NAPSA, or the National Association for the Preservation of Skin Art as thier full name is known; is an association dedicated to preserving the tattoos of the deceased. See link below:
https://savemyink.com
The above is a still taken from thier public website, it shows a brief description of what they do, and more importantly an image of a preserved tattoo; the image shown above does not belong to me and all copyrights belong to NAPSA.
So, I was thinking if this is something I would do, and after a long think I've decided it's not for me, and here's why.
1. Tattoos are so personal - although there may be countless people with a similar tattoo to me, it won't be in the same position as mine, and they won't have the other tattoos to accompany it, it's a part of my skin that I got just for me, something that I didn't get to show other people, something for myself, but to frame it as though that was always the intent doesn't appeal to me.
2. Meanings will be lost - think of a tattoo you have that means something to you, maybe you got it on a special day, maybe it has its own meaning, or maybe you love it because it was a convention tattoo or by your favourite artist; either way it's not going to be public knowledge, it's possible you've told your friends, your family or loved one, but the average person on the street won't know what it means to you, and this is my issue with it, because after you're gone you have no control over where that image goes, maybe it will be passed down in your family or sold or left forgotten, but not everyone who looks at it will know the story behind it, eventually it will just be a bit of old tattooed skin from someone that no one has ever met, the original meaning and experience will be lost.
3. Taking something away - when someone passes on, people like to keep thier jewellery or other possessions to remember them with, but to keep a piece of thier skin, a piece of them just feels so incomplete, I'd like to think that my tattoos and the reasons for my tattoos will die with me, a beautiful end to the walking gallery that I will add to my entire life; to take a bit of someone's collection just feels wrong, like buying a painting in a gallery without knowing at all what made the artist paint it, I just think tattoos are too intimate to be kept by anyone other than the wearer.
But on a positive note, what a fantastically different idea this is, to keep something so personal of your loved one, and as an art form it has definitely caught my attention, and whilst I myself won't be signing up, I respect everyone who does and would love to see a little bit of art left behind by someone, so that thier passion can live on.
• The NAPSA was brought to my attention when reading Skin Deep issue #258 which is currently on sale in shops and on thier website http://www.skindeep.co.uk
(I wasn't asked to mention them, I just thought it only fair since that's where the inspiration for this post came from, and I love the magazine myself, being a subscriber!)
