Araki, Bondage

Kinbaku-bi, anyone? Meaning “the beauty of tight binding,” Kinbaku-bi, the Japanese art of erotic bondage, has long fascinated Nobuyoshi Araki, who has made it one of his most important subjects. He’s been called a genius and a poet, and also a misogynist, a pornographer, a monster, but Araki’s work transcends simplistic moralistic classifications. He has said of his work: “There is no conclusion. It’s completely open. It doesn’t go anywhere.” Whether literally or figuratively, his bound subjects are certainly immobilized, yet in the most tantalizing ways. The book consists of three volumes, enticingly hand-bound in the Japanese tradition and packaged in a wooden box, featuring Araki’s selection of his favorite bondage photos from over his entire career.