Customizing the Body (PDF file) - Print My Tattoo

155 Conclusion
and give money to its creators, then it is likely to be consensually
regarded as art (see Peterson. 1983; Bronner, 1986; 146-148). The
appreciation of members of upper-class "taste publics" (Gans,
1974; Lewis. 1981) is. in short. a source of "cultural capital"
(DiMaggio. 1987). Value and esteem are afforded on the assumption
that those in positions of power are especially qualified to
separate the artistic wheat from the base cultural chaff and to determine
a product's artistic merit. In contrast. objects and activities
(for example. bowling balls, country music, break-dancing.
professional wrestling. tattoos) that are valued and consumed by
members of the "inferior" classes or by those in stigmatized social
networks have little chance of acquiring the honorific artistic
designation. 3
Finally. since whether or not something comes to be regarded as
art is. to a major degree, dependent on whether it is promoted as
art and how those promotional activities proceed (see Lewis.
1986), concerted social action plays a considerable part in increasing
or reducing an object's chances of artistic legitimation. When
production personnel. their enterprises. and the resultant product
are sponsored by an organized social group that possesses
significant promotional resources, the chances that the product
will be defined as art and the producers defined as artists are significantlyenhanced.
Lack ofan organized base of support and formalized
promotional structure impedes the process of artistic
legitimation. An even greater impediment to a creative practice's
artistic candidacy is generated when organized forces come to be
marshalled against that activity. Artistic definition is especially
difficult to achieve if governmental agencies regard the product or
the production process as presenting a moral or physical danger
and take legal steps to regUlate it or prohibit it entirely (Becker,
1982: 176-191) (see Figure 4 for a summary presentation of these
points).4
THE ARTISTIC REDEFINITION OF TATTOOING
Given these factors that increase or reduce the likelihood a
product will be defined as art, the production process defined as
artistic, and the producer ascribed the honorific title of artist,