I'm responding to Katie's blog post about liposuction as a form of body art. I am personally a big fan of body modding, although scarification and branding don't appeal to me at all. I think tattoos are a legitimate art form. I especially like the ones at Contrariwise, a website (And Alice in Wonderland reference!) for literary tattoos. Tattoos are beautiful because they have so much meaning to the people who get them, and because they are both a permanent and very temporary art form. Any parent will tell you that a tattoo is forever, but humans don't make for enduring canvas.
That said, I can't really see plastic surgery as an art form. It isn't making someone beautiful -- it's changing them to make them fit into the shape society says they should be. Tattoos are a celebration of individuality, where plastic surgery tries to get everyone to fit into a single mold.
Body art is sometimes rejected for being too much of a change or for being a "mutilation" of the body you were born with. Other people just don't think it's worth the pain. I think body art is beautiful because you have to really want it in order to get it, and because it can be so simple yet so dramatic. Even simple metal studs make for interesting and beautiful piercings.
Does it matter if something is good or bad for you, as long as it's art? What would you sacrifice or go through for art?
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