PhD from Graduate University of Mongolian, Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar
AESTHETIC STUDY OF TATTOO ART: GENERALIZATION OF AESTHETICS IN DAILY LIFE
ABSTRACT
In the era of consumption, the development of romantic art signifies the arrival of artistic and aesthetic mass living. Firstly, the globalization of cultural, technological, and economic exchanges has had a contemporary impact on embodied aesthetics (bodily aesthetics) and historical research on human development. Secondly, the aestheticization of public life has arrived, and people will pay more attention to the aestheticization of daily life. People's aesthetics have surpassed utilitarianism to a certain extent. After recognizing the meaning of their own existence, people give more attention to the "complete person" and human nature, thus achieving the comprehensive development and freedom of individuals. In the clamor for aestheticization of daily life in the consumer society, the most prominent aesthetic discourse and actions are the generalization of images and the worship of the body. It not only challenges the value composition and core concepts of traditional aesthetic theory, but also leads to the emergence of a non aesthetic or pseudo aesthetic orientation, which to varying degrees subverts and changes the basic spirit of human aesthetics, and even creates new human misconceptions.
The publication of this article invites the reader to further discussion with the author.
АННОТАЦИЯ
В эпоху потребления развитие романтического искусства знаменует собой массовый приход к художественному и эстетическому образу жизни. Во-первых, глобализация культурных, технологических и экономических обменов оказала современное влияние на эстетику тела и исторические исследования человеческого развития. Во-вторых, наступила эстетизация общественной жизни, и люди будут уделять все больше внимания эстетике в повседневной жизни. Эстетика в определенной степени превзошла утилитаризм. Осознав смысл собственного существования, люди уделяют больше внимания "целостной личности" и человеческой природе, добиваясь, таким образом, всестороннего развития и свободы личности. В стремлении к эстетизации повседневной жизни в обществе, наиболее заметными эстетическими дискурсами и действиями являются обобщение образов и поклонение телу. Это не только бросает вызов ценностному составу и основным концепциям традиционной эстетической теории, но и приводит к появлению неэстетической или псевдо-эстетической ориентации, которая в той или иной степени подрывает и изменяет основной дух эстетики, и даже создает новые личностные заблуждения. Публикация этой статьи приглашает читателя к дальнейшей дискуссии с автором.
Keywords: Tattoos; aesthetic identity. utilitarian and non utilitarian aesthetics. the reflection of myself.
Ключевые слова: татуировки. эстетическая идентичность. утилитарная и неутилитарно-ориентированная эстетика. отражение самого себя.
1. The Identity of Popular Life and Aesthetics in Tattoo Art: Preamble
The change in public aesthetics in the new era is a change in the taste of life, value intentions, and human nature. High quality life and meaningful survival have become the core of value change. The significant changes brought about by consumer culture in the new era have a positive impact on the human life process and survival status. Aesthetics and life are the same. Aesthetics, the realization and sublimation of survival, has become a new value worship. Contemporary people can consciously establish a new cultural relationship state centered on the comprehensive development of human beings according to the "scale of beauty", including the optimization, adjustment, and change of the relationship attributes between human and nature, human and society, and human and human. It marks a profound change in the survival status of contemporary humans, reflecting the cultural and value significance contained in the new cultural value change [4, p. 18].
People not only achieve individual transcendence of self centeredness, but also surpass the self centeredness of the species, which is very conducive to the cultivation and enhancement of intrinsic value. In terms of social relations, the sign of the transformation of aesthetic values is that, on the one hand, popular culture and aesthetic taste have reached an unprecedented level, actively dissolving the infinite expansion of ideological centrism and the extreme closure and opposition of interpersonal relationships; On the other hand, it is the creation of new cultural psychological spaces, that is, by continuously establishing independent and complete aesthetic cultural systems and aesthetic cultural spatial landscapes, thus forming a complete and free living atmosphere.
The unity of aesthetics and life provides contemporary people with ample time for aesthetic enjoyment. People can engage in conscious and enriching activities according to their own interests and hobbies in a free state of existence, and receive more and broader aesthetic cultural cultivation, promoting physical and mental harmony and comprehensive human development. So, the changes in aesthetic concepts in the new era have promoted the transformation of social and cultural mentality and human psychological structure, showing a new trend towards pursuing survival values. The prosperity of the aesthetic life of the masses in the new era has made individual cultural consumption and spiritual enjoyment the mainstream discourse and dominant trend. For the first time, the survival value of contemporary people has a real foundation and basis, and the survival value has returned to a track that is in line with human development.
