Dracula
22 March 2006
DRACULA... the monster within
What do you see when you look in the mirror...?
Theaterworks Amsterdam will bring their unique interpretation of the classic story of Dracula to the Dutch and European stages this Summer!
Sounds cool huh? :) And RopeMarks is participating to choreograph/intergrate bondage into this play.
More info on Theater Works Amsterdam.
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09:05
Kinbaku on BNN (Dutch national TV)
21 March 2006
(backdated entry; March 6, 2006)
So... let's talk television... something that has been on my mind for some time. Why talk now then? Well, basically because we have been invited to participate in a television program and this time we accepted. For those living in the Netherlands the program is called "Spuiten en Slikken", is aired live on March 13 (2006) at 22:45 on BNN (Ned 3). The program has 3 block of 15 minutes, each block we get 5 minutes for either an interview or some real life bondage action.
In the past we have been approached by tv networks to participate in one of their programs. Most of the time it was to create a portrait of us (Bob and Chantal) as a couple with an out of the ordinary lifestyle called "bondage", "shibari" or "kinbaku". The people of these programs follow you around for a few weeks to film your lifestyle. With interviews and voice-over the viewers get to learn who we are, what we do and most importantly -why- we do it. Sofar things sound good, however the bulk of these programs usually portrait you respectfull but as a couple with a "sick" mind, this includes the way you are put on film. The programs aim is usually spectacle and the actual motivation is aired but buried under the spectacle of suspension bondages and bondage/S&M actions that we enjoy.
Short after accepting the "spuiten en slikken" invitation we got an other request from a network definitly focused on the wrong things of our relation and lifestyle but we accepted the in-take talk and will decide afterward if we continue with them. This is again a portrait of us where they wish to show the passion we have with our out-of-the-ordinary "hobby".
I'm beginning to think that if we get filmed outside of the scene that we operate in (international fetish and S&M scene) we get portraited as sick minds but if a program is willing to go into "our" scene things are just filmed the way they are. Conclusions are left to the viewers and are not stuffed down the viewers throat by the way the program is cutted. An example of a Spanish network interviewing us on the French La Nuit Demonia is online on Dutch Shibari and at the end of the month on RopeMarks .
Personally, I don't think that what we do is that special. At least 80% of the Dutch people tried bondage at least once and there are a lot of wannabee-bondagist out there that would love to do what we do. However, our way of bondage has risen to a level that is not for the bedroom anymore, it has become a performance art. This level can be reached by anybody but it requires a lot of motivation and persistence, and that is the part the makes me feel "special", our drive, our motivation, our passion. We focus on creating beautiful and sometimes painful images of the beauty that the female body is. It's a fetish :)
So why did we accept the offer to be on television this time? There a number of reasons
- The program is live. So after the shooting they can not cut it to create something "sick" from our air time.
- All questions are given beforehand and we get to steer the direction of the interview. Should they change things during the show we can still steer things because it is live.
- The program handles serious topics that are of interest for young people. It deals with drugs and sex.
- In general the topics are discussed "in-depth". How "deep" can you go in a limited time? But at least they try, we appreciate that.
- The focus of the program is providing information and the sensation part is imo a shared focus but definitly not the main focus. Again, we appreciate that.
- The female presenter is looking good and I would love to tie her on national TV. But this is a secondary motivation to participate :)
After the show we know if it was worth it or if we got portraid as sick-minded people with a blurred view on society... time will tell.
bob -
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11:00
La Tannerie in Pezenas, France
21 March 2006
(backdated entry; Feb 28, 2006)
We have spent the last weekend in the South of France, Paulhan and Pezenas to be exact. We were invited by Franse sculpter Dann Chetrit to model for some kinbaku sculptures he is going to create. Our stay there was very pleasant, Dann and his wife Fabienne are very good and friendly people and have access to the best France wines :)
We arrived on Thursday evening, where Dann picked us up from the airport in Montpellier for a short drive of 45 minutes to his house in Paulhan where we met his lovely wife Fabienne and his daughter Luna. We where also treated to an unexpected dinner (the France eat late) with some very good wine.
For Friday Dann has organized a party for his friends in his studio La Tannerie in Pezenas. This gave us the opportunity to show our stuff in a number of shows. The party was attented by close to 50 people ranging from artist, photographers to art-lovers and fetishists. This was for us a great way to get our bondage out of the S&M scene and into the art scene (something we feel very strong about). The shows we did were greatly appreciated and we have some great leads for a more artistic approach of our shibari/kinbaku bondage style.
