The ability that tattoos have to be everything to everyone is quite simply enough, uncanny. It’s such a malleable art form and it works on so many levels that I honestly can’t think of anything quite like it. I know that I don’t need to sit here and list all the different forms we’ve seen tattoos take and all the different reasons that they’ve taken those forms. But I do feel it’s at least somewhat relevant to say that despite all these different levels on which tattoos function, they aren’t always welcome by everyone. By that I mean while some might feel it’s completely appropriate to take up advertising for various companies and corporations through tattoos on their bodies, others might call that whoring out an artform. Hey, I’m not saying that’s what I believe necessarily, I’m just sayin’, that’s all.
Anyway, it’s funny that I would use the term “whoring” because this post is oddly enough, about Lady Gaga. I’m not really familiar with Lady Gaga other than one late night after I had missed a flight and I was stuck in a hotel room. I turned on the TV, and there she was, singing that utterly terrible Poker Face song. If you don’t know who Lady Gaga is, then I would say consider yourself lucky. But no matter what anyone says about Lady Gaga, she knows how to do one thing very well and that one thing is market herself. She thrives off controversy and outlandish behavior. So I guess it makes sense that with the run up to the release of her third album, Lady G is planning to have the name of the album tattooed on her body. Photos of the tattoo will be publicized and used to advertise for the album.
Nothing new in way, of course. Many musicians have had their band’s name or the release date of their first album or even the name of the album itself tattooed on to their flesh. I guess the one way in which Lady Gaga differs from all the others is that she is actually using this strictly as a marketing scheme. What do you think? Is it taking things too far? Or is it completely irrelevant what anyone wants to tattoo on their body at any time, for any reason?
I’ll leave you with this while you contemplate your answer…