From the most fundamental perspective, the so-called unity of life and aesthetics, the artistic and aesthetic aspects of life, indicate the interactive process between the aesthetic object and the subject's mind. This process can free oneself from utilitarian thinking and lifestyle habits, from mandatory social urban planning, explore its rich value and significance, and even develop into a special means of obtaining emotional enjoyment and spiritual pleasure. When all of this merges into a rich and vast aesthetic experience, becoming one's own new feelings and sensations, it constitutes a new value beyond material value, namely aesthetic value. It is the popularization and consumption of aesthetics that unquestionably bring new aesthetic values and concepts. Ideals and spirits have been integrated into the lives of contemporary people, organizing new survival intentions and value desires into new aesthetic structures. Aesthetic practice has become a valuable and meaningful state of life. In this way, life has become a process that hides rich life interests and infinite meditation opportunities. To truly capture this Zen machine and interest, it is necessary to step into the public aesthetic space and obtain it through one's own personal feelings and experiences [4, p.19–22].
The change in public aesthetics in the new era is a change in the taste of life, value intentions, and human nature. High quality life and meaningful survival have become the core of value change. It has stimulated people's development of psychological boundaries and sparked their enthusiasm and interest in life. From this perspective, the construction and cultivation of human value structure is not just about creating progressive ethical concepts and cultural norms, nor about what people do and accept, but about consciously integrating these values and concepts into people's daily lives and survival processes. The more thoroughly integrated they are, the more fully and deeply their value realization will be. The value transformation brought by the new era of popular aesthetics will inevitably cultivate and produce new human qualities by integrating art and aesthetics into life. The development of contemporary ideology not only leads to the consumption trend of life consciousness, production consciousness, and artistic consciousness, but also generates and cultivates rich and diverse survival paradigms and types. The transformation of consciousness and values in the new era has greatly changed the living practices and living environment of contemporary people, in order to achieve an increasingly beautified level [4, p. 28].
Among them, the most prominent value transformation is the emergence and widespread popularization of a new aesthetic survival behavior, which is manifested in a richer and more complete hierarchy of human needs, a wider and more prominent aesthetic demand, and aesthetic appreciation is not only an external decoration and embellishment, but also has profound significance in terms of behavior. So, using the ideals of beauty to transform and build one's most ordinary life and the most ordinary way of life, to become a universal pursuit and fashion of contemporary people. The consciousness of aesthetic survival behavior originates from people's infinite love for life and existence, and from the active and conscious value of survival. The reason why aesthetics is not completely equal to life is that it can make people's survival feelings and experiences break away from the inertia track, allowing them to grasp certain unique and novel aspects and properties in the plain process of life, and making every image, form, and process in life shine with the meaning of life. The consciousness of aesthetic survival behavior is a symbol of human nature change, emotional liberation, and comprehensive human development [4, p. 29].
2. The aesthetic utility and non utility of tattoo art
The super utilitarian and creative characteristics of beauty and aesthetics fully demonstrate that beauty is a highly unified subject and object based on the scale of the subject [6]. Tattoos, as a fundamental expression of cultural identity and social participation, are considered to have a definite ritualistic significance. The natural, silent body becomes a positive, symbolic medium of communication that is inevitable.
Modern tattoo art showcases the integration of modern people into urban life, accompanied by their inner anxiety and contradictions. Through its unique visual structure and spiritual approach in the context of changing times and contextual symbols, it constantly transcends the original symbolic meanings, promotes the release of human spiritual connotations, visual impact, and desires, and has become one of the popular cultural phenomena with a strong sense of life in today's fast-paced urban living environment, and has become a fashion trend. Living a better life is the most advanced art among all arts.
With the rapid integration of modern urban culture, the production of human body symbols is a discourse practice of human reproduction, or also known as the discourse production of human body. It is an aesthetic and artistic discourse production of the human body based on the material production of human production, including tattoos, ear piercings, face piercings, beauty treatments, etc. Tattoo (text) body: a cultural form that uses dyes or other difficult to remove pigments to pierce the edges of a painting on the skin. It is a symbolic system that modifies the natural features or attributes of the body, with decorative or practical elements.
The production of body symbols in the consumer era has become an important aspect of consumer society and consumerism aesthetics. To perform certain modifications, dress up, and styling on the physical body of a person, in order to demonstrate certain symbolic connotations and meanings, construct a sensory image with symbolic connotations and meanings to display a certain social identity and social value of the person, and transcend utilitarian purposes to achieve people's aesthetic goals, in order to meet their aesthetic needs [5]. The aesthetic utilitarianism mentioned here is because aesthetics itself is aimed at satisfying one's own psychological pleasure or comfort. Otherwise, why would people endure the pain of stabbing themselves? This aesthetic need to satisfy one's own psychological satisfaction inherently carries utilitarianism, and this utilitarianism is not based on the reference standard of "money and material". If tattoo art is used as an aesthetic demand, it is also a utilitarian demand from an aesthetic psychological perspective, although this demand is not something that directly achieves reality.
