# 5 Words are only skin deep.....

....unless you ink them.

I've always been a fan of tattoos, It's another form of art but the best bit is that it follows you through your entire life.

I was 18 when I first experienced tattoo art up close through a boyfriend. I watched him have some of it filled in and to this day it's still some of the most beautiful ink I've ever seen. I was hooked after that.

But finding something relevant that will have meaning for the rest of your life (if that's what you want it to be) isn't that easy. People change, ideals change, values change. What suits your philosophy when you're 18 (if you have one) might not when you're 35 - it depends on how you look at your art and how it fits into your life.

Lie & Indite - temporary
literary art for the body 

Literary ink is a way of defining that. Whether you write your own, choose a lyric, poem or passage from your favourite novel. Why should the art on your body only be visual - why not read it like a book? ForBooksSake has put out a request for just such a thing after Contrariwise stopped updating their blog and it began a similar project.

If you're feeling really random you could become a part of Shelley Jackson's Skin Project and have one word of her 2095 story 'Skin' tattooed on you.

If you don't want a permanent reminder try this. Also known as 'Graphoerotica' in fetish circles you can turn yourself into a virtual novel or poets writing desk without the lasting effects. The Marquis De Sade (in the film at least) did a similar thing on his clothes in the absence of pen and paper.

Marquis De Sade - Graphoerotica was just one of a long list

The act of putting words permanently into skin is a literal and sensual way of expressing yourself in more than just imagery. It can encapsulate your entire being in one sentence, one paragraph or right across your back.

So do you have a literary tattoo and if so what's the story behind it. If you're planning on having one, what would it say and why?