“Knuckle Tat (@knuckle_tat)” by Matt Hokanson and “Tats Illustrated (@TatsIllustrated) by Joel McCoy

 Knuckle Tat @knuckle_tat  Randomly chosen knuckle tattoo suggestions. A @h0ke production.  favstar.fm/users/knuckle_…
Open “Knuckle Tat (@knuckle_tat)” by M. Hokanson

This bot randomly tweets suggestions sent to it based on a simple constraint: two 4-letter words to be tattooed onto the knuckles of the hands and juxtaposed. The resulting tweets show both versatility and imagination– and is a popular creative constraint in tattoo circles, as we can see in collections such as this one. By tweeting the words in uppercase letters, it focuses on the language of the tattoos, de-emphasizing potential graphical information.

https://twitter.com/knuckle_tat/status/475504714868465664

Visit this link to read its most popular tweets.

This bot led to a spinoff bot by Joel McCoy, titled “Tats Illustrated,” which reminds readers of where the texts are meant to be inscribed while referencing the Classics Illustrated series of comic books.

Image of two fists placed side by side with the words "NERD LIFE" written on them
Open “Tats Illustrated (@TatsIllustrated)” by Joel McCoy

Knuckles aren’t neutral writing spaces. A line of text written in the knuckles is best expressed with a closed fist, a culturally resonant space, as can be seen in this video clip from Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” in this case applied to a related form of writing on that surface.

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