Spring Break
Literature for life--literally
Heidi Schallberg
Issue date: 4/12/04 Section: Culture
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Williams is waiting to get his tattoo with his colleague, Laurie Ellinghausen, who is also an assistant professor in the English Department. Ellinghausen is still waiting to receive her word from Jackson, who has temporarily stopped responding to volunteers due to a severe repetitive stress injury in her arm.
As soon as Ellinghausen heard about the project from Williams, she thought, "I have to do this." The project coincided with the sudden death of her grandmother and during Ellinghausen's first year in Kansas City. "Transitional years are both painful and joyous at the same time and are important to remember," she said. Being part of the "Skin" project is like joining a "textual community."
To the "words" of the story, it's bigger than just a tattoo. Williams observed that the project draws attention to the impermanence of text, since even a name carved in a tombstone will eventually crumble. And since the most important early texts were inscribed on the skin of living creatures, Williams points out that "this is a nice invocation of that practice."
Yet not everyone sees the community in getting a random word tattooed on your body for life. All three have heard at least a few negative reactions from people who hear about the project. An online literary magazine, Yankee Pot Roast, even satired "Skin" by writing a short story on a volunteer's body in magic marker.
hschallberg@unews.com
As soon as Ellinghausen heard about the project from Williams, she thought, "I have to do this." The project coincided with the sudden death of her grandmother and during Ellinghausen's first year in Kansas City. "Transitional years are both painful and joyous at the same time and are important to remember," she said. Being part of the "Skin" project is like joining a "textual community."
To the "words" of the story, it's bigger than just a tattoo. Williams observed that the project draws attention to the impermanence of text, since even a name carved in a tombstone will eventually crumble. And since the most important early texts were inscribed on the skin of living creatures, Williams points out that "this is a nice invocation of that practice."
Yet not everyone sees the community in getting a random word tattooed on your body for life. All three have heard at least a few negative reactions from people who hear about the project. An online literary magazine, Yankee Pot Roast, even satired "Skin" by writing a short story on a volunteer's body in magic marker.
hschallberg@unews.com
