Shibari artist Hajime Kinoko to release rope bondage augmented reality art installation as NFT
Was this inevitable? Everything seems to be getting in on the non-fungible tokens boom, which has now reached the Japanese adult industry.
The legendary shibari (kinbaku) rope bondage artist Hajime Kinoko is going sell an NFT of the latest entry in his “red” series of bondage images — his first NFTs release and his first all-digital addition to the series.
The project is organized in partnership with Zak Shibuya of Reality Production Management (RPM Tokyo), which is planning an Instagram launch event and charity event to accompany the NFT.
It’s another first for renowned Hajime Kinoko: this is an augmented reality installation, Samsara, an “ambitious, one-of-a-kind project combining performance art, cryptocurrency and 3D imaging as an NFT.”
“I’d like for people all over the world to be able to share in my creative vision,” says Hajime Kinoko. “I am making this installation in AR so my fans who can’t come to Japan can view it wherever they like even during the global pandemic.”
The announcement was made on May 13, with the installation set to drop on the RPM website on May 22, 2021, at 9:30 a.m. PST, as a live shibari performance as well as a related event with royalties donated to an unspecified charity in Tokyo.
If you want to bid for the NFT of the rope installation, you can use cryptocurrencies like Ethereum and stablecoins such as USDC.
Here’s the technical run-down of how Zak Shibuya and Hajime Kinoko are making this work:
Starting with a special installation at Kinoko’s studio, their projects have evolved to include the latest combination of rope art, photography and 3D Imaging. These are now being made available as NFTs.
Multiple technical hurdles have to be overcome in creating a digitized 3D model from a large-scale art installation. The creative process scans and faithfully reproduces Hajime Kinoko’s intricate rope art installation with further refinement by a team of skilled artists in 3D Imaging from Hollywood.
Capturing artwork involves LIDAR scanning for initial modeling in 3D, then improving these scans with professional character artists to create a new style of immersive digital artwork. The result is a world-first shibari installation experience in Augmented Reality (AR).
If the preview images are anything to go by, the model for the project is DJ and nude model Lisa M (Lisa Mizuno), a regular Hajime Kinoko collaborator.
