Making Of… “Cat-o-nine-tails”

We’ve been feeling a little restless here at island6. We felt like we’d been up to no good, and we needed to be punished for the bad little island that we are. Come behind the scenes and witness Mark Mehanni taking our lashes for us from the bewitching Ran Zheng in our latest “making of….”

Mark and Ran knew they’d be in for a racy experience on set for Liu Dao’s new artworks, which would range from provocative to downright bizarre. These latest works explore the human desire to escape time and reality, and the myriad ways that this can be attempted, from voyeurism to sexual fetishes. In this piece, a defeated man attempts to beat out his pain with physical pain from a willing vixen. Our cameras were there to capture their experience as the pair was filmed in action.

Ran slipped into her character as easily as she slipped into her full-length latex gown. Mark’s smile is a little too wide at this point…

… that smile disappeared when the lashes began to rain down. She just yanks his hair and hits him harder, like she knows he wants her to.

After their little whipping session was wrapped up, Mark and Ran’s cathartic experience underwent a metamorphosis from video to vibrant LED at the hands of Anto Lau.

Text: Kathleen McCampbell

Photo: Anto Lau

http://www.island6.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/Cat-o-nine-tails.flv

My perceptions had a frame-by-frame quality, and the evening didn’t seem immediate: pieces of it were foreign, disconnected as a dream. I was being bitten very hard on the arm. It would leave marks the next day. “Mercy,” I whispered. She had asked me why I wanted to be hurt. I couldn’t work out an answer and wasn’t sure the question was even valid, so I asked her why she liked to hurt people. She half laughed, with a tone that I couldn’t evaluate. Ruefully perhaps? “That’s a long, dark road”, she said. I felt myself fragmenting, desperation and terror and pain pouring through me in an unbearable, necessary torrent. I told myself over and over again that it didn’t hurt that much, but I couldn’t stop myself from tensing, crying out. After a while, I found myself saying, “No”, but it was too late, I didn’t really mean it and the marks had already turned to scars.

Text: Margaret Johnson

“Cat-o-nine-tails” is one of Liu Dao’s latest LED works. This titillating peek into the world of pleasure and depravity will be displayed at Liu Dao’s sultry new exhibition, , from February 28 th – April 28 th at island6 Bund. Come have a look, if you dare…