A detailed, white dragon drawn with a paint pen caught the eyes of those taking the elevator in the Fine Arts Center Wednesday evening.
Sitting in a chair in the corner of the elevator, Zoe Eckhart, a senior studying for a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in sculpture, had a similar dragon tattooed on their arm.
“It was inspired by my first tattoo,” Eckhart said while looking at the dragon on the elevator walls. “I just wanted a dragon and people always ask me the name behind the dragon. I say that his name is Harold, and he’s a vegetarian and a feminist.”
The tattoo of Harold is permanent, but the tattoos Eckhart gave clients Wednesday evening were temporary.
Eckhart hosted an “Elevator Tattoo Parlor Flash Sale” on 5-6 p.m. in the FAC elevator. The sale was an art installation and performance piece.
Performance art is anything that involves people interacting in a space with art, Eckhart said. They said performance art can be anything from dancing to playing a made-up card game in the Commons with friends.
“It can be pretty much anything, but mostly it’s about the human form interacting with art in this space,” Eckhart said.
Eckhart designed all the temporary tattoos for the sale, which included drawings of frogs, butterflies and flowers. They said they have no desire to be a tattoo artist, but rather have aspirations of being a sculptor.
Customers could choose from a menu of “ambiguous tattoos” in various categories. Eckhart chose the specific tattoos for the customers based on the category they chose and the questions they answered.
There were 13 different categories to choose from, each priced at the cost of a secret or personal piece of information about the client.
Many clients chose the “Just A Lil Guy” tattoo category on the menu, which included various tattoo drawings of frogs.
For this category, clients were prompted to write “a secret” down on a piece of paper, roll it up, tape it and put it into a “tip jar.” Eckhart said they will never read the papers, and the jar will never be opened again.
Seniors Owen Foley and Sav Covey, film production majors, participated in the sale to support their friend. Foley got a “Just A Lil Guy” tattoo, and Covey got a “Souvenir From My Travels” tattoo.
Foley said they helped Eckhart set up the decorated boards in the elevator before the performance, which made it feel more like a tattoo parlor.
“It literally transformed the entire elevator into a makeshift tattoo parlor,” Foley said.
Covey, Eckhart’s roommate, said she loved tattoos and was glad she could make it to the sale in time.
Eckhart said the purpose of this installation was to investigate the connection that happens between a client and a tattoo artist during an appointment. There is a lot of trust and information exchanged between a tattoo artist and their client, Eckhart said.
Eckhart said the first performance of the installation was for their class last Wednesday. They decided to extend the opportunity to everyone else at WKU this week.
Eckhart is currently in ART 440, taught by Moksha Sommer, professor of art. They said this is their second time taking ART 440 under Sommer, and they decided to take it again as an elective.
Sommer’s teaching style pushes the boundaries of what art can be, Eckhart said. They said they really enjoy getting to learn from Sommer, which is part of the reason they decided to take the class again.
Eckhart said when they first took the class in 2024, they did an art installment called “Elevator Tattoo Parlor,” where they invited artists and non-artists to draw on the FAC elevator walls. This group art was meant to be stress-free and fun, but no tattoos were actually involved in that installation, Eckhart said.
Now that Eckhart is taking the class again, they said Sommer allowed them to use the elevator again for their “Elevator Tattoo Parlor II” installment last week in class, and again this week for the “Elevator Tattoo Parlor Flash Sale” installment open to the public. Eckhart said they are also planning to try to highlight this installment in the Senior Showcase.
Lucy Crowe, freshman animation major, paid for a “Little Guy” tattoo with a secret.
Crowe waited patiently outside the packed elevator for their turn before they chose a tattoo category off the menu provided. They said they were intrigued by the promotional posters around FAC for the flash sale and wanted to check the event out.
Crowe said they’ve been able to get out of their shell this year at WKU by going to pop-up events like the Elevator Tattoo Parlor Flash Sale.
“This is the most interesting thing I’ve heard yet,” Crowe said.
