(Photo: NAPSA)
Tattooing has become a refined art practiced by masters and present on hundreds of millions of people. In the United States, 38% of people from the ages of 18 to 29 have been inked. These are works of art that, unlike the sculptures of Michelangelo or the paintings of Renoir, couldn't be preserved--until now.
The National Association for the Preservation of Skin Art is dedicated to saving your inked skin after you die. It argues that these precious works of art don't have to disappear as a body decays underground or is burned with cremation. Preservationists can remove tattooed skin and make it permanently presentable. Claire Voon reports for Hyper Allergenic:
The process is open to only members — 18 years old and up — of the nonprofit association, who pay an initial fee in addition to yearly dues. Those ready to pass along their dermis for posterity identify the piece they wish to preserve (which cannot be inked on the face or genitalia) and designate a beneficiary; within 18 hours of one’s passing, the beneficiary then alerts NAPSA who will overnight send a removal kit and paperwork to the funeral home. The embalmer has to then remove the tattoo — or tattoos — within 60 hours, place it in a “nontoxic temporary preservation compound,” and send it back to NAPSA, who will preserve the tattooed skin and return it to the beneficiary within three to six months. According to NAPSA, most funeral homes and embalmers are willing to follow through with the fairly easy removal process, although the organization also has a master embalmer who is building a network of funeral home providers for the service.
-via VA Viper