My darling wife of 20+ years, Tambo does not make many appearances on this blog. While the greatest, most supportive wife in history she much prefers to stay behind the camera and in shadows. Happy to watch, support and offer her own devious twist on my various mis-adventures.

Now when she is persuaded to step in front of the camera, like she did here at SEAF, the result is a treat (for both you and me).

Is she not just stunning? Yeah, I know. I'm the luckiest SOB on earth. Thanks Malixe for capturing the radiance that is my dearest wife.

The Bindings Project: Blind

My dear friend and photographer extraordinaire has done it again. Michele Serchuck just knows how to shoot me when I tie. These are shots from the SEAF peace we called “Blind”. So far I have seen several great images from this piece, but yet again Michele seemed to capture the moment so well. Trapping all the passion and trust between the beautiful Sophia and I as we undertook what was, for me, a transformative moment.

Tying blindfolded is not a new trick by any stretch, however most of the demonstrations I have seen were more sterile than sexy. A display of the rope rigger’s prowess and skill, or worse a garish sideshow spectacle. This was the opposite of what I wanted, for me the very idea of giving up my eyes while tying scared the living crap out of me. It is one thing for a partner to trust me enough to let them do something as potentially dangerous as suspension bondage on them, do it while blind and in front of a few thousand people? I’d need someone very, very special and perhaps a little crazy.

Enter Sophia.



Artist, instructor and a damned fine rope rigger in her own right, Sophia did not bat an eye when I told her my idea. Rather, she agreed wholeheartedly that this should be about the tactile, my hands, her body and how the rope connected us together. Considering the very cool friendship we share, I think we had a winning plan.

Our rehearsal time was minimal, focusing on the safety and non-verbal communication required to pull this off. Again, Sophia just blew me out of the water with what she brought to the practices, what you saw as the simplest touches on my face as I tied were, in fact, well planned signals and queues for where I was in relation to a thousand variables.

We would perform this once and only once, creating a moment never to be repeated.

Friday night, second night of the installation’s run. The place is packed and I’m wired from a mix of adrenaline, fear and the intoxication that only comes from being on stage. Add to this, endorphin high after just pulling off the Mayhem piece with Delano to the roaring cheers of the crowd. While a bouncing, happy Monk is a good thing it was the exact opposite of what was needed to pull off a slow, sensual and (potentially) dangerous blindfolded suspension scene. Again, enter Sophia with her calm touch and low voice leading me, centering me, breathing with me.



When we took the stage and she placed the blindfold on me, the world dimmed. The ruckus of the crowds dulled into the distance as all I could hear was her breathing and the soft words she would whisper to me as my hands moved across her body. Smells exploded, the hemp, her skin, my sweat. I remember there being hot lights burning down upon us when we started, but there in that dark moment all I felt was the heat of her skin as my hands, trembling at first, took the rope.

It was not until we were almost through, at that critical moment when I took all her body weight into the ropes and drew her into the air that I heard the mc from across the vast expanse that was SEAF, stop what she was doing and direct everyone’s attention to our stage. In that split second there was silence, a collective gasp lasting for but an instant, and then the sound of the festival with all its carnival revelry roared back into my ears.

More from SEAF, Mayhem



This would be my dear pal and inspiration, Delano and I doing what we referred to as Mayhem". The idea was simple, we are both straight identified rope switches who share a bond through rope that is one of comradeship and friendship. This was not about a power dynamic, or sex or even something "artistic" rather what we did was divide all the rope I had made for the show into 2 piles, set on either side of the stage. We each took turns placing one piece on the other till we were either out of rope or unable to move. The only rules were, no crotch shots, the support lines had to finish through your own hard point and not to make the other one's butt look fat.

What resulted could best be described as a free form madness, like some kind of DJ battle where with every rope we taunted the other, "oh is that the BEST you got?" and with every tie, we became a larger and larger tangle of hemp.

Was it "art"? Not sure. Was it "entertaining"? Oh hell yes! Did it get my point across that rope is more than just a sex toy, but rather a medium through which people can communicate and connect? Yeah, I think so.

In other news, Tambo and her bro got decked out in their old school trek best for the new film's opening last night. Here is a 12 second clip of them getting photographed by all the other folks in line. Now being the good poly person I am, I'm seeing it again tonight with Matisse. I doubt she will don a uniform tho...

