Academic Works
Before picking up a needle and a grapefruit and learning how to tattoo, I was researching and writing about tattoos whenever I could in university. On this page you can access some of the projects and academic papers from my life as a full time student.
Community Based Research Aspirations and Initiatives
One of my biggest takeaways from my time in university is that researching tattoos has not been a priority and remains limited in scope within large institutional settings. While there are some researchers who are trying to shift the intellectual landscape of tattooing (check out the resources page for more info), I have found in my own work, albeit limited, that the institutional structures of academia do not yet contain the enough space to study the sheer diversity of tattoo practices and experiences that are currently flourishing throughout the world. As such, I am working to gather like-minded individuals and other tattoo artists who care about the craft to start finding answers to our most pressing and intriguing questions within our own communities.
This is not to say that academic research institutions will never be capable of rigorous, respectful, and dynamic research on tattoo. However, my current priority is to explore how research can be conducted by and for the communities who are actively contributing to tattoo arts in the real world. Historically, academic research has looked down on tattooing and has not involved artists in developing research which could provide relevant insight into the nature of their work. Artists have mostly been research subjects and have rarely been agents in scientific research on tattoos, resulting in studies whose results are not helpful for artists seeking to better understand and improve their craft.
As such, one of my primary goals is to help artists research their own questions and find answers through a supportive community of artists who also care to foster curiosity and gather knowledge in tattooing. I am only at the beginning of my career, so the scope and methods of such work remain limited. Nevertheless, I feel it’s important to put my thoughts out into the world, in case anyone else is interested or supports these goals.
Andy Pollard 