A tattooed man plans to donate his skin to the Australian National Gallery when he dies. From the story:
An Australian man whose body is covered in tattoos has pledged to donate his skin to the National Gallery when he dies. Retired teacher Geoff Ostling displays his tattooed skin at his home in Sydney, Australia. The 65-year-old has pledged to donate his skin to the National Gallery in Canberra after his death…
“People can be squeamish about it. Portraits painted on human skin hang in galleries around the world. They don’t tell you that, of course, and valuable books were also covered in human skin.”
Be that as it may, I hope the National Gallery refuses the donation. Hanging the man’s skin would along the line of the “cadaver sex art,” we discussed here at SHS last week. Respect for human exceptionalism and the dignity of human life would be hindered if we treated a dead human as akin to a bear skin rug.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
