'Alice in Wonderland' gets new ink
Lewis Carroll sent Alice on some wild adventures: tumbling into Wonderland, chasing after the White Rabbit, escaping the clutches of the Queen of Hearts.
But the 19th century author could never have imagined where Alice is now: printed on the arms, legs and shoulder blades of thousands of strangers around the world.
Litographs, an online company that makes art inspired by books, is in the middle of assembling the world's largest chain of tattoos — temporary tattoos, that is.
They've transferred all of "Alice in Wonderland" to temporary ink and are shipping the tattoos out to eager participants who signed up online.
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Each participant gets a tattoo with one line from the book: Apply the tattoo, snap a photo of the new ink and send it back. Litographs is assembling the photos in order — when it's all finished, people will be able to read Carroll's fantastical tale across the skin of thousands of "Alice" fans.
"'Alice in Wonderland' was an ideal choice for our first tattoo chain," said Litographs founder and CEO, Danny Fein. "There literally isn't a boring sentence in the book."
Litographs' literary tattoo chain may be the longest, but it isn't the first. In 2003, the artist and writer Shelley Jackson composed a novella, which was tattooed — permanently — one word at a time on 2,095 volunteers. Jackson's work inspired Litographs to attempt a longer chain.
Literary tattoos are a vibrant subsection of the inked world. In 2010, Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor published an entire book: "The Word Made Flesh: Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide." They continue to update their blog with new literary ink.
Litographs takes a temporary tack — ideal for those who adore T.S. Eliot, but don't want to wear his words forever. They offer a whole range of lit tattoos beyond Lewis Carroll: You can share your love on your upper arm (or anywhere else) for Sherlock Holmes, "Ulysses" and more.
The "Alice" chain, however, has garnered the most attention. More than 2,500 people have put on their "Alice" tattoos and sent in photographs. Piece by piece, "Wonderland" is coming back together. People are clamoring to be part of the chain.
"There's something very appealing about being a part of something larger than yourself, and building something beautiful together with thousands of people who share a common passion," Fein said.
One lucky tattooed reader will end up with the Cheshire Cat's classic line:
"We're all mad here."
Read a piece of the 'Alice in Wonderland' tattoo chain
