ZOZUTATTOO

Conception.

The history of the entire nativity originates in ancient tribes, when tattooing was a mark of distinction.
The members went through the initiation ceremony, received their mark and selflessly went to fulfill
their life mission. Each tribe has its own history, its own ideology, its own deities and of course its own
special shaman-artist with a shark’s tooth. To fast forward thousands of years the tattoo is entrenched
in the culture of sailors, bandits, keen travelers and even kings. Yes, our last emperor was a big fan of
tattoos, he also spread this fashion at the court.
After 10 years the Soviet avant-garde of 1917, which began so promisingly with the concept of free love,
changed to a rigid system and transferred any marks of distinction to the category of marginal.

Throughout our Soviet history tattooing has remained in common use among sailors, military personnel,
musicians, artists and of course in the criminal strata. For some reason the latter are the only guys that
our dads and moms associate with a tattoo. Moreover, forgetting that most of the prisoners at that time
were so-called bourgeoisie, political prisoners, writers and prisoners of war. One way or another, but
the long-term mix on that side led to the creation of a whole trend of “Russian criminal tattoo” which is
so popular today in the West! There is more than one printed publication on this topic which examines
in details all the trends in this style, plots and their meanings.

And by the end of the 20th century, thanks to the great and terrible American pop culture, the
popularity of an artistic tattoo is already reaching our gold-cupolaed country.
Now we have a huge variety of styles: realism, neotrad, oldschool, newschool, graphics, ornamental,
etc. Nowadays you can even get phosphorus under your skin and then glow under ultraviolet light like a
New Year’s fairy lights! And this will be called another new trend!

Here is one main principle – “the absence of any principle”! Only you and no one else should like the
tattoo. It should mean only what you put into it yourself. Do you want to associate yourself with
Polynesian tribes? Great, go ahead! Do you want to make a tattoo of your children’s names for fear of
forgetting them in old age? Super! And if you are the father of 10 offspring with many children, then
having found a cool master calligrapher you can recycle your trivial idea into a gorgeous type
composition! Any stupidity and banality, in skillful and talented hands, can be turned into grace and
beauty.

By simple manipulations a good master will be able to cover up an old scar, hide pigment spots and even
visually correct the figure a little.
Beat with sticks and spit at those who claim that a tattoo is a sacred action that changes your life, which
must be done on a new moon to the sounds of a shamanic drum. Such theories were relevant when
bison hunting was our main activity. Mostly this is claimed by clumsy and tattoo artists who do not know
how to draw. It is always easier for them to cram in a “magical and life-changing shit picture” than to do
their job efficiently and beautifully. Any “Sh” flavored with magic and esoterica is always easier to sell to
a naive buyer. And if you also dress up in a wonderful caftan, use colored lenses and add magical passes
with your hands then you can inflate the price for such a performance “to the moon”. Not any peony on
your ass will change your life for the better, will not bring back your beloved and will not help you lose
10 kilos.

A tattoo is just one of a huge number of ways for your self-expression, making our gray reality a little
more diverse and exciting. And let even the most banal Mickey Mouse which you will make on your
hand will return your consciousness to the period of carefree childhood, long-awaited cartoons at 7
a.m., sweet tea and grandma’s pies. Because this is exactly your valuable image that helps you to go
through life with a smile!