BODY SYMBOL AESTHETICS: TATTOO ART ON THE SKIN

ABSTRACT

The publication of this article invites the reader to further discussion with the author. The author of the article tries to substantiate the following.

Modern tattoo techniques have become highly advanced, and in contemporary society, tattoos have gradually become a way of life that transcends the artistic pursuit of real life. Tattoos use the body as a carrier to express a person's personality consciousness to a certain extent. Tattoos are a unique social production of human beings. To elevate this special form of artistic expression to the study of body aesthetics, its significance lies in exploring the research object centered on human beings themselves, and interpreting the special value of tattoos from the perspective of human beings themselves.

АННОТАЦИЯ

Keywords: Body aesthetics, tattoos, new practical aesthetics, human freedom.

Ключевые слова: Эстетика тела, татуировки, новая практическая эстетика, свобода человека.

1. Body symbols in the new practice of body aesthetics

Schusterman provided a temporary definition of body aesthetics: "The critical and improved study of a person's body - as a place of sensory aesthetic appreciation and creative self shaping - experience and function [5].

Body aesthetics focuses on the study of the aesthetic relationship between individuals and their own bodies through art. The human body is a natural physical existence, as well as a product and crystallization of human self production. The human body can be divided into three levels: physical existence, bodily symbols, and the overall person. There are three levels of aesthetic relationship between humans and the body: the beauty and aesthetics of the human body, the beauty and aesthetics of body symbols, and the beauty and aesthetics of the whole person. The beauty and aesthetics of the human body are mainly related to human physical desires and their manifestations – e.g. sex or violence, but they should still be elevated to the manifestation of free images; The beauty and aesthetics of body symbols are mainly related to the production and expression of symbols above oneself - the makeup and clothing of the body; The beauty and aesthetics of the whole person are related to the production of the whole person - the free and comprehensive development of the person and the manifestation of their image.

The term 'body' expresses a body that is full of life, emotions, and sensitive sensations, rather than a purely material body that lacks life and sensation; The "aesthetics" in body aesthetics has a dual function: firstly, it emphasizes the perceptual function of the body, and secondly, it emphasizes the various applications of its aesthetics, which are used not only to make individuals stylized, but also to appreciate the aesthetic characteristics of other selves and things.

For the phenomenological study of body consciousness, it aims to explore the different types, levels, and values of body self-awareness - from fundamental unconscious motivations, non reflective body habits or just habits, non centered automatic reactions, to precise and thematic body imagery, body self-awareness, and reflective body introspection. Different models of body consciousness can improve our sensory knowledge, physical activity, and physical pleasure [1].

2. Tattoos are a practical activity in artistic production

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: an edge cultural form in which dye or other difficult to remove pigments are used to pierce a painting into the skin. It is a symbolic system that modifies the natural features or attributes of the body, with decorative or practical elements.

Body symbols already existed in early human society. The production of body symbols in today's 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. However, in aesthetic and artistic practice, the physical existence and symbolic body of a person are the unity of material and spiritual opposition. The relationship between human physical beauty and aesthetics: It is not binary opposition or separation of spirit and flesh. The beauty and aesthetics of the physical existence of the human body and the beauty and aesthetics of body symbols are the complete process of people fully grasping an aesthetic object as the other, and the complete aesthetic relationship between the human body and people [6].

The traditional understanding of tattoos is exclusive to specific groups such as the underworld, gangsters, and bad women. Tattoos, as a fundamental expression of cultural identity and social participation, are considered to have definite ritualistic significance. The natural, silent body becomes a positive, symbolic medium of communication that is inevitable.

Tattoos, as a unique visual image, are created by cutting the skin attached to the body, integrating the spiritual demands of the microscopic world, and providing the most intimate material framework for the body. 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.

Tattoos are an aesthetic space for the skin, no longer a symbol of "the criminal world" 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.

The body and the object have already formed a world network. Every global network has a real production function, otherwise, humans would not be able to survive as human beings. Body decoration (tattoos) has been practiced since very early times, and it is likely the earliest form of art, which can also be used as a prototype for visual art. It uses the body itself as material, leaving traces of various cultures on it.

Whether as a sensitive subject experiencing this world or as an object perceived in this world, the body expresses human uncertainty. As the subjectivity that constitutes the 'center of experience', the body has a sporadic nature and cannot be properly understood as merely an object.

The aestheticization and artisticization of material body production include human self production and human beauty production, both of which are closely related to Marx's concept of "constructing according to the laws of beauty" and Gorky's concept of "sexual aesthetics", and are essential prerequisites for the development of human production. As a study of the aesthetic relationship between human beings and their own bodies, body aesthetics naturally requires close attention to the human body, bodily desires, and e.g. related sexual or violent aspects. However, within the scope of body aesthetics, the relationship between human body, bodily desires, sexual or violent aspects must be elevated and sublimated into the free manifestation of aesthetic relationships. And it cannot be limited to the physical level, it must also delve into their symbolic level, elucidating their inner connotations and symbolic meanings. This way, we can smoothly transition to the level of discourse production in the human symbolic body.

