Or everything you always wanted to know about Japanese erotic bondage when you suddenly realized that you didn't speak Japanese
The Beauty of Kinbaku
Kinbaku
and Art
Please note: no part of these articles may be reproduced by any means without the express written consent of the author or the publisher, King Cat Ink.
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Behind the scenes still of the 3 story suspension - 4 - take off.
Or everything you always wanted to know about Japanese erotic bondage when you suddenly realized that you didn't speak Japanese
The Beauty of Kinbaku
Kinbaku
and Art
Please note: no part of these articles may be reproduced by any means without the express written consent of the author or the publisher, King Cat Ink.
Chapter Fifteen
Kinbaku and Art-American Bakushi Part 9 -
A Tale of Two Art Events
by Master “ K”
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Please join me next time as we continue our exploration into the fascinating subject of “Kinbaku and Art!”
Within a day I received another phone call, this time from the very talented photographer Perry Gallagher who, to my amazement, informed me that he also had several works accepted for the same show and, once again, some of my rope was going to be on display! To say I was doubly flattered would be no exaggeration.
The first began when my good friend, the brilliant Michael Helms phoned to say that several of his photographs had been accepted for a prestigious art gallery opening in Hollywood and that one of them involved some of my rope designs.
A satsuei-kai. Photo by zElement.
Behind the scenes still of the 3 story suspension - 4 - take off.
Things got even more exciting when Perry mentioned that the gallery was the very hip and avant-garde Artists Corner Gallery on Hollywood Boulevard and that the gallery’s director, Carlos Benítez, liked the rope photographs and was wondering if I would be willing to do a demonstration at the opening! Needless to say, it didn't take me more than two seconds to respond! To whit, I was very flattered and would love to!
While I'm always flattered when my readers request new chapters in this “Kinbaku and Art” series, I sometimes find myself searching for new topics and different approaches. After all, how many times can one recount the story of yet another music video that involves Japanese rope?
The Birth of Venus Aphrodite by Botticelli, 1484.
Artisits Corner Gallery.
Itoh Seiu and model, circa the 1950s.
In the past I’ve been fortunate enough to attend several art related openings at various venues (see previous articles in this series on the performance artist Millie Brown and the painter Melanie Pullen, among others) and they’re always exciting occasions.
“Visions for Himeros” was the title and after a little research I found out that Himeros was the Ancient Greek winged god of sexual desire and in art often appears alongside Eros in scenes of Aphrodite’s birth, fluttering around that immortal goddess of love, beauty and pleasure as she reclines on her conch-shell bed.
Clearly, the Hollywood exhibit of the same name had an erotic theme and this was confirmed by the program notes which stated that the show, “features erotic art of the 21st-century,... and will represent a wide range of new perspectives arising from the sensual gazes of the contemporary artist. An eclectic group exhibition of photography, painting, sculpture and demonstration that will arouse the senses,…”
As always, I was pleased to demonstrate Kinbaku to people not all that familiar with the art and I was even more pleased to be introduced to several artists and photographers who said they wanted to include Japanese rope in some of their future projects!
Intriguing to say the least!
The above photograph was taken for a new book project that he and I are doing and Michael was kind enough to ask if my publishers would be OK with having it publicly exhibited. Naturally, I was extremely flattered and quickly got the OK.
However, recently two events came up almost simultaneously, both of which were quite exciting and might, I thought, be of interest to those who enjoy Japanese erotic rope in an artistic setting.
Photo by Perry Gallagher.
In the midst of all this color and drama mine was a very small part but I did my best and I was flattered to see that, probably due to my two beautiful models Ms L and Lillian Winters, quite a crowd had gathered to watch me do several fairly basic Kinbaku designs.
As for the art, it was all “as advertised” and I was astonished by the many varied takes on “eroticism” in all its forms on display as well as the high level of quality each artist brought to his or her work. I only wish I had permission to reproduce some of it here but, failing that, I urge any of my readers who might be in the LA area to check out this fine gallery for this show and for their future exhibitions.
This one seemed destined to be no exception and even the show’s title was intriguing.
This was fortunate for when I arrived at 10 PM to do my bit the gallery was packed and the crowd was overflowing onto Hollywood Boulevard!
I wasn’t sure what I would be in for when I arrived at the opening but I was lucky enough to be assisted by my long time friends and students zElement and Remy who were kind enough to arrive early in order to scope out the scene and help set up the performance space.
This was not as simple as it sounds because the crowd pressed in so close that at one point I found a tiny, elderly woman, clearly a serious art lover, sitting down right under my outstretched tying hands and a few inches from my legs attempting to take some close up pictures of my knots with her cell phone!
In Japanese the phrase satsuei-kai describes a “photo club or photo–art gathering and when Kinbaku is added it can be quite an exciting event.
In all seriousness, it was an exciting evening of fine art, good conversation, interesting people and excitement; just what you'd expect in Hollywood.
