Cataloguing the rich tattoo culture of Knowle West.
“I Will Always Have You” aimed to map the tattooing heritage of the neighbourhood by engaging with the public and documenting their tattoos, examining the power of their personal narratives and the construction of character. We wanted to extract the memories and remembrances that are stored in people’s body art.
In collaboration with Stand + Stare and Play Nicely, we created a Mobile Tattoo Parlour. This is a tattoo parlour with a difference – instead of inking new tattoos it digitally collected people’s pieces of body art and recorded the stories behind why they had them. The project offered an opportunity for people to share the memories, lost loves and tall tales that are etched into their tattoos. By gathering these stories, we hoped to explore and better understand the growing popularity of tattoos across the UK and the richness of the tattoo culture of Knowle West.
Mobile Tattoo Parlour on tour
The Mobile Tattoo Parlour Has been digitally documenting people’s body art and collecting their stories. The themes that have been explored include: the power of personal narratives and myths in the construction of identity, tattoos as a repository of stored memories, and the performance of identity. We have seen heartbreak and celebration, childhood regret and childish allure – each tattoo has its own story, memory and place on the owner’s body.
The Parlour has now finished its tour having passed around the neighbourhood from “Marked Up” Tattoo Studio to The Park, from re:work on Filwood Broadway to Inns Court. It has now arrived back at Knowle West Media Centre. If you have a tattoo to show and a story to tell you can still become part of the archive by visiting us or going directly to the Knowle West Tattoo website and submitting from home.
KWMC also paired artists and local residents to produce ‘objects of desire’ – a range of beautiful products inspired by the images and imagination of local tattoo culture.
Four artists – Helen Sullivan, Jacky Puzey, Emma McCusker and Schram&Sandhu – partnered with local residents to explore, design and develop a series of small-batch digitally fabricated objects, inspired by the rich tattoo culture and people of Knowle West.
A series of products were produced that formed part of an exhibition (below). During the manufacturing process, makers used digital manufacturing processes such as 3D printers, CNC machines and laser cutters in a mini-digital manufacturing hub run by KWMC and through access to the FabLab at the University of the West of England (UWE).
Objects of Desire was developed with support from the Crafts Council.
Exhibition
On 11th September 2014, we opened the ‘I Will Always Have You’ exhibition at Knowle West Media Centre. The event was well attended and included live and close-up tattooing, interactive tattoo installations and a talk by Dr John Troyer from the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath exploring the history and cultural role of memorial tattoos.
Funded by Bristol City Council and Arts Council England.