Still digging out from the post SEAF madness.

You know all those things I said I would get to "after SEAF"? Well yeah, now I am ass deep in getting caught back up with the day to day operations of my company, getting my digital life rebooted (this would be the first blog post from my new lappy, I'm calling it "mini me") and reconnecting with all those folks that have waited so patiently as buried myself in the madness that was the installation.

So images and stories are starting to trickle in, here is a shot taken from a piece we called "The Skeleton Dance" what was really astounding, for me at least, was getting to work with Thomas. As a classically trained dancer, his understanding of how his body could move and how the level of muscle control was amazing. Allowing me to shape and pose his body effortlessly while could go from rigid to a slow, mournful melting of his limbs.

Made for a real visual treat.

Opening Night

Hands are sore today so it is hard to type, but last night rocked. The entire show was fantastic, but I must say that our little corner of it was especally awesome. My crew kept things moving flawlesly as I split time between performing and talking to all the cool people who came out. Tonight the doors are open to the public so they are expecting a LOT of bodies, like 2000 or more. I need to repair my costume, rest my hands and drink a fuck ton more coffee.

Oh and did I mention that the festival got written up in the Seattle Times? Your's truly just got name checked by a major metropolitan newspaper! Pardon me while I have an "OMG SQUEE" moment.

So what the hell have I been working on for the Seattle Erotic Art Festival?

Here is a little taste:


The Bindings Project - Teaser from Aaron Nanto on Vimeo.

Come see it in person.

From stick figures to reality, continued….

I posted a while ago a snapshot from one of my sketch books, crudely drawn stick figures in what I had in my mind’s eye for one of the performance pieces I am building for SEAF. Now my goal, as I attempt to take these ideas from sketch book to reality is to create things that I have never seen before, things that make experienced riggers pause and ask, “Can this even be done?”

Ambitious? Who me?

While ambitious, I’m not going to be foolish and do things that can’t be done or worse might work, but only at great risk to my bottoms. Rather, I have taken these performances in small bites, from sketch to prototype to mock up to eventually live persons in rope. Last night, after weeks of testing out hardware, trials with various ties and finally assembling the performance truss, the sketch.. the idea that took shape in my deviant brain one night while laying naked next to my lover and admiring the supple curve of her hip… became real.

At first I was not sure, the hardware still needs a few tweaks, but damn if the two lovely ladies who volunteered to be in the piece were not the best gals you could ask for. Working with me, providing feedback as we tweaked the ropes and placement of things then… then as things began to gel, they began to flow with the rigging, gracefully bending and twisting as the experimental hardware I designed for the piece proved itself more than capable of the job. Then, then dear readers it happened, one of the girls gracefully swept herself into an inverted position, hands and hair flowing as she spun in a graceful, slow arc.

It worked; the bad stick figures were now two lovely and talented girls gliding by in what I could only describe as painfully elegant.

This is going to be amazing.

Letting the “SEAF” thing out of the bag

I’ve made mention of it in my twitter feed, small hints as to this “thing” I have in the works. Well now I can let the cat out of the bag, to an extent, and start talking about this new, exiting and large project I’ve taken on.

For those cool kids in the know, SEAF stands for Seattle Erotic Art Festival, a long running and very cool art show that draws a wide variety of erotic art from all over the world and for three days is the epicenter of sexy for Seattle. Back when I was still shooting, I had pieces in the first 3 SEAF shows, but since starting up the rope company most of my photography has been more snapshots for fun and not of the caliber that this event warrants.

That is not to say that I’ve not wanted to contribute something…

So this year, when the call for festival performances was made, I figured that now was the time to step up and see what was possible. After some initial testing of the waters, the “gee it would be really cool to do a suspension performance” idea grew into something larger, more complex and frankly much more compelling. Thankfully the event directors, who all deserve medals, listened to my idea, offered feedback and in the end agreed to grant my idea as worthy of the festival. What started out as a 10-15 minute suspension bondage performance has now become a 200sq foot installation piece that will feature live performances, video and CGI.

Ambitious? Who? Me?

Tomorrow I’ll blog more about this as well as put the call out for performance bottoms. Wait before you fire me off an email volunteering as what I am looking for is not what most expect when you say “Suspension Bondage Model”.

There is a method to my madness, I assure you.