20-02-2015

Expanded Eye and the human body as a canvas. Tattoos and image.

Paolo Schianchi,

Jade Tomlinson and Kev James, the British multidisciplinary duo behind Expanded Eye, are “inspired by life, the universe and beyond”.



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Expanded Eye and the human body as a canvas. Tattoos and image.
Jade Tomlinson and Kev James, the British multidisciplinary duo behind Expanded Eye, are “inspired by life, the universe and beyond”. Their tattoos – actually fine pieces of art – talk about this, about a world beyond the image, where the skin becomes the canvas to tell significant concepts and stories.



“Because you will be my next canvas. I observed you at the Pergamonmuseum and I knew that your imaginary life wants to tell its story.”



A phrase taken from the story “Gli occhiali del Tatuatore” (The tattoo artist’s eyes) by Paolo Schianchi, prefacing his essay “L'immagine è un oggetto. Fondamenti di visual marketing con storytelling” and that appears to have been transposed into real life in the work of Expanded Eye, the British multidisciplinary artist duo that have conquered the world of the web with images of their unique artworks that have very little to do with our idea of a tattoo.



Using the body as a canvas is nothing new, tattooing has a very long tradition and history, as we can also see in the exhibition being held at the exhibition being held at MKG in Hamburg





But when you study the tattoos created by Expanded Eye, a whole new dimension opens up, one that actually tells the story of that swinging between tangible and intangible, real and imaginary. “And it is from these possibilities that the image is generated, the one we actually perceive to understand and to communicate with the world”, to quote Paolo Schianchi again. 



Expanded Eye uses the imaginary or real life of the tattoo client to draw a story using needle and ink. The unmistakeable cubist style of Expanded Eye not only breaks down the perspective, it builds a sequence of images, as Schianchi says “because each part completes the next. You can look at them one by one and find the single meanings but, like in imaginary life, everything is linked into a single existence.”



If you want to find out more about Expanded Eye and their work, take a look at their site and blog. 
In the near future we’ll also be showcasing their artistic/environmental installations.
And if you want to delve into the secrets of the Tattoo artist, take a closer look at Paolo Schianchi’s book,, “'L'immagine è un oggetto. Fondamenti di visual marketing con storytelling” libreria universitaria ed.

(Christiane Bürklein)

All images © Expanded Eye

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