Torture Garden (fetish club)
Encyclopedia
Torture Garden is a fetish club
in London
, UK. The club started in 1990 and is now Europe's largest fetish club, featuring monthly at the Mass Club in the converted St. Matthews Church, Brixton
. It features dance floors, musical acts, performance art, fashion shows, and an S&M 'dungeon
'.
Initially threatened with closure by the police, it is now described as "legendary" and "a capital institution" by Time Out magazine. It has also been described as "a combination of a fetish, S/M, body art, Modern Primitives, straight, gay, performance art, body ritual, fashion, techno/industrial/atmospheric music, multimedia, and cyberspace club".
s noted that "The concept of Torture Garden may initially be difficult to accept, as it encompasses the most extreme manifestations of body piercing, mutilation, and ritual uses of blood in Western culture" and that the Torture Garden manifesto "clearly demonstrates the anomalous nature of fetish clubs".
label. TG ran a live stage show as the centrepiece of the Erotica exhibition at Olympia
in 2004, and hosted a night at the Barbican Centre
art gallery to coincide with the “Seduced” exhibition.
Rubber Banned, an exhibit of photographs of TG club-goers taken by fashion photographer Perou
was shown in London and Paris in 2005.
, Dita Von Teese
(who had her UK debut at TG), performance artist Franko B
, Jean Paul Gaultier, Boy George
, Jack Dee
, and Marc Almond
have all been to TG nights.
Fetish club
A fetish club is a nightclub, bar or other entertainment hub which caters to clientele interested in some of fetish fashion, bondage, dominance/submission, and/or sadism and masochism...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, UK. The club started in 1990 and is now Europe's largest fetish club, featuring monthly at the Mass Club in the converted St. Matthews Church, Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. It features dance floors, musical acts, performance art, fashion shows, and an S&M 'dungeon
Dungeon (BDSM)
In BDSM sexual play, a dungeon is any space set aside for "scene" activities.Private dungeons are often fabricated in residential basements or spare rooms...
'.
Initially threatened with closure by the police, it is now described as "legendary" and "a capital institution" by Time Out magazine. It has also been described as "a combination of a fetish, S/M, body art, Modern Primitives, straight, gay, performance art, body ritual, fashion, techno/industrial/atmospheric music, multimedia, and cyberspace club".
Atmosphere
The co-founder of TG described the experience as "like entering a scene from a movie", and said that "we are basically about the celebration of sexuality and fantasy in a safe environment". A lack of intimidating or threatening behaviour is characteristic of the club, in contrast to most nightclubs. One journalist reported the "welcoming, liberating, anything-goes atmosphere".Academic study
An academic study of blood ritualBlood ritual
A blood ritual is any ritual that involves the intentional release of blood.A common blood ritual is the blood brother