The one about the tattoo
“You are not a tattoo type!”
“Tattoo, are you serious?”
“WTF?!”
Back in the days, when I was still a little kid, tattoos were associated with something illegal and clandestine. I had the idea that having a tattoo means having been in jail. Don’t blame me, I was a little kid. As I grew older, I realized tattoos are not only for footballers and convicts, but I still could not imagine that I would get one, because I did not feel like standing out. Things changed when I started playing with a band. Yes, it’s true, playing in a band gets you into a different kind of society, where everybody does sex, uses drugs, and plays rock’n’roll. And has at least 3 tattoos. Ok, that might be a little exaggerated, they have only two tattoos, but the point is that people doing music are different by design. You just cannot be normal to get up the stage, show off in front of the crowd for an hour and be absolutely excited about it. Performing can really change your personality, but even though I was not really worried about standing out of the crowd anymore, since that’s basically what we did few times a month during our shows, tattoo was still something too permanent and “big”.
A little fast forward…
A turning point was when my friend slawa got his tattoo back in 2008 and I really started thinking about getting one as well. When he could, I can as well! Over the next few months I was thinking about the possible motive, but I was not able to come up with anything specific. The best idea I had was the bicycle chain pattern you sometimes get imprinted on your calf when riding a bike, but I discarded that for being too lame. I was also thinking about the logo of our band, but even though I totally believed in our infinite success, it still seemed stupid. After some time the idea sunk back into the back of my head, where it remained semi-active, occasionally surfacing when I felt too boring. I know, getting a tattoo would not change that anyway.
And a little fast forward again…
Summer 2011. After spending my first year in Holland I came back to Prague to enjoy the few sunny days at home, before going to Kenya and then Korea. By that time, the initial foolish tattoo ideas were lost and forgotten, so when the new idea struck me, I was thunderstruck (or maybe ideastruck). To give you a little bit of background knowledge, my parents always tried to teach me something about art. Even though I did not always appreciate it when I was younger, I sure do now. “So, what was the idea? Tell us!” The idea was simple — Zdenek Sykora.
If you have certain knowledge about modern art, you might know the name. Sykora was a Czech painter, focusing on abstract shapes, colors, and their relations. He was one of the first artists to use computers for art, as his structures were strictly organized according to pre-determined rules. On the other hand, his later works, lines, were based on randomness and organicity.
Zdenek Sykora - Linie
source: artservis.info
Zdenek Sykora - Structures on a ventilation shaft
source: artservis.info
I would say that Sykora is one of my most favorite painters. I am not much of a name person when it comes to art, but with him I can never go wrong. So why don’t have a piece of his art on my body, more specifically some nice random lines? I told about this idea to my parents, and to my great surprise, they liked it and were even supportive. I really felt like a picture inspired by the works of Sykora would be a good idea for tattoo, because it has certain significance for me and it is really original. But then I went to Kenya and Korea and that was the end of the story…
Was it? Of course not!
One day, while sitting in our dorm in Seoul, I decided to give myself a nice Christmas present. A rather permanent one. I am not sure what exactly was the trigger point, but after so many years of just poking the idea of getting a tattoo, within an hour I decided that I am just going for it. To make sure I can’t back down, I wanted to arrange the date ASAP. Having good references on Tribo I sent an e-mail to the owner, Michal Burda, explaining my situation. After telling him my idea and other details, he recommended Lukas as the tattooer and we set an appointment for December 27th. After that I briefly discussed the situation directly with Lukas, who was a Sykora fan himself, to clarify my intent etc. And then I just waited.
On the T-day, Lukas simply sketched out the tattoo on my leg to figure out the size and orientation and then we dived directly into it. I basically put all my trust into his hands, because there was no detailed design of the tattoo beforehand and most of it was done on the spot. Or under the skin, to be precise. But he was really, really good. After something like an hour I got to see the “first draft” and I was stunned. So much beauty on my leg! We shortly discussed the rest of the tattoo and I laid down again. After a little more than another hour the “damage was done”. My calf has been irreversibly inked. And I fuckin’ loved it.
And now the last fast forward, I promise
The finished work the next morning
Note: the colors are a little boosted as the skin was not healed yet, I took the photo with flash and then "boosted" it a little in Analog. In reality, the colors are a little darker.