Discovering Melbourne’s stranger arts

Full mermaid body paint (Photo: Dale Proposch)

Melburnians have long prided themselves on the city’s arts and cultural pursuits. Some are well known, but others less so. Liela Boyd takes a personal journey into some of Melbourne’s most unusual art experiences.

Prepare to be tied up, watch art come to life and travel to ends of the earth battling dragons and taking a magic carpet rather than an Uber.

Next Level Studios

Our first stop is Brunswick, where the bohemian atmosphere hangs over the entire suburb, and where Next Level Studios runs a weekly Shibari class.

Shibari is a Japanese word for ‘bondage’, but without the western taint of fetishist sex. It’s used by contemporary photographers to capture amazing shapes using ropes tied around the human body – and it’s absolutely fascinating.

On arrival at the studio, you’re greeted by the teachers and split up into groups, the experienced and the newbies. No guessing the group I land in!

The room is set up with rugs all over the floor, rope is provided and an instructor explains the history of Shibari. I learn that it originated in the samurai era, when law enforcers would tie prisoners up tightly before transporting them to trial.

We’re then shown a simple rope tie on a volunteer’s wrist. The rope used is jute, which is easy to tie (and untie). This initial tie shows how to do a foundation knot which is then applied to all other knots you learn.

Jute rope is used in the shiburi class (Photo: Liela Boyd)

Throughout the class you are working in pairs and after mastering one tie you then move onto the next. Starting with the wrist you then progress to tying hands together and then other limbs.

Even where you stand in relation to your partner matters, because the idea is to create a channel of energy between you and your partner and watch your body take on a number of different shapes.

Jute rope is used in the shiburi class (Photo: Liela Boyd)

As complex as it may be to comprehend, you do achieve a sense of accomplishment when you are able to tie your partner’s hands over their head and watch them squirm trying to escape. This is called the ‘bunny pose’.

Getting tied up in knots (Photo: Liela Boyd)

Most of the work is done standing or on the floor, but in a more traditional setting, photographers would have their subject suspended from the ceiling, as can be seen in the work of contemporary Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki.

So what did I get out of this experience? I can’t say I mastered the art but I came away with an appreciation for it. There was a sound social element with everyone who attended. To anyone looking to try something different with a group of friends and step out of their comfort zone, I would recommend this class for sure.

Body painting

Continuing on our journey we meet a very talented artist named Dale Proposch, who specialises in face and body painting – where the entire human body serves as a 3D canvas.

Bird Skulls 2014 (Image: Dale Proposch)

Face painting is best known as a children’s party game, but this is no backyard pastime; it’s a serious art form that’s gaining momentum in Melbourne. Proposch and her team have competed in several competitions in Australia and at the ‘World Bodyart Festival’ in Klagenfurt, Austria.

Proposch acknowledges that body painting is still poorly understood and not always socially acceptable.

“We are working towards our general community embracing bodypainting for entertainment, advertising and generally an acceptable medium to express ourselves,” she says.

Proposch runs workshops from Melbourne’s ‘Looney Bin’ in Ferntree Gully with Jane Fearon, Australia’s most awarded body painter.

Fearon has been working as a bodypainter for over a decade, running workshops and creating her own masterpieces. She has worked on movie sets, and done corporate functions and costume bodypainting.

“It is the bringing together of knowledge from a diverse career over many decades. Right now this is the best job I have ever had – I love it.” Jane tells me.

The two women teach face painting, body painting, and the art of temporary tattooing, and say they’re looking forward to the Australian Body Art Awards and Convention, which will be held in Melbourne in March next year.

World Bodypainting Festival 2015 (Photo via Jane Fearon)

Immersive art

We have one last stop to make – which isn’t a class, but a gallery. ARTVO is a ‘trick art’ gallery – the first of its kind in this country – where you can be directly immersed in each piece and truly become part of the art on the wall.

The immersive 3D gallery opened at Docklands in Melbourne last year.

ARTVO Graffiti wall (Photo: Liela Boyd)

ARTVO Taming the lion(Photo: Liela Boyd)

The gallery covers nearly 2000 square metres, and the displays allow you to experience riding a magic carpet, meet underwater monsters or surf a huge ocean pipeline, thanks to free-hand artworks that stretch from floor to ceiling.

Bullseye! (Photo: Liela Boyd)

ARTVO manager Nick Iordanou says the gallery is particularly aimed at families who want swap digital immersion for something more real-world.

“In the old days we use have something called a jigsaw puzzle that’s been lost in the transitions of time so we are bringing something back for the whole family,” he says, adding the displays change four times a year.

Originally featured on: https://hatch.macleay.net/discovering-melbournes-stranger-arts/