Marx said in his "Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844": "Indeed, animals also produce, creating nests or dwellings for themselves, such as bees, beavers, ants, etc. However, animals only produce what they or their offspring directly need; animal production is one-sided, while human production is comprehensive; animals only produce under the direct control of physical needs, and humans produce even without being affected by physical needs, and only without being affected by these needs can they truly produce; animals only produce themselves, while humans produce the entire natural world; animal products belong directly to their bodies, and humans are free to face their own products. Animals are only built according to the scale and needs of the species they belong to, while humans know how to produce according to the scale of any species and apply their internal scale to objects everywhere; Therefore, humans are also constructed according to the laws of beauty. Although Marx mainly discusses the production of means of life and means of production in material production, it also involves the "self production" of humans and animals. Marx's statement that "animals only produce themselves, while humans reproduce the entire natural world" refers to the "self production" of animals, and can be further elaborated on the singularity of animal production. That is to say, animal material production has only one form, and its self production and material production are the same, while human production, in addition to producing itself, also reproduces the entire natural world. Therefore, humans have two types of production: their own production and the production of means of livelihood and production. This difference refers to the characteristics of human material production, including human sociality, practical freedom, and aesthetic transcendence [3].

Eagleton: Aesthetics was born as a discourse about the body. Richard Schusterman: Body aesthetics is the critical and improved study of a person's body - as a place for sensory aesthetic appreciation and creative self shaping - experience and function. Therefore, it is also committed to providing knowledge, discussion, practice, and physical training for the care or improvement of the body. The theory of body aesthetics has three dimensions: the theoretical dimension, which includes body issues related to traditional ontology and epistemology. Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu's exploration of social and political science: how the body is both shaped by power and employed as a tool to maintain power; How are the physical standards of health, agility, and beauty, and even the most basic categories of gender, constructed to reflect and maintain social power [2]. The second dimension is the "pragmatic body aesthetics", which, in contrast to the descriptive analytical body aesthetics of logic, whether it is genealogical or ontological, has distinctive standard and normative characteristics by proposing special methods for improving the body and engaging in comparative criticism of them. As the survival ability of any proposed method depends on some ontological, psychological, or social facts about the body, this pragmatic dimension always includes the analytical dimension in advance. However, it not only evaluates the facts described by analysis, but also proposes to reshape the body and society in different ways to improve certain facts, thus going beyond pure analysis. The third dimension is "practical body aesthetics", it is not a matter of creating theories or texts, nor is it even a pragmatic method of providing physical care. It is entirely through intellectually regulated bodily operations aimed at self-improvement of the body, whether through representation, experience, or execution patterns. This dimension of practice is not related to speaking, but to doing, and it is ignored by academic philosophers, whose commitment to logical reasoning typically ends in this contextualized body.

3. The purpose of tattoos is to achieve self transcendence and comprehensive personal freedom

Freedom is an important attribute of human beings, and Kant defined humans as "beings with free activities" in his book "Anthropology". Freedom is one of the essential qualities of human beings, and it is also a subjective condition for aesthetic appreciation. Only with this condition can aesthetic activities begin. Human beings are not limited by external objects, nor by their own animalistic nature, which fully reflects their free nature. The ability of humans to freely treat and grasp the characteristics of external objects is also a prerequisite for aesthetic creation and aesthetic activities.

Unlike animals and plants, humans have consciousness and cognitive abilities, allowing them to make free choices within a certain range. Kant realized that "the will of man always manifests hostility towards those around him, always demands unconditional freedom, not only seeks independence, but even wants to become the ruler of other beings who are essentially equal to him.

In the shift towards practice and practical analysis, the research on body aesthetics should not only focus on the beauty and aesthetics of the human body as manifested by the body and physical desires, but also include the beauty and aesthetics of the body as manifested by body symbols, such as body makeup and clothing. Finally, it is necessary to pay more attention to the overall beauty of the human body as manifested by the aesthetic relationship between people as a whole. The beauty of the whole person or the overall beauty of the human body and its aesthetics, in addition to the external beauty manifested as the existence and symbol of the physical body, such as language beauty, behavior beauty, clothing beauty and its aesthetics and art, there is also the internal beauty of spiritual connotations manifested through aesthetic and artistic images, such as the beauty of thought, sentiment beauty, and soul beauty. On the one hand, the external beauty of the human body is the material basis for the manifestation of the image of the internal beauty of the human body. This internal beauty cannot exist independently of the external beauty of the human body. On the other hand, external beauty must be born together with internal beauty to become the "beauty of the whole human body" as a whole, and integrated into the cognitive and ethical relationships of the human body, in order to achieve the comprehensive and free development of the human body.

In the context of practical turn and practical analysis, body aesthetics refers to the "body turn" [4]. It is one dimension of this "practice turn", in which the ultimate goal of body aesthetics can only be the free and comprehensive development of human beings. The comprehensive development of human freedom is the fundamental purpose of aesthetics. In the study of human body beauty, physical beauty, and overall human beauty and their artistic expression, we cannot unilaterally emphasize the "body turning", but should refer to the free and comprehensive development of human beings.

References:

1. Ji Xiaofeng. From Consciousness Experience to Physical Experience. – East China Normal University, 2010.
2. Li Yanfeng. How Schustermann Interprets Foucault's Body Aesthetics: A Discussion on the Theoretical and Practical Tendencies of Pragmatist Body Aesthetics // Journal of Southwest University for Nationalities (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition). – January, 2021.
3. Marx's work / Compiled by the Compilation Bureau of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin's Works of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China // The Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844. – Beijing: People's Publishing House, 2018. – 53 p.
4. Wang Min'an, Chen Yongguo. Body Turning // Foreign Literature. – 2004. – Vol. 01.
5. Yang Chunshi. History of Modern Chinese Aesthetic Trends. – Nanchang: Baihuazhou Literature and Art Publishing House, 2019. – 529 p.
6. Zhu Luzi, Li Xiaomeng. On the Legitimacy of Body Aesthetics // Beauty and the Times. – Part 2. – May 2019.