BindMe interviewed Bob. A Dutch guy that promotes and lives Oriental Bondage the RopeMarks-way.
BindMe: Would you like to tell us something about your background? Who are you and
what do you do?
My name is Bob. I am the “driving force” behind the website Ropemarks (www.ropemarks.com)
BindMe: What does bondage/shibari/kinbaku mean to you?
I take it you’re not fishing for the literal meaning… :)
The terms themselves don’t really mean much to me, something that will come up later.
The image of a beautiful lady in bondage is what I do it for. It seems however that the Shibary style (the only style!)
appeals to me most. Furthermore I have a sadistic streak that is neatly covered by “kinbaku”.
BindMe: How did you first come into contact with bondage/BDSM?
The first time I came into contact with bondage was when, at the counter of a second hand comicbook-store, I saw someone pay for a magazine that had a woman in hogtie on the cover. I must have been around 10 yrs old then.
From the age of 8 I have been collecting Super-Hero comics. So around my tenth I came in a second hand comicbook-store with my allowance. In the back there was a small porn-department. One day, when I was in line with my 5 guilders (2.27 Euros, $2.02) allowance, a man in front
of me paid for a magazine with a woman dressed in lingerie and bound (in hogtie I know now ;))
That was the first sight of a bound feminin shape.
A few weeks later I went to this small porn-department myself and bought my first S&M magazine (with a very red face). With these experiences behind me now I can say that one of the things that attracted me most in super-hero comics was when the barely dressed heroine was captured, bound and gagged.
Comics and bondage became a constant factor in my life and relationships. Because I am from Europe, I mainly encountered European, western S&M. There is nothing wrong with that, but I wanted more than “click your sub tied in place with a hook to some leather cuffs.”
When internet came to my disposal at school, I went looking for information, fast, easy and anonymous. On the web I found a lot of pictures of Oriental ladies, tied with rope and it was called “Japanese bondage”. At first I taught myself studying these photographs, but the more I searched, the more information I found.
BindMe:
By whom are you influenced in your work (if so)? In what way? And who else do you admire in “the scene”?
I have not really been influenced by one person. In almost every bondage I used to see something that I admired and/or found exciting. You could say that everyone that did something with bondage in publicity between the mid 80’s and 1995, had some influence on my ideas.
When you study photo’s you start recognizing styles, every bondage master has his or her own style. You could say that I learned indirectly from different bondage masters, by getting just that part out of their style that appealed to me. For the same reasons there is not one person that I admire, but there are more.
To name one that is high in my list, Akechi Denki, a Japanese Nawashi.
BindMe: Do you see your form/style of bondage as an artform / artexpression? And if yes… do you do something about it (or do you value that) to see it accepted as such? (If no, what else is it?)
One of the reasons I admire bondage is because I find a tightly bound female body creates a beautiful (read: exciting) image.
Therefore I do not value that a lot of people (want to) see it as an artform and/or that it is accepted as an artform.
BindMe: Do you have a favourite way/shape of binding? A favourite position?
No. My favourite position is the position in which my partner clearly “enjoys” too.
BindMe: Do you have regular partner you have bondage with?
Yes, that’s DutchDame.
BindMe: Is having a website an extra kick (showing your bondagepartner) or is it more
commercial?
None of the above :). It is a hobby that got a bit out of hand. A hobby that became our lifestyle and one we enjoy a lot.
The little money we receive from our Ropemarks-activities pays for keeping alive and improving the site.
BindMe: Are you attracted to other BDSM-elements too?
Yes :)
BindMe: Do you always do your own photography or do you just focus on the bondage? How does that work?
The foundation of our photowork is the real-life sessions we play. Photography comes in 2nd place absolutely.
We do try though, to shoot nice pictures every now and then. It looks better on the site. Only those photoshoots end up as sessions anyway :)
BindMe: How did it feel to have your bondagepartner suspended for the first time?
I spent days with my head in the clouds! :)
BindMe: Do you think that Japanese bondage seems like a hype lately? Everyone seems to be “into it”….
It’s something “new”. The internet has crashed onto it (as a figure of speach). Media start picking it up too… Yes, I think you can speak of a hype. It hasn’t become “enormous” yet, but in “the scene” (the fetish/S&M world) everyone wants to show they can do it and if they are commercial that they do it “on the side”. (Yeah right!)
In itself I find it a concerning development, but the good thing about a hype is that is passes :)
BindMe:What do you recommend people that feel attracted to this form of bondage and want to learn?
The most sensible thing to do is join one of our workshops (*plugPLUG*) and to make the basics your own in a safe and controlled way. If you have any knowledge about bondage you can do an advanced workshop where it can get rather extreme. The sensei, but certainly the m-jo should be able to be up to the challenge.
BindMe:What more can we expect in the future from you?
Too much to mention :) We are actually working on a totally new look for our site. Furthermore we have a few book-projects running in which you can see us and in which we’re potentially “featured”.
We are also busy in co-operation with an art-gallery and some tv-producers to look at some possibilities. Certainly the last one is very pre-mature and I don’t really expect a lot from it.
Marrow and Debora of BindMe.nl wish to thank Bob very much for his cooperation on this special and being so open, informative and personal.
Revealing or not, people?
Thank you, Bob!
And of course you’ll visit him at his own site, if you haven’t already. You can find Bob here.