The Art of Organ Donation?

Our biggest bodily organ,
but only a thin skin or membrane

Reading through my copy of 'The Making of MONA' recently I came across the above photo of Tim (2006) by Wim Delvoye.

Tattoo Tim in situ on a pedestal at MONA
(Photographer: Margot Foster)

I had seen somewhere when I was in Hobart that Tim was going to be giving a talk about his back tattoo, but not having done my research on the backstory (yes pun intended) of this tattoo, like I did when I saw the 'AUSSIE' posters plastered around Hobart and Melbourne in this recent post I wrote about the ambiguity of art -
The Ambiguity of Art
I thought to myself, who wants to see some dickhead give a talk about his big "look at me" back tattoo?
You might guess that I'm not a big fan of the latest craze for all over body tattoos that every Tom, DICK and Harriet seems to have these days.

Life Support?

My tattoo, selling for $50,000
when they unplug me;-)

It's not that I'm against tattoos, I have them myself and I don't mind the tattoos of people like Ruby Rose, who have put a bit of thought into getting them.
But people seem to slap them on their skin without any thought like it's some great T-shirt slogan that seemed cool to be wearing at the time, without thinking they might want to take it off when the novelty wears off. 
But, now having read that Wim Delvoyne tattooed Tim's back in 2006 and later sold it to a German collector for $205,000 and that Tim agreed to exhibit his back up to four times a year and that the tattoo will be returned to its rightful "owner" after his death as a macabre buy back scheme -
Wim Delvoye: The art of the well-crafted taboo
I felt I missed a unique opportunity to hear this "dickhead" talk, because I was too much of a "dickhead" to listen, when I should have known there was more to this "exhibit" than meets the eye.  

Wim Delvoyne

"Though Delvoye started tattooing pig skins taken from slaughterhouses in the United States in 1992, he began to tattoo live pigs in 1997. Delvoye was interested in the idea that “the pig would literally grow in value," both in a physical and economic sense. 
He ultimately moved the operation to an Art Farm in China in 2004. 
The pigs have been inked with a diverse array of designs, including the trival, such as skulls and crosses, to Louis Vuitton designs, to designs dictated by the pig's anatomy.". 
In an interview with ArtAsiaPacific's Paul Laster, Delvoye described the process of tattooing a live pig, "we sedate it, shave it and apply Vaseline to its skin""
The pigs get better treatment while getting tattooed than I ever did, but if you haven't had a tattoo done before I can assure you that it doesn't really hurt that much at all ... and that's without a sedative.

I find it interesting that Wim is a vegetarian with no tattoos on his skin.
You can hear an interview with Wim on Australia's ABC radio by clicking on the link below -
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2012/02/cit_20120218_1405.mp3
Interesting talk it is, too. 

Empty tequila bottle with a 'Day of the Dead'
skull on it which is on my desk

I like the idea behind Tim's back tattoo being a focus on life and death. 

I know David Walsh calls himself an Atheist, which I guess means he believes once you're dead that's it, but I certainly don't believe once you're dead that's it.
While I don't subscribe to any religion currently on this planet, Buddhism would be the religion I would most identify myself with in terms of an evolutionary spiritual progress of the universe, or universes.
To me the body is just a cellular vehicle we are given to participate in the game of life ... which can be quite a nasty little game at times ... and when that game is over our consciousness moves on to the next stage of the game.      

People like David Walsh and Richard Dawkins may say "pig's arse" to life after death, but tattoos like these "artworks" of Wim's are fantastic works to ponder the meaning of material life on earth and the spirituality of consciousnesses and its complexities, and the fusion of both and the possibilities and impossibilities of life and "death". 

I love how the 'Day of the Dead' skull sits at the top of Tim's back, as if to be the flip side of the coin to Tim's living breathing skull.

Carl Jung's artwork

I find it somewhat Jungian and alien like in that there are things we never see brought to our conscious attention while "looking forward" at the apparent totality of life before us, while really there is an ocean of life behind and around us that we never really see, because our focus is directed elsewhere.

I wonder how much this guy wants for it?-)

Body Art, or Body Vandalism?

On the Day of the Dead, the boundaries between life and death begin to blur.

The tequila bottle on my desk was to remind me to do a post on a fantastic book I read over a year ago by Cate Kennedy, who is an Australien who went to live in a poor area of Mexico that has very rich in spiritual culture.

It's a great book, well worth reading for the lessons the Mexicans taught Cate and Cate teaches us.
Maybe that post will appear soon once I can get over the writer's block that's kept that post on a perpetual "To Do" list of mine. 

" "Film: A Thin Skin or Membrane" is an exploration of films and media using Synchromysticism, exploring patterns within pop culture that point toward our connection with spiritual dimension of our nature and existence. Analyzing the intelligence underlying all art, highlighting the symbols and even movie stars that Ideas and aspects of ourslves attract when we dramatize them in art. The word film shares its definition with a membrane, or thin layer connecting two sides or worlds. The patterns gathered in these 3 parts are shared to express a spiritual and evolutionary code of symbols and stars highlighting our consciousness' relationship to our spiritual nature and the Spiritual Dimensions of existence known by many religions and mythologies as Heaven, the Underworld, Astral Plane, Dream World, 5th Dimension etc. The Archetype of the Rainbow is one of the most recurring connections in this series, this should he expected as the Rainbow has always been a symbol of the connection between Heaven and Earth, Spirit and Matter, Microcosm and Macrocosm. 
Synchromysticsm finds the mythic dramas of the heavenly stars and Constellations, reflected here on Earth in our art and culture. This is Love Code. Movie stars can be seen as key players or symbols in this code within our art and culture, We are remembering our eternal connection to divinity, cosmic consciousness, these videos are a celebration of our "return to the garden", our spiritual connection with this beautiful and divine earth. 
Love and Peace - Kevin Halcott"

Film: A Thin Skin or Membrane Part 1 

Also, maybe because I listened to Alanis Morisette's (she's now 42, by the way;-) song, 'Ironic' way too much on my iPod on my road-trip, I couldn't help thinking wouldn't it be ironic if someone stole this work of art like the plot to some 'The Thomas Crown Affair' movie?-)

Maybe it's the song 'The Windmills of Your Mind' I should be blaming instead for that thought -
The Windmills of My Mind