Whether or not tattoos can be considered ‘art’ has long be the subject of many a heated debate.

Whilst some see them as being associated with social deviants, the art of tattooing has been around for thousands of years, with many contemporary art exhibitions and art institutions featuring tattoos as a form of art.

When it was reported that Jully Nascimento, a woman from Brazil, tattooed her arm with a QR Code Tattoo that could be scanned, the somewhat antiquated debate of whether tattooing one’s skin can be considered to be ‘art’, was taken to new heights.

According to Geeky Tattoo, Jully believes she is the first person in Brazil to get a QR code tattoo. The tattoo was made by a tattooist known as Andre, from True Love Tattoos, and the code actually reads as the name of a song by Good Charlotte, a band and song that helped Ms Nascimento through a tough time when she was growing up.

Whilst some may argue that marking one’s skin in reference to a turbulent time in one’s youth is impervious of the ‘rebellious nature’ of tattoos, others may hold the view that such scan-able tattoos are a unique and beautiful symbol of the modern-day technological era.

43-year-old Angela Wright agrees with the latter sentiment, that tattoos are an expression of a person’s liberty. Being a big fan of QR code tattooing, Ms Wright commented:

“I think tattoos needed to move with the times and keep up with the digital age. The idea that you can tattoo a code of something that means a lot to you as a person rather than simply writing the name of that item or a picture of it on your body is somehow more artistic, subtle and beautiful.”

Whilst the majority of western civilisation accepts tattoos and body modification, there will always be a minority who question its ‘creativity’. Whether scan-able, QR code tattooing propels the act of tattooing into more artistic realms, remains to be seen. Although it is safe to assume that western civilisation will see more scan-able tattoos surfacing.

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