Tan The Man

Studio Shots

2009-06-08T03:13:00.001-07:00

A selection of the final shots of the completed tan.

The Show.

2009-05-17T12:32:00.001-07:00

Saturday March 28th: Showtime.

After shaving my arms, legs and chest the night before, I covered myself in moisturiser to prevent any last minute peeling, and we made our way to the gallery. I thought I'd be nervous, but I was more excited about the reaction of the tan and the show in general. After getting ready and making my entrance, the day was a breeze. Apart from the draft when the gallery door opened, the sun was shining so I avoided being cold, and it was great to see people's reactions to the finished article.

(Video to follow)

Pre-exhibition 'nerves.'

The gallery window display.

In the office after getting ready.

and out into the public...

with Toni Arden, gallery owner and wife of the late Paul Arden.

5th and Final Tanning Session

2009-05-17T12:31:00.001-07:00

After the rush that was session 4 (stickers on in 20minutes, all hands on deck, 15minutes of tanning, then off to work smelling of after-sun), session 5 was a much more relaxed affair. As Dan was away, I enlisted the help of Messrs Josh Hight and Omar Majeed. Omar was let loose with the video camera whilst Josh, post-sticking, was let loose with my spare tanning bed minutes. This was the last session, the day before the show. Cue the magic.

(video to follow)

Show Hanging Day

2009-05-17T11:51:00.000-07:00

2 days before the show opening, we all drove to Petworth to finalise the hanging and prepare the gallery for the big day.

I got my stickers cut and prepared onto a lo-tack backing sheet, again courtesy of the chaps at Sound. With the help of Stevie McGarrity-Alderdice and Alex Chase-White (double double barrel-ness) these were pressed onto the wall of the gallery, with lady luck shining down on us a bit (they fit with about a centimetre to spare in all dimensions.)

With the stickers up and the tan well on its way, we were nearly ready for showtime.

The audience watch with baited breath as we peeled off the backing...

3rd Tanning Session.

2009-05-17T11:39:00.000-07:00

24th March 2009: the 3rd tanning session. Bethan and Dan came along again to sticker me up and capture the event on camera. 15 minutes of UV tanning bed saw me take in a jumper to pop on after 10 minutes to stop my chest and shoulders burning. Looking at the pictures, it was difficult not be be happy with the way things were progressing, especially as the legs began to develop more and catch up with the upper body.

Video coming soon :)

2nd Tanning Session

2009-04-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

March 17th 2009: The 2nd tanning session was slightly easier because we could see where to put the stickers, thanks to the slight reddening of my skin the day before. The upper body was more sensitive so I decided to take a hoody into the booth with me, to put on halfway through and cover up any bits in danger of burning.

This session was for 10 minutes.

The 1st Tanning Session!!!

2009-04-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

After what seems like an eternity, the first tanning session finally took place at The Tanning shop in Kingston upon Thames.

With it certain to be a mega-tricky job for one man (me), I enlisted the help and skills of two diamonds: Bethan Jones and Dan Prettejohn. I can't thank both of them enough for all the time they put into helping make the tan happen. By the end of the first couple of sessions Bethan had the stickers down to a tee, and Dan was on hand with the camcorder and SLR to document everything brilliantly.

Below is the first installment of the tanning process, and some shots to accompany it. Enjoy!

The Stickers

2009-04-16T06:36:00.000-07:00

A first glimpse of the stickers, sent from the printers.

Tom at Sound Print in Teddington has been a tremendous help with getting the stickers ready for this project. They're really friendly guys there, with mega-quick turnaround and pretty decent prices. Highly recommended.

Making the stickers

2009-04-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

Janine's design was printed life-size to make sure we got the correct measurements before sending them to the printers.

Luckily, they fitted perfectly at the first attempt, which meant the file went to the printers.

And the winner is...

2009-04-16T06:24:00.000-07:00

Janine Rewell, of Finland, submitted this design which we have decided is the winning submission. According to Janine:

"The title of the work is "Easter egg".