The relationship between human physical beauty and aesthetics is not binary opposition or separation of spirit and flesh. The beauty and aesthetics of the material existence of the human body and the beauty and aesthetics of body symbols are the complete process of people grasping an aesthetic object as the other, and the complete aesthetic relationship between the human body and people [8]. Tattoo behavior itself is also a practice and a social activity of artistic creation.
Traditional thinking, especially in traditional Chinese society, regards tattoos as exclusive to specific groups such as organized crime, gangsters, and bad women. So, the change in the way contemporary people exist first lies in consciously valuing and strengthening the meaning of the life process, and pursuing the inner fulfillment and richness of the survival process. Entering and intervening in life from an aesthetic perspective, seeking the aesthetic meaning and taste of the life process, has become a conscious aspect of contemporary human nature. The life needs that contemporary people often consider are to make life rich and colorful, and their greatest wish in life is to strive to improve and enrich themselves. Therefore, when "tattoos" become a trend, it is not only a manifestation of social and economic development, but also a sublimation of people's aesthetic concepts.
Tattoos are an aesthetic space for the skin, no longer a symbol of "blackness" or a specific field, and have become a fact that the public is beginning to accept. The gradual enhancement of urban characteristics and the diversification of people's values can enable any cultural trend and phenomenon to be in a state of mutual integration. Tattoos, no matter how they change in form, are no longer simply patterns attached to the body, but have become a symbol and symbol of urban fashion, and a symbol of self affirmation. In aesthetic and artistic practice, human physical existence and symbolic body are the unity of material and spiritual opposition.
3. Individual Aesthetics of Three Tattoo Art in Mirrors: Social Me
As mentioned earlier, the human body has plasticity. Therefore, in the fast-paced modern lifestyle, the pursuit of diversity between change and unity is two seemingly opposite but actually complementary tendencies in the process of constructing body images. Adults have a huge advantage in this regard. By changing clothing, hairstyles, and postures, adult individuals can play with their bodies and try to push the limits of their bodies. This means that adults have absolute control over their own bodies and can make various adjustments according to their preferences. Among them, modern tattooing behavior is a manifestation of bodily dominance. With the help of a relatively stable and open body image, individuals can independently observe themselves and become their own aesthetic objects. Now, you can become your own mirror.
Adding an object to an individual's aesthetic perspective, the subject themselves, means growth. That is to say, the material body becomes the aesthetic object of oneself. Of course, he and she will continue to return to other bodies - the subject. In self aesthetics, people play two roles: director, actor, judge, and the parties involved. It is difficult to judge whether their judgments have universal validity, and they need to re-enter the world of interactive subjectivity [7, p. 98]. Here, individuals who can be reflected as members of the social grid need to place their bodies within the group in order to better become aesthetic objects. In other words, other members of society become a reference for their own aesthetics and form comparisons in their own aesthetic experiences.
So the question is, do modern tattoos have religious significance? Modern tattoos are more of a spiritual pursuit by people in modern society, and are not specifically directed towards any particular religious type. But rather, as individuals with tattoos, when the basic conditions for material survival such as food, clothing, and housing are met, it is more about highlighting one's personality, which needs to be marked by a spiritual pillar that is in line with and suitable for oneself. It is precisely because the body has forgotten itself that it is only regarded as a place and object for the exercise of power. In the aesthetic process of tattoos, the body becomes the object of aesthetics. Although the body is one's own body, aesthetic consciousness, that is, thoughts, have already separated from the material body, and the relationship between body and mind is not unified at this time. This is only a discourse on aesthetic events from an external perspective.
In the context of consumerism, the public's pursuit of an emotional lifestyle is becoming increasingly strong. Tattoos, as a visual sensory experience, actually strengthen the connection with the grid of the world.
The enrichment of material living standards and spiritual life will provide necessary foundations and conditions for the improvement of human personality. The act of tattooing is actually a social activity that releases humanity and highlights the pursuit of freedom by individuals as spiritual and physical beings. The conscious growth of individual aesthetic behavior in the consumption era will create a more complete ideal form of personality - aesthetic personality type - for the entire society. Compared with the real personality, aesthetic personality can better reflect the characteristics of the new era, reflect the level and degree of human evolution, and has freedom, creativity, and transcendence. The generation of aesthetic personality strengthens people's positive awareness of survival, allowing individuals' spiritual potential to be fully utilized and exerted, leading to the active transformation of contemporary people from practical personality to aesthetic conscious personality, and forming a new value system. This is not only the progress of civilization, but also the inevitable result of the change in contemporary values, that is, the development of human aesthetic concepts to a more advanced stage.
