Writer Shelley Jackson invites participants in a new work entitled “Skin.”

Each participant must agree to have one word of the story tattooed upon his or her body. The text will be published nowhere else, and the author will not permit it to be summarized, quoted, described, set to music, or adapted for film, theater, television or any other medium. The full text will be known only to participants, who may, but need not choose to establish communication with one another. In the event that insufficiant participants come forward to complete the first and only edition of the story, the incomplete version will be considered definitive. If no participants come forward, this call itself is the work.

The Full “Story”.

September 26, 2003 by Uncategorized 5

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5 Responses

  1. Anna says:
    September 26, 2003 at 10:30 pm

    How would this be cataloged?
    My department head posed this question, adding, “work of fiction or whatever?”

    My response: “continuing resource”

    Reply
  2. Fang-Face says:
    September 26, 2003 at 11:38 pm

    Re:How would this be cataloged?
    I’m more interested in who gets to select the site for the tatooing. It could prove amusing to get some egotist in there.

    “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis? Sure, just let me drop my drawers and you print that on mah thang.”

    Reply
  3. Jen_B says:
    September 27, 2003 at 1:16 am

    little words
    What if you got stuck with a ubiquitous word like “the” or “is”? Would you be that word in a specific place in the text, or the embodiment of all the “the”s that could possibly be in the text? What if you stood lined up with all the other people/words, but rearranged yourselves? Would that be breach of copyright?

    You get to choose the place, if not the word. Do you get to choose the size? Could you make your little word the biggest in the book, by tattooing it across your back?

    A fun premise.

    Reply
  4. Mags says:
    October 30, 2003 at 10:59 pm

    Re:How would this be cataloged?
    The participants are allowed to choose the site of the tattoo, with the exception of words naming body parts which are allowed to be tattooed anywhere but the actual body part.

    Reply
  5. Mags says:
    October 30, 2003 at 11:03 pm

    Re:little words
    If you got an ubiquitous word like “the” or “is” you would be that word in a specific place in the text, not the embodiment of all. From what I’ve read, the tattoo’s are numbered also, so a “What if you stood lined up with all the other people/words, but rearranged yourselves” senario is actually very possible.

    >Do you get to choose the size?
    I believe so. The only rules that I’ve heard are about font, and color.

    Reply

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