The visuals are inspired by the decoration tradition of easter eggs. The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life. For me the easter egg decoration celebrates the life to become (at spring/easter time the rebirth of nature) and uses the egg-shell as a canvas to it. The idea of tanning your body is like you're making an object of yourself; you made your skin an empty canvas for an artwork, a shell or container for the designer that is living and growing inside."

Check out more of Janine's work here.

The design will be turned into stickers, and from there we shall how things, ahem, 'develop.'

Designs...

2009-04-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

The designs came from all over the globe. Here is a small selection of them:

Nick Robinson

Marta Dlugolecka

Maiko Sugawara

Jon Barnett

Joe Gwynn

Clover Stevens

Anna Brooks

Matt Schoch

Trevor Calabro

Trevor Calabro

Juan Camara

Betsy Lamborn

Wayne Fairweather

...and a special mention for this stunner by Peter Stadden:

Winner to be posted shortly!

2009-02-24T15:54:00.000-08:00

"What makes this good man in gayumbos in my blog? Well trying to pass a class project. James Titterton studied graphic design in England and when he proposed a project in memory of the advertising guru Paul Arden and his sentence: "I think what they think, think the opposite is said, because I despeloto and ask the people who design tattoo of a sun for me.

James is the idea of getting into a cab and get UVA, based churruscar certain parts of your skin blemish, a unique design on its body. To do so, contends through his blog and his website for people to draw a plan, later he moved his body with vinyl and stick them in a UVA cabin.

Days until March 1st you have to design the look that James burns on his body (and later exhibited at a gallery) and, among the curious things that we can find in the competition is that James is offered to shave the head (if the design includes calva) and states that do not have any problem in changing the color of your underwear if it combines better with the winning design.

Finally, we need to see what the kid when he left the body color of shrimp to a plate.

A good kiss and Tuesday."

The Little Chimp Society

2009-02-19T06:47:00.000-08:00

Featured on The Little Chimp Society. Bonzer.

FormFiftyFive

2009-02-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

Featured on today's FormFiftyFive. Splendid start.

Website

2009-02-17T16:21:00.000-08:00

The site is up, the emails are going out: www.tan-the-man.co.uk is going live!!!

Tell all your friends, get cracking on your designs, submit as many times as you like.

submissions@tan-the-man.co.uk

The Brief

You are asked to design the content for an image that will be developed onto my skin

using a tanning booth. The content is entirely of your own choosing, and can include

anything, be it illustrative, text-based, commercial, or photographic.

However, it has to be simple enough to use the medium of a sun-tanning booth to

best effect.

This competition will not cost you anything, and should be viewed as a unique

opportunity to have your work on view in a gallery.

Design Considerations

The tanned skin, as well as the untanned skin can form the image.

The content can cover as much of my body as required. I am willing to have my face

tanned, and also to alter my hairstyle (e.g. shave my head) should the winning

submission require it. This should be specified in your design.

Please consider the line weight of the image you create, as they must be substantial

enough to provide effective masking.

I will stand in the gallery wearing only briefs, as seen in the rotating animation on the

website. Although white will show off the tan more, I am open-minded about the

colour of my underwear and this can also be specified in your submission.

Where would you like me to be seen after the exhibition? I am more than willing to

walk through any other gallery/public space/venue displaying the finished piece. This

is something to bear in mind and is fully negotiable (expenses must be provided).

The Context

I am a 2nd year BA (Hons) Graphic Design student at Kingston University, and am

responding to a brief set for us in memory of Paul Arden. Based on the concepts and

notions found in his books, we were asked to produce a response to the title

'Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite.' The only stipulation was that the

outcome had to be loosely based on a photographic method.

Submitting Your Design

The content is to be translated onto the accompanying diagram of my body and

emailed to submissions@tan-the-man.co.uk. From here it will be converted into vinyl

stickers, and shall be applied to my skin before I step into the tanning booth.

The Deadlines

All entries must be submitted to submissions@tan-the-man.co.uk by 1st March 2009.

What Happens Next

The winning entrant will be notified by email. From here all tanning details will be

documented on tan-the-man.blogspot.com.

Health and Safety

Following consultations with 2 oncology specialists, I have the all clear to carry out

this procedure.

Restraints

My common sense reigns supreme on all decision making.