Ok, so maybe it’s not the “final” countdown, but this negative space tattoo cutting Brian Decker did recently does evoke the old movie countdown graphic.

As for the number 72?  Well, I did some looking into information about the number 72, and I found a lot more than I expected.  The most common interpretation comes from Hebrew, which is that 72 is the number that represents the name of god, or at least the shortened version from the 216 character name.  But this is just the starting point.

The number 72 appears in the mythos of numerous cultures all over the world.  Islam and Christianity both have occurrences where 72 is a significant number, both to Jesus and Muhammad.  In Tarot, Babylonian-Mesopotamian Numerology, Satanism, and Taoism, 72 pops up again and again as a number of importance.  A lot of the times number refers to a set grouping, either in terms of two groups of 36, or a single unit of 72.  If you’re really curious about the specifics, this wiki article has a good breakdown of the details.

As for what significance it played for the person in the picture, I honestly don’t know.  Yet it certainly is significant to them.  Of course after I spent some time looking into meanings, someone will come along and point out that it’s probably the year he was born.

Update:  The owner of the arm is none other than IAM: Nilrem.  In addition to Brian’s scar, the tattoo was done by Corey Ferguson, both of whom Nilrem found through BME.  As for the meaning of the tattoo:  the 72 represents his life expectancy.  Check the comments below for the specifics, as well as his IAM page to see how it’s healing up.

As for Mr. Decker.  He’s been uploading a lot of new images to his BME gallery, so it’s worth a visit to check out what he’s been up to.