That same evening we collaborated with Gnom, a photographer with a lot of experience and specialized in lightpainting, to create some wonderfull lightpainted photo's of one of our bondage's. We are definitly going to meet with him again to create images.
Our Saturday was spent very relaxed, getting up late, eating and drinking at La Tannerie with Dann, Fabienne and Gnom and his wife. The wine as well as the food was excellent. Later in the day we did a pose for Dann to create a sculpture from. Dann's sculpture are usually a little bigger than lifesize. The evening we spent with friends at Cap d'Agde for food and party. Again we ended this evening some great leads for future performances (a short tour) in France, specifically the south.
The Sunday was started late with food and drinks, a tour of the surroudings where Dann and Fabienne lived and a in-house picnic in the France style (good food and good wine :). Later in the day we did 3 more poses that Dann is going to use for sculptures. The day ended with good food, good wine a wonderfull evening among friends (we where only a few day together with Dann and Fabienne but we do consider them friends).
Monday we had to leave for Amsterdam again. We've had a wonderfull time and have some great memories to look back upon (not the mention the bottles of wine and 15+GB in photo's and video that we brought back home :)
Some interesting links:
Dann's blog
La Tannerie (Dann's studio)
Gnom's site
Cap d'Agde
RopeMarks
Dutch Shibari
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10:15
Dann Chetrit - La Tannerie, Pezenas
21 March 2006
(backdated entry; Feb 17, 2006)
Next week we are going to the South of France for a kinbaku art project in stone sculptures. We are going to model for the artist.
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10:13
ARS - Austin Ropecraft Symposium II
21 March 2006
(backdated entry; Feb 17, 2006)
After intensive communication with Steve (ARS organisation) we had to decline his offer to come and teach on the second Austion Ropecraft Symposium in Austin, Texas, USA. We had to decline the first ARS because of other responsibilities and this time we had to decline for financial reasons. Well... there is always next year :)
bob -
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10:11
Akechi Denki
21 March 2006
(backdated entry; 17 july, 2005)
A sad thing has happened on July 17th at 10:35 in Japan. Nawashi Akechi Denki has died at the early age of 64. With his departing the greatest Japanese rope master is gone. His insight, his knowledge, his art - it is not available anymore. With his dead an era ends.
mourning.
In Memoriam
bob -
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10:06
BoundCon II - 2005
21 March 2006
(backdated entry; june 14, 2005)
It's over for this year; Bound Con.
Here's a first (work safe) image of Chantal in front our booth:
After this 3 day event we are very tired but also very happy and content. We finally got to meet Lew Rubens (after years of e-mail exchanges) Maria Shadoes and the Sergeant Major. We saw the familiar faces again of Matthias, Anna and Nicole, it's always nice to spent time with them. And we got to see Zamil and Maliz. We got to talk to Master U and Anna Rose from AlterPic (many thanks for the book and we'll talk soon) and many many more.
This was our first time on BoundCon and it was super, friendly people, many people dressed in beautiful fetish/gothic and bdsm outfits. It was a real treat to watch all the beautiful people.
Was there nothing negative about the event... maybe the overkill of non-official photographers, every time we played a bondage scene there where at least 10-15 photographers with hard flashes (remember guys, send us the photo's!)
Our show during the party went like a charm and was received very well by the audience (or so the compliments after-wards made us believe :). The only thing I can say is that our shibari style show was complimented with a f*ck*ng machine, 1.5 liters of water and a wiggling butt :)
That's all for now, now it's back to unpacking.
bob -
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10:00
Bob Untangles
20 March 2006
There are a lot of things happening behind the RopeMarks scenes that you, our faithfull visitor, don't know anything about. Things like our plans for the future of RopeMarks, R.A.R.E., Dutch Shibari and a few more interesting domains that are ours. Things like information of our communications with party organisations, models and other scene people. Things like the reasons behind certain decisions (i.e. members section vs token gallery). All these things, be it positive or negative, and more will be addressed in this blog.
This is not only a serious blog about RopeMarks and RopeMarks related things but when available fun little tidbits related to bondage, shibari, kinbaku will be shared. Interesting sites will be mentioned, etc.
Interesting entries from my previous blog (livejournal) will be moved to this blog and the previous blog will no longer be updated.
Enjoy RopeMarks, :)
Bob
bob -
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16:29
