the subject is this big tough guy saying "No, I want a skull with snakes coming out of the eyes..." and the artist goes, "Right, then, one Snoopy coming up...here we go..."

I hope you have a great time! Maybe I didn't answer your question, but I can't speak for everyone else...I guess you have to put yourself in your subject's shoes and ask what you'd do if you asked for one thing and got another. I can't decide what I think of that.

Chai Guy · Post by **Chai Guy** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:19 am

I think this sounds like a wonderful idea.

My suggestion would be to have a "flash" set (flash is what tattoo artists call the templates of tattoos that they have hanging on the walls or in binders on the counter).

Show people your flash set so they know what they are getting themselves into. You could also start by saying "Would you like a really bad tattoo?"

I would also be careful about what kinds of paints/makers you use, make sure they are non-toxic.

You could make a little sticker or give away that would include your name and "care instructions for your really bad tattoo"

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:31 am

Jerks are everywhere and the playa is no exception. As for the question...do people laugh or make fun of the art? In the measly 3 years I've been going I've never seen anything like that. I've seen people question things or not fully understand what it's about but then they're usually asking questions to try and understand it. But outright ridicule or hysterical laughter type reactions? Nah, I haven't seen that.

I love your idea and I wish you the best of luck with it. It should go over really well.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 10:34 am

27 varients of "Mom"?
Mom as dragon. Mom as feeble celtic tribal knot. Mom as a battleship. Ouch.

I think it's really going to ride on how you "sell" it. Don't be sheepish like "I can't do a good tattoo." Be bold--this is fun and exciting and you can get your ya yas out without commiting yourself to something demonstrably stupid.

bullD · Post by **bullD** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:10 am

in the same vein as say Duchamp, a sort of non art that takes on so called beautiful art and says, "I may be bad, but I'm good..." just because the artist says it's so.

or something like that

great idea!

only, don't paint something that is rude or demeaning to the paintee. then and only then, I think, would you be confronted harshly.

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:44 am

I think it's a great idea, especially the "bad tattoo" angle becuase we've all seen bad tattoos. In fact, I'd have a big ass sign that says "Bad Tattoos". People would love it. At worst, people think it sucks, no one will come, you get laughed at, and they burn down your camp while chanting "Burning Man was better last year! Burning Man was better last year!" If so, just pack it in and go find something else to do. Even if it fails, you'll learn something.

If you go and DON'T do this you'll wish you had at least tried it.

Also, don't sweat being a spectator your first time too much. I always recommend that first timers just concentrate on absorbing Burning Man their first year. If you get out there with none of your own "participation" then you can go participate in plenty of ways (volunteering at other people's camps, volunteering to help with the infrastructure stuff like doing a greeter shift, etc.).

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:45 am

If you want to be shunned, that can be my gift to you.

GET THEE HENCE!!!

But as for tatoos, I'd say it's a great idea and you shuold go for it with enthusiasm and gusto.

Nightterror · Post by **Nightterror** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 12:21 pm

blyslv wrote:If you want to be shunned, that can be my gift to you.

Did you mean shunted?

macgregor · Post by **macgregor** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 12:33 pm

thanks everyone for such a quick response. even that gets me excited about being out at burning man where folks lend a hand when asked.

your advice is well heard and has given me a better direction and idea of what i want to accomplish. and any reply with a family guy reference gets me laughing.

so again, thank you very much. if anyone has any other advice, tips or stories...let me know.

and blyslv, i'd rather have a handshake...you can laugh and shun as we shake...but that's the only way i'll take it.

blyslv · Post by **blyslv** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:11 pm

Nightterror wrote:
blyslv wrote:If you want to be shunned, that can be my gift to you.

Did you mean shunted?

Little engines that can shunt, mean nasty surly-poops shun.

CagedKitty · Post by **CagedKitty** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:40 pm

One of the many funnest things I did while I was there was walk around putting stick-on tattoos on people. I met the most people that way and they really liked the tattoo. I think a bunch of stencils and a spray can would work well, if you can get spray paint that's ok on peoples skin.

Grizelda · Post by **Grizelda** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 7:58 pm

Oh yeah... I plastered some people with cheesy temporary tattoos last year and it was great fun. We were going to potato-stamp people too, but we got distracted by shiny things.

I'll take a bad tattoo if I run into you in tattooing mode. Could you draw a flaming chicken over my belly button?

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:45 am

theCryptofishist wrote:27 varients of "Mom"?
Mom as dragon. Mom as feeble celtic tribal knot. Mom as a battleship. Ouch.

.

Don't tempt me. (Even my mom would laugh at that!)

Janka · Post by **Janka** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 6:52 am

Like Kinetic IV says, there's jerks everywhere, but I find that the jerk concentration of BRC was way lower than practically any place I've visited, except maybe certain invite-only parties. There's loads of people with extremely weird opinions and baffling pastime preferences, but there's enough tolerance and intellect to make it interesting, not annoying. Some ideas do not gather audience, that is true, but I doubt you'd meet ridicule or anything like that if you honestly tried to give something of yourself to the event.

I think the "bad tattoo" idea is fun.

Just a warning; last year was my first, and I had enough to do with maintaining my camp and stuff like that, not used to any kind of desert. I think it will go better this second year, though. So plan to do a lot, but cut yourself some slack if you can't do it all. :) Other opportunities will come.

_tears_ · Post by **_tears_** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 3:24 pm

I love the idea myself!!!

The shunning should be minimal.

-Tears-

souldancer · Post by **souldancer** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 1:18 pm

I think it's a great idea, also. I would love a bad tattoo. That could be fun.

Last year, we met a couple jerks in the middle of the night right after a girlfriend and I finished using the port a potties, I forget exactly what was said except for "Hey Ladies" (and the inflection in their voices when they said that was great) and well, they were jerks. However, if we hadn't had that particular encounter with those guys, we never would have said, "Hey Ladies." to the group of people walking down the street a little later. We never would have had the fun conversation that we had, and we would have missed out. So although that moment with those guys was bad, we turned it into something positive 10 minutes later. It was good. And we still laugh about it now, whenever we say, "Hey ladies" to each other, we all get a huge kick out of it.

Later, Ladies....

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 5:39 am

Is this the Bad Tattoo place at 7:30 and Fetish?
Very popular.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:28 am

Would be pretty cool to see if it was well taken. :) He joined 03, posted this in 06 and only has 9 posts. I don't know if he reads this often enough that there'll be a response.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 10:12 am

I wonder about people who have tats on their backs. Do they really know what it looks like? Maybe it says "kick me" in Chinese?

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Fri Dec 29, 2006 1:11 pm

That just gave me a great idea for fiber-optic "glasses".

K-mom · Post by **K-mom** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 8:16 pm

Anyone seen the first Jackass movie, w/ Off-Road Tattooing? In the movie they have Henry Rollins driving a jeep thru the desert and doing a Rollins-style rant while a guy in the back gets a happy face (i think) tattoo. It's totally impractical, unsanitary, and dangerous, therefore should come to the playa!

Will I Be Shunned?

Will I Be Shunned?

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