Tattoos of Women Authors and Artists (AI)
Wearable Vanguard: The Whacky Water Tattoos of Lisa Spalt (AI)
When you think of literary merch, tote bags and mugs usually come to mind. But the Institut für poetische Alltagsverbesserung (IPA)—an Austrian literary organization dedicated to the “poetic improvement of everyday life”—has a much more eccentric vision.
Lisa Spalt, an author, translator, and IPA staff member, recently took to Twitter to showcase a wonderfully whacky creation: a series of temporary water tattoos celebrating vanguard women authors and artists.
Instead of predictable literary icons, Spalt’s tattoo series honors fierce, experimental, and surrealist minds who redefined the boundaries of literature and art. Wearers can adorn themselves with the spirits of:
- The Surrealists & Visionaries: Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Anna Kavan.
- The Formal Innovators: Inger Christensen, Christine Brooke-Rose, and Ilse Aichinger.
- The Contemporary Poet-Philosopher: Giannina Braschi.
About the artist Lisa Spalt
Spalt, who splits her time between Linz and Vienna, is no stranger to collaborative experimentation. Beyond her work with the IPA, she is an accomplished creator and translator with an eye for complex text.
- Recent Translations: Bringing French avant-garde voices into German, including Joyce Mansour’s Les Gisants satisfaits (2024) and an updated, improved translation of Nicolas Pesquès’s La face nord de Juliau (2024).
- Books & Text: Her own book, Grüne Hydra von Calembour (2023).
- Interdisciplinary Audio: High-profile collaborative releases, such as the record Circle Line Project 18 (2024) with Theo Nabicht, and the experimental project BREAK EDEN (2023) with Clemens Gadenstätter.
By turning these formidable creators into temporary body art, Spalt and the IPA offer a delightfully literal way to wear your artistic influences on your arm.
Tattoos of Vanguard Poets and Artists
Poets and Artists as Tattoos!
Fun factoids about poet tattoos
- Nick Flynn shares his poem entitled Tattoo with Poets.org.
- Poet Joy Harjo talks about her tattoo with New York State Writers Institute.
- Lady Gaga has words of wisdom by Rilke on her arm.
- Kathy Acker dedicated a novel to her tattoo artist.
- Giannina Braschi is now a tattoo thanks to Lisa Spalt.
- Best American Poetry cheers on Bill Cohen, one of their favorite bloggers, for assembling tattooed poets for the site Tattoosday’s in tribute to National Poetry Month.
Kathy Acker’s awesome back tattoo, the most badass combination of birds and flowers and koi we’ve ever seen. “The tattoo is primal parent to the visual arts,” she wrote in Empire of the Senseless. “Beginning as abstract maps of spiritual vision, records of the ‘other’ world, tattoos were originally icons of power and mystery designating realms beyond normal land-dwellers’ experience… In decadent phases, the tattoo became associated with the criminal — literally the outlaw — and the power of the tattoo became intertwined with the power of those who chose to live beyond the norms of society.”
Fun fact: Acker dedicated the novel to her tattoo artist.
Literary Ink: Famous Authors and Their Tattoos
Emily Temple, FLAVORWIRE
Wasser-Tattoo-Set zum Inkarnationsprojekt des Instituts für poetische Alltagsverbesserung. Edition kleine Brötchen 2021. Featuring Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, Anna Kavan, Giannina Braschi, Inger Christensen, Christine Brooke-Rose, Ilse Aichinger.
Tags: poet tattoos, Giannina Braschi tattoo, temporary tattoos poets, Lisa Spalt, women poetry tattoos