Unravelling rope
SIM CHEUANGHANE
@e3p___
Sim (they/she) is a multidisciplinary creative and anthropology graduate currently living and practicing on Gadigal land. Untied to medium, they traverse music, arts, and theory spaces with a playful concept-driven practice. Conceptually they are interested in diasporic studies, food, community building and intimacy.
Kink (noun): any erotic conduct that lies outside the norms.
Fetish (noun): when a specific requirement – be it an object, body part, behaviour (sexual or not) – that must be present in for the individual’s enjoyment or arousal
Rig (verb): the art of tying rope
Bunny (aka rope submissive) (noun): the subject who is consensually being rigged
Rigger (aka rope dominant) (noun): the subject rigging the rope bunny
Aftercare (noun): The period following play aimed at providing psychological and physical care to gently bring those involved back to a comfortable state.
Tied one way, rope’s utility ensures safety.
Re-contextualized, its same form becomes moan worthy.
***
From a series of introductory classes at Studio Kink and the wealth of resources online, I developed my rigging practice for an art exhibition.
Bunny (2019) was an act of care. Commissioned by and for Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, its concrete and metal bones were wrapped with metres of red rope. Developed over months, constructed over hours, this site-specific installation was a homage to the years of support proffered by the arts space. Joined by my bedside table stocked with after care needs, I sought to show my gratitude; for me, the closeness of bondage is built on safety and care above all.
Bunny likened to an embrace for me, a fishing net for some, and a ribbon wrapped present for others.
Brought to life in a new space, Rabbits breed a lot of bunnies (2022) discussed the labour that surrounds one’s capacity to play. Framing play as a support practice to reacquaint with, the red thread of care carried through this revised iteration. The additional pillow and mattress extended the invitation to settle and stay a while.
Despite the aesthetic and conceptual base in kink clear, neither work was explicitly about sex. With thematic emphasis elsewhere, seduction was left to erotic projections tied to its form. Whilst in part an intentional effort towards destigmatizing bondage, truthfully, this was more a signal of my discomfort and my pursuit for control.
***
Bondage isn’t purely about tying things together. Various physical
and emotional considerations need to be acknowledged in order to ensure a safe
and enjoyable experience for those involved. Done frivolously, without
understanding or consent, bondage can be dangerous and unsafe.
Charles Taylor’s Politics of Recognition describes identity formation as contingent on social negotiation - the chicken and egg coalescence of internal and external
perceptions. Understanding recognition as a ‘vital human need’, the consequence
of mis- or non-recognition thus contributes to a ‘reduced mode of being’ or altered sense of self.
With bodily features and movements socially coded, time and time again, I find myself in a place of perpetual questioning. Wary of the fetishism that pairs with my interest in kink as a femme presenting Asian body, rope happened to be tangled in this bout of racialized self-consciousness.
***
Rigging produces a seductive sweat. As tension builds, the change in air triggers a shift in thought,
in tone,
in breath –
Whether bundled and unused, or adorned on the bunny in its objectified form, the alluring fragrance lingers on the rope detached from the rigger’s touch. Its scent triggers a shift in thought,
in tone,
in breath
despite augmented over time and distance.
It’s the scent that first drew me in. Empathising in part with the wandering mind affirms my caution.
***
Despite the control I’d experience whilst rigging these installations, the gravity of the public domain pulled me uncomfortably elsewhere. The hyperawareness of my racial and gendered otherness suspended my anxiety to potential projections of orientalism and fetishism.
Whether these perceptions were held is beside the point. Viscerally felt and informed by material conditions, I acknowledge, understand and endorse my precaution. I have no desire to be bound to someone’s fetishistic fantasy without my consent.
I leant on my artist statement as a form of brief relief, knowingly tying my words tightly to make my intentions clear.
***
In the comfort of close/d intimacy, the rigging points that uphold
discomfort dissolve. Be it practicing binds on my legs, or with my partner in
moments when they are keenly willing to become my bunny, slack offers room to
breathe and to attend to the marks left.
The safety of intimacy provides the invitation of time to play and to understand the contours of the body. The safety of time is crucial to provide undivided attention. The safety of genuine open dialogue nurtures the breadth of sexual expression without restraint.
Harnessing rope has helped me find autonomy in sex. For me, I’ve come to understand this only comes into fruition in holistic safety and comfort.
***
The simplicity woven in ropes form fosters endless contradictions and possibilities. Frustratingly flexible, lineation and tensions are telling of knowledge and context, directed by time and communication. There is a fine line between a structure being
fastened or unravelling, between a moment being fantasy or reality, between the feeling of danger or safety. Its litheness and impermanence nourish
experimentation and the chance to change and change again with care above all.
Resources
A g intro resource - Japanese Rope Bondage with Midori and Zoe Ligon
(Midori is goat) (not porn)