In addition to scores of art lovers and customers of all sorts, some in costume, there were also several celebrities hiding their identities, and even a beautiful, naked young woman on a pedestal having her body “live airbrush” painted. Quite a “scene.”
A great experience! And all due to the artistry and generosity of Michael Helms and Perry Gallagher, to say nothing of my skilled helpers zElement and Remy. Thanks guys!
Such was the case recently when I joined my good friend and partner zElement in presenting one of our semi-annual Spring Tiger Ryu satsuei-kai events, this time held at the beautiful dojo space constructed within the well known Lair BDSM club in North Hollywood.
I have attended several of these in Tokyo over the years and usually there are one or two models, a skilled rope master and the club's photographers, who are often told where to stand to get the best shots.
In Japan these events have been going on for decades, at least as far back as the days of the father of Kinbaku, Itoh Sieu, and they are a very pleasant way to bring rope enthusiasts together for a good time and an artistic purpose.
Over the years Spring Tiger Ryu has presented numerous art oriented events at various venues throughout LA but I think I enjoy these “camera club” gatherings best of all. The kind people who join us are all quite serious about the work they do (be it photography, graphic art or even video) and it gives me a chance to do different styles of Kinbaku since I don’t like to repeat myself!
Sometimes there can be upwards of 20 or 30 shutterbugs, each vying to get a great picture in a limited time frame from the appointed “sweet spot” as dozens of colleagues breath down their necks eagerly waiting for their chance!
Fortunately, here in the US we try to do smaller, more intimate events in order to give the artists the opportunity to move around the models at their own discretion in order to exercise the maximum amount of individual creativity.
A great time was had by all and we’re excitedly looking forward to doing our next Spring Tiger Ryu satsuei-kai soon!
For my part and in this particular satsuei-kai, I wanted to do a variety of different poses and techniques. I’ve done many of the basic Kinbaku ties and suspensions in previous meetings so this time I thought I would contrast some clearly “artistic” poses with a few ties that are seldom seen and involve different types of Buddhist inspired knots.
(Please note: as most serious rope practitioners know, in Kinbaku very few “knots” are used. However, once in a while, more complex knots are utilized for artistic effect and, as long as they don't interfere with the “quick release” concept of being able to untie your partner in seconds, they can be quite attractive.)
As you’ll see in the accompanying selection of photographs (and with a major assist from our beautiful models amelie and Renee and the lovely Lair dojo space), our talented photographers were able to capture some lovely, artful and dramatic long shots and detailed close-ups of such Kinbaku ties as:
The artists pick their moments. Photo by zElement.
Photo by Michael Helms.
Visions for Himeros Preview Invitation.
Satsuei-kai in LA
Art Gallery Opening Night
Tying - Photo by Yoshi Murakami.
Tying - Photo by Perry Gallagher.
Too crowded!
Tying - Photo by Perry Gallagher.
Artists Corner Gala Event.
Artists Corner Gala Event.
Artists Corner Gala Event.
In the case of this most recent event we had a group of talented folks that included: half a dozen photographers, a graphic artist and even a videographer making a short film of abstract Kinbaku images. An eclectic and exciting group! And I’m happy to say they were all considerate of one another as they carefully moved around our two lovely, bound models trying to capture their own “visions” of the scene before them.
...a hojojutsu inspired kneeling prisoner tie utilizing a double coin knot,...
a simple wrist and ankle seme pose done between two hashira,...
Hashira 1 - Photo by James A. Franklin.
Hashira 3 - Photo by James A. Franklin.
Hashira 2 - Photo by TaylorK.
...an artistic composition featuring the great Yukimura Haruki sensei’s signature gote, a beautiful kimono and a decorative lamp,...
Hojo - Double Coin 3 - Photo by sjstudio1.
Hojo - Double Coin 2 - Photo by sjstudio1.
Hojo - Double Coin 1 - Photo by sjstudio1.
...a classic kata-ashi zuri...
The lantern 1 - Photo by James A. Franklin.
The lantern 1a - Photo by Yoshi Murakami.
The lantern 2 - Photo by sjstudio1.
...and, perhaps the most unusual tie of the group, a complex ganzi garame (full body tie) that is quite a serious piece of bondage and features a complex rope pattern inspired by the ancient sauvastika knot of Buddhism.
Kata-ashi zuri 1 - Photo by Yoshi Murakami.
Kata-ashi zuri 2 - Photo by sjstudio1.
Kata-ashi zuri 3 - Photo by sjstudio1
Kata-ashi 4 - Photo by Yoshi Murakami.
Ganzi garame 2 - Photo by James A. Franklin.
Ganzi garame 4 - Photo by sjstudio1.
Ganzi garame 3 - Photo by Yoshi Murakami.
Ganzi garame 1 - Photo by sjstudio1.
Links to Other Chapters of Kinbaku and Art
