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| ineradicablestain.com |
Our culture’s fascination
with body art has grown tremendously since it first crept its way into the
mainstream. Until recently, tattoos were associated with foreign tribes, and in
America, sailors and prisoners. Once considered a taboo subject, today they are
common, considered an art form and a means of expression. Their acceptance
continues to cultivate, especially
among creative types—the same type who might enjoy a good story. Author Shelley
Jackson saw the potential among this group. She came up with a project to
combine her love for the literary and visual art, to get thousands of people
involved and thousands more interested.
Jackson began by writing a
2095-word story titled Skin. However,
the way in which she decided to publish this story is what set her apart and
made her work so admired. Making a promise that Skin would never be published anywhere but on the skin of her
participants, she began the Skin Project. The story is published exclusively in
tattoos on the bodies of her volunteers, whom she refers to as her “words.”
How does one become one of
Jackson’s words? There is an application process in which those who care to be
involved must write a letter to Jackson explaining why they are interested. She
has gotten thousands of submissions—many more than the number of words in the
story. She reads each submission and chooses her favorites, and mails them
their word. Once the participant gets the word tattooed in classic book font (a
must), and sends back a form and photograph, they are officially considered a
word. Jackson herself has the title word, SKIN, etched into her own wrist.
The mystery surrounding
this project is perhaps what makes it so alluring to so many. The truth is that
no one but the author will ever know the full story; her words know very little
about the story that they are a part of. “Only the death of words
effaces them from the text,” Jackson writes on her website. “As words die the
story will change; when the last word dies the story will also have died. The author
will make every effort to attend the funerals of her words.”
By Rhianna Reinmuth
