THE ART OF SHIBARI
September 15, 2017
artPLAY SHIBARI ART…LETS START PLAYING!
A Japanese rigger Bingo Shigonawa is showing his magic ways to artPLAY in an exclusive interview by Julien Kotobuki and a photoshoot captured by photographer Katja Kat.
Bingo has his own unique, hypnotising way of creating Shibari magic. It can be described as is an erotic, emotional and intense experience.
artPLAY: How would you describe your kinbaku experience?
Bingo: I have been inspired by several people, but I never learned directly from someone. I started doing Shibari during my private plays. I did not learn from books or videos, I was trying out things by myself. After I entered the Kinbaku world, I could watch many riggers tie and take inspiration from them. That is why I am not descending from a Kinbaku line/school. I do not want to fit in a rigid square of a certain style, I would like to find my own path. I am not in the traditional Japanese style, I am looking for something new, more challenging.
I come from the BDSM world, so for me rope are just a tool amongst others to try to arouse, to control or to dominate the model. I do not use the ropes just to tie up someone, I use them to stimulate and give pleasure to the model.
The Japanese traditional style of Kinbaku became more of a business, it is a bit artificial these days. My Kinbaku is private, intimate, and inherit of my Japanese culture, maybe this is what people abroad can see in my Kinbaku.
artPLAY: What do you think about Kinbaku is it more of an fetish or an artistic practice?
Bingo: From the outside, other people may view it, when I tie, as an art, but for me and my model it is only an erotic practice. Erotism is not about pornography or sexual display. Erotism can be the shape of a woman’s body, a bend in the ropes, her face getting red or herself getting wet. Very likely it is a kind of an art too.
When I did a performance in Place des Cordes in Paris, people in the audience told me that my tying was flowing like water. That is exactly what I am trying to do: a natural Shibari. In Japan you can see a lot of “business” Shibari, with photos and videos. That is why I am happy to come to France, because the people seem to understand the very natural way Shibari that I am sharing with them: “thank you France”.
In the West, people see Shibari mostly via photos and videos, but the most important is to see riggers tying live and to feel the atmosphere. So they should try to create more opportunities for that.
Bingo Shigonawa – Instagram
Model Masumi Hayasaka
Photography Katja Kat – Instagram
Interview by Julien Kotobuki – Instagram
