SUGAR SKULLS & STAR SKULLS

TATTOO & T-SHIRT SKULL IMAGERY

The skull has long been one of the most used symbols to represent death and our awareness of the limitations of physical existence. This has changed in recent times, as with the graphic tee most skulls are designed for fashion rather than being emblematic of the fact that we are not immortal.

Many people’s familiarity of skull imagery in modern times is with the skull t-shirt and indeed in the tattoo industry’s sugar skulls. During the ‘Day of the Dead’ celebrations in Mexico, deceased family members are honoured using sugar skulls. The symbolic meaning of a sugar skull is based in the design around the eyes. Flowers represent life and cobwebs death. Candles represent remembrance. A tattoo can have any meaning you put to it. While there are many examples of tattoo mistakes, I think most people who get a tattoo, do take the time and make the effort to research its meaning. However, sometimes the sugar skull image becomes a fashion statement superseding or ignoring the original meaning.   

Sugar skull tattoo photo taken by Alex O’Neal
(not endorsed) on October 16, 2010.
License use: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en

This is not unlike a real bugbear of mine in that many people, famous and non-famous alike, will wear a band t-shirt and could not list one of that band’s albums or indeed not be able to name their favourite Ramones song while their ‘fashion tee’ depicts a circular logo spelling out R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

At fishtanktees.com I have designed a skull t-shirt titled ‘starskull’ that uses white graphics of stars forming into a skull image. The starskull t-shirt is emblematic of the fact that we are very much mortal but more than that, it celebrates our origins. We are carbon based, our origins began within stars. As an expansive thought – we are their offspring, disconnected only by space and time. The idea, that while our physical existence is limited, we have in a way always been here and as such we never truly cease to exist. There is no real beginning and no true end.

As with tattoos, t-shirt imagery can represent whatever you want it to. Whether your idea is based in tradition, science or just for fun, I think it is important to recognise that while sometimes it is OK to just wear something that is popular, it is far more interesting if you can have your own opinion about it and have an understanding of where it originates. 

Oh, just in case you are wondering, my favourite Ramones
song is ‘I wanna be sedated’ from the ‘Road to Ruin’ album.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Eajk2uDWaP0