After entering the mirror stage, individuals are destined to live in a superficial cycle. From 'social me' to 'mirror me' and then to 'social me'. The surface reincarnation is due to the fact that the 'mirror me' is a derivative form of the 'social me' [7, p. 95]. In fact, in the first society, I am the self in aesthetic creation, while in the mirror, I am an artistic achievement. In the second society, I am the self in aesthetic experience. As a special form of society, I am an effective mediator in constructing body images through the mirror. To project one's own body into a mirror is to project it into the network of body subject relationships, into the social Gestalt of the body body relationship as the basic framework. As the body body relationship changes, the body image inevitably undergoes a process of construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction. So, people constantly face themselves and distance themselves from each other. The mirror here is an intermediary, the real mirror is someone else.
Through the example of the person in the "mirror", it can be seen that a sense of form is not just a form of beauty, but rather emphasizes a "vibrant" and "lively" body, that is, human activities carried out under the control of subjective consciousness. In other words, as appreciators of tattoo art, mirrors are other independent individuals or groups with or without tattoos. Therefore, when I see others as a mirror, I am actually conscious as a tattoo artist, that is, I have vitality because of my tattoos. Just like the selfie beauty feature of modern smartphones. For example, beauty enthusiasts often look in the mirror and say, 'Magic mirror, magic mirror, am I the most beautiful person in the world?'? As mentioned earlier, "mirrors" can be extended as aesthetic reference standards for other third parties, so people in the mirror stage are also in the social grid.
Therefore, mirror is the intermediary for the aesthetic subject to obtain aesthetic experience, and mirror can restore the external image of the subject to the greatest extent possible. Aesthetic experience has an explanatory function and can give people a new feeling about things, that is, aesthetic experience sometimes produces the joy of discovery, and the viewer can discover beauty in things that are not beautiful or are beautiful.
Freedom is the essential requirement of art and the embodiment of its purpose as the subject of activity. Therefore, for the subject of artistic activity, taking tattoos as an example, artistic behavior, that is, the process of aesthetic activity, can only reflect the existence of beauty in "aesthetics", that is, only when people have internal thinking (aesthetic consciousness) about external phenomena, tattoos have aesthetic significance. The overall image is presented as a self aware aesthetic object as a complete individual within one's own aesthetic perspective.
The sense of form is subordinate to the union of the body: ① As a realist, the body subject can only occupy one position at a certain moment. Therefore, in order to form an activity system, people must cooperate with other body subjects, that is, practice is fundamentally social; ② The activity structure of life output changes in collaboration and the structure of communication (including) objects through this structure; ③ While producing various activity structures, humans constantly operate them (including abstraction), which enables them to acquire various basic forms. The sense of form arises from the joint body - the subject's operation of its activity structure, and the "beautiful form" appears in this process [7, p. 84]. For tattooed individuals, there is naturally a gap in their aesthetic experience compared to non tattooed individuals.
Treating tattoos as an art form is actually because modern tattoos conform to the trend of the times, and it is the development of society that has created the art of tattoos.
Conclusion: Ethical Tattoos
Grosse said, "The main purpose of primitive ethnic painting is for aesthetics; it is a decoration, not, as some people claim, a primitive form of clothing. Therefore, it is entirely reasonable for us to study painting (and tattoos) from an aesthetic perspective [2, p. 47]. Interpreting the three eras of tattoos from an aesthetic perspective to legitimize tattoos. But what else is needed for the virtues of human nature? It should be mentioned here that "art" represents human emotions in aesthetics, and it is art that elevates the level of humanity. In all actions guided by interests and will, "humanity" is still largely obscured, and art allows humanity to "manifest". Therefore, the discovery of the "virtues of human nature" is reflected in the "humanity of art," reflecting the self-awareness of morality [3].
The ultimate liberation of a person is the liberation of their own instinctive deconstruction. The aesthetic time, aesthetic experience, and aesthetic process have reached a high degree of harmony with human sensory states. It is productive, that is, it produces an infinite realm of free humanity and aesthetics. This objective reality is not a natural thing, but an objective reality that has been alienated by people, just as Marx said, 'humanized nature' [1]. Human beings can only reasonably solve the problems of one sidedness and utilitarianism, get rid of poverty, singularity, and deformity, and truly enter the realm of richness, health, and civilization [4, p. 57].
In summary, just like Plato's example of beauty, it is difficult to understand whether tattoos are beautiful or not. Therefore, just like the exploration of beauty itself, only when the artistic act of tattooing returns to morality itself, that is, when tattoos conform to the laws of beauty, can tattoos be reasonably displayed in a beautiful posture.
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