Tulisan ini menjabarkan tentang perkembangan tato ditinjau dari aspek motif, makna, maupun fungsinya di kalangan narapidana di Yogyakarta sejak tahun 1950an. Narasumber adalah narapidana di Lembaga Pemasyarakatan Klas IIA Yogyakarta, mantan narapidana, dan seniman tato yang memahami seluk beluk perkembangan tato menato di Yogyakarta. Motif tato di kalangan narapidana meliputi tumbuhan, binatang, potret manusia, horor, tato tribal, ikon hati, tipografi, biohazard dan biomechanical, juga alam benda. Tampilan motif tato ada dua, yaitu berdiri sendiri dan perpaduan beberapa motif. Setiap motif mempunyai makna tertentu. Teknis menatonya menggunakan peralatan sederhana berupa benang, jarum, dan norit (merek obat sakit perut) dan mesin tato mekanik. Tato dan kegiatan menato di kalangan narapidana mempunyai dua fungsi utama yaitu pribadi dan sosial. Fungsi pribadi berkaitan dengan tato sebagai karya seni. Dalam batasan ini, tato berfungsi sebagai ekspresi pengalaman hidup yang berfungsi juga sebagai pengingat akan peristiwa tertentu dan hiasan tubuh, sebagai ekspresi religiositas, terapi dan relaksasi, jimat, daya tarik seks, keamanan diri, serta untuk menutupi luka atau tato yang dianggap tidak bagus. Fungsi pribadi lainnya adalah sebagai pendapatan bagi narapidana yang mampu menato. Fungsi sosial tato adalah lambang kelompok, sarana sosialisasi dan menumbuhkan rasa percaya diri individu dalam kelompok, baik di dalam maupun di luar Lembaga Pemasyarakatan.

This article examines the relationship between dreams and tattooing in the context of the spiritual beliefs in Indonesia. Based on interviews and ethnographic study in the Island of Java, we highlight the importance of dreams, their perceived meanings and significance for male individuals, who have tattooed their bodies with dreamed imagery. Interviews revealed narratives which arise from the tattoos themselves and we relate them to myth, belief and legends familiar to the Javanese; these draw upon religious faith and also more atavistic mystical beliefs. An important source is the Javanese legend of Nyai Roro Kidul, a narrative often seen to legitimise political, royal and magical power. Dream expressions also draw upon popular visual culture as part of a dynamic and ongoing evolution of an embodied discourse of belief. Our case studies reveal that tattooing can be part of the broader mediation of belief in the supernatural where older beliefs can intervene in new domains and contexts for expression.

This study analyses the functions and meanings of tattoos in the specific social and cultural context of the underground musicians and fans in urban East Java. The research methodology is based on qualitative data and uses ethnographic and social science methods. The ethnographic component comes from participation in music events, gatherings and visits to the target community in their homes and public places. The focus is on the analysis of the visual data in their particular contexts and draws from detailed knowledge of literature pertaining to existing international research about tattoos from a variety of perspectives. In particular, the individual explanatory narratives are considered to account for the icons, symbols and typography patterns, to understand the broader vocabularies of tattoos that are followed in the subculture of underground music in Indonesia. This research revealed that tattoos and tattooing practices among Java-based underground music subcultures were mostly still based on mutual co-operation, as shown by how some of the underground musicians and fans became the volunteer media of tattooing practices for their fellow tattoo apprentices. This kind of activity seems to strengthen their social interactions. From an analogical perspective, we can see the body as the site where they create those relationships. I call this phenomenon the social body event, a celebration of togetherness and unity, flowing dynamically in the form of the production of tattoos. Other findings were that tattoos also became a projection of their spiritual journeys, personal identity, as well as the group identity, in cases where there was a shift in the meaning of tattoos over time. The local preferences of tattoos and the tattooing process also involve local spiritual conceptions, such as the tattoo positioning on the body representing good or evil. Also, some subjects acquired tattoos after experiencing dreams. This phenomenon shows that some youngsters still believe that dreams can convey a supernatural message or a sign of a particular event in their life. Tattoo and tattooing practices in the underground music scene reflect the vigorous bond between inside and outside the self, the music scene, and the wider range of society. It is also clear how global tattoos can influence, in terms of tattoo styles and motifs. This research adds to the existing body of research and knowledge of both subcultures and body art in the Indonesian context.

This article studied about a group of artists named " Guerilla Girls" . Their initial mission is seek for balanced honors of artworks which made by women artists as equivalent to men artists. Their campaign idea continues to every social gap aspects which happened to women. This article described the meaning of signs which appears in verbal and visual form messages in their campaigan posters, analyzed with Roland Barthen's semiotics approach. The conclusion shows that form the verbal and visual forms of the posters, they are not just about women rights but also for wider importance , to honor minority rights and public awareness about social problems which still happen in United States of America AbstrakTulisan ini mengetengahkan tentang sebuah kelompok seniman yang menamakan dirinya " Guerilla Girls" . Misi awal mereka adalah menuntut kesamaan penghargaan terhadap karya seni yang dihasilkan oleh para seniman perempuan sama sepereti halnya seniman laki-laki. Ide kampanye mereka kemudian berlanjut juga ke semua aspek kesenjangan sosial yang dirasakan oleh kaum perempuan. tulisan ini mendeskripsikan makna tanda yang muncul pada pesan verbal dan visual yang terdapat pada poster kampanye mereka, dikupas dengan pendekatan semiotika Roland Barthens. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa ditinjau dari bentuk pesan verbal dan visualnya karya-karya poster tersebut bukan sekedar berisi tentang pemenuhan hak-hak kaum perempuan namun juga untuk kepentingan yang lebih luas yakni penghargaan terhadap hak-hak minoritas dan  penyadaran publik akan permasalahan sosial yang masih terjadi di Ameriak Serikat