Open Editions: Colourful Man

Radical self expression ! It's interesting how we're all unique, but also so similar... most born and live with two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth etc. Sure things happen along the way, and lose an eye to lawn darts, or try move a stick out from under the running mower and lose a foot. Seems terribly ironic how much abuse and neglect the human body can taken, yet at the same time how delicate and fragile it can be if punctured at the wrong spot or some seemingly random thing. I've read about Japanese girls in terribly high heels that trip and fall to their death stepping off the curb. Is it pre-ordained ? it's just your time to go? Sorry, got sidetracked... people searching for individuality have adopted some severe body modifications. What a strange species. No wonder the aliens want to study us. I just try to keep my head down and blend in, try not to be conspicuous. I've got some property in the "bad part of town" and was introduced to the term "clucking" when the girls (okay, presumably guys as well) haven't slept for a couple of days and they are running on nerves, their nervous system starts to misfire, and have involuntary movements, to lifting or swinging their arms, random kicks, will bend over entirely at the waist. Will call out gibberish. It was distressing the first time I saw it, then it was explained to me, that basically they just need to go to sleep for awhile. I feel bad saying it's entertaining, but hard to have much sympathy when they literally do it to themselves. Guess that's the nature of addiction. Damn, I got off tangent again, I meant to say something meaningful about tattoos and body art. I'm actually surprised i've made it this far and have yet to get a tattoo... I like to say it's for the same reason I don't have a wife, I haven't yet found one I wanted to keep for the rest of my life ! I'm kind of glad, in the 80's I probably would have gotten barb wire around my bicep ! In the 90's I was digging the bio-mechanical stuff like Giger, or the ripped flesh illusions. Think about all the people that got impulse tattoos that have to explain who Max Headroom is or was ! Beavis & Butthead tattoo's ! Or Bart exclaming: Eat my shorts ! I sold some A.I. art prints to a tattoo artist and in our discussion he suggested I get a full sleeve of all the tattoos I did NOT get over the years ! Kind of an interesting idea. The guy in this image seems more to have painted graphics, bright tempera paint. His teeth strike me as being too perfect to be that covered in tattoos ! That's probably ink-ist of me and I will get cancelled by that tattoo federation for making judgment calls of a condescending nature on our inked brethren. My apologies. I come in peace. No harm intended. Feel free to express yourself anyway you want! The protagonist pictured could also be in a cathartic primal scream releasing his frustration for poor choices of the (mis)leaders in power showcasing their incompetence and corruption as if they were prideful peacocks ! The world seems ruled by both impossibly greedy individuals and corporations alike. The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is it's own inefficiency !