Personal Narrative

Tattoo at Two O’Clock

            The beguiling Andrew Bird had just beautifully sung the last lyric of “Fake Palindromes”. The only sound in the Georgia Theater was the reverberation of the gramophone of the final note of the song. The overwhelming crowd of people around me disappeared. It was just the tantalizing tune and I. As soon as I left the concert, I knew that I wanted a way to commemorate that special night- an evening filled with breathtaking music, the pleasure of being merely feet away from a musician that truly means a lot to me, and sharing the experience with two of my most favorite people.  Eight months later the resonant sound created by Andrew Bird was replaced with the whirring noise created by a tattoo needle. I always knew that I wanted a tattoo and the experience of complete serenity with no sound but the reverberation of a Specimen™ phonograph led me to the idea to get a gramophone as my first tattoo.

Andrew Bird states, “What you see with your eyes when you're making music is going to

have a profound effect on what you hear.” When Bird collaborated with artist Ian Schneller to

create “Sonic Arboretum,” he clearly had in mind the beauty of the classic phonograph. “Sonic

Arboretum” was an exhibit in the Guggenheim Museum which was composed of basically a

forest filled with gramophones made with recyclable materials. As an audiophile, dedicated Bird

lover, and an environmentalist, the concept of the “Sonic Arboretum” genuinely piqued my

interest and fostered my obsession with the 40-year-old musical god. This infatuation led to the

epic decision to have my first tattoo be in honor of Mr. Bird and the concert that changed my

view of the seemingly antiquated gramophone and even of music itself. That man ruined me for

every other musician. I can never love a musician as much as I do Mr. Bird. Thanks a lot,

Andrew!

The inspiration I felt at that concert as well as the evident passion Andrew Bird has for

his music made my decision to get ink in his honor a regretless one. Getting a tattoo is a cultural rite of passage for aspiring artists such as myself. Tattoos are an art form that is actually permanent and can be on your person, which is a creative person’s dream. The action of receiving my first tattoo helped me realize that I was no longer a high school student. I realized I was soon to be a college student and an autonomous adult. The experience of getting a tattoo transformed me from a virgin-skinned teenager to an inked adult and ultimately helped me comprehend my newfound independence.

                         Considering tattoos are a thousand tiny permanent puncture wounds

that last forever, I wanted my tattoos to be beautiful, significant, and something that I could

never regret. On June 8^th, 2013, at 2 o’clock at Fine Lines Tattoo Studio in Augusta, Georgia- I

made one of the best decisions I have ever made. I had completed the most important drawing I

had ever done in my life as it was going to be on my left upper back for all eternity. I sketched 

eleven different phonograph designs before I landed on the phonograph that Bird and Schneller

designed. On the fifteen-minute drive over to the tattoo studio, I was absolutely petrified as I

have very low pain tolerance, but as soon as the brilliant tattoo artist, Darick Whitely, asked what

the significance of what he was about to strategically stab into my body and my worries about

the pain, the permanence, and the passing out were eliminated. As soon as I told the story of how

important this icon was to me, I knew that I would never regret this decision and that I officially

became an adult capable of making decisions for myself. It was one week after I had turned

eighteen years old and my parents knew I was getting a tattoo and that they could not stop me.

The fact that I ignored my fear of pain, my parent’s reluctance, and my low bank account proved

that I finally was capable of deciding on something for myself . As a child, decisions were

made for me. As a teenager, decisions were required to have parental input. Now, it was just me

and my own passion for wanting to have a work of art on my body that represented a night, a

moment, a concept, an icon, a concert, a transformation, and a brilliant beautiful man that led me

to my first solely independent decision in my adult life.

           

            The moment the needle hit my skin and I felt the cat-scratch like discomfort, I became a

mature, bold, and inked adult. The experience helped me grow as an artist as it made me more

confident in my abilities considering I got my own drawing punctured onto me. It helped me

grow as a person who was not filled with regret. It helped me grow in my tolerance of pain. Most

importantly, the experience of becoming a tattooed young lady helped me grow as an

independent entity capable of making smart decisions on my own without parental consent. I was

without a care in the world about what anyone else thought about my tattoo or the fact that I

participated in a supposedly “insubordinate” act that is ubiquitous amongst the artistic

community that I was soon to move into. I knew my parents might not approve however they

actually love my tattoos, I knew my grandparents would be horrified , I knew I would have to

tell future employers that I am a tattooed person and I knew that my peers might judge me for

my seemingly futile act of “rebellion.” This sensation of being sure of my decision without a

worry about other’s opinions and my knowledge that this tattoo was for me and Mr. Bird and not

anyone else was the initial step that I needed to become an adult before moving from the place I

had lived all my life. The feeling of total enlightenment of my newfangled adulthood and myself

induced a shock of adrenaline, a sense of confidence, and a reincarnation from a hesitant, meek,

and regretful child into a unflinching, unwavering, and creativity-powered tattoo addict.

           

Although tattoos are pricey, permanent, and painful, that first phonograph tattoo

converted me into a lover of body art with a list of tattoo designs that will be stabbed in the most

beautiful way possible into my person. (Four down, ten to go.) That first tattoo transformed me

into an open-minded, decisive, and passionately creative adult which helped solidify my concept

of my true self before I left a place where I simply lacked belongingness. This was necessary in

order for me to confidently envelop myself into a new environment with thoroughly artistic,

environmentalist, and like-minded peers that accept me for the socially awkward, dark-humored,

spastic little hobbit that I am. The transformation is complete and now I am an adult. That

gramophone represents my thrust into maturity and self-awareness that I had longed for all my

life. Ink may seem insipid, rebellious, or gratuitous, but that is the action I needed to accomplish

in order for me to follow a rite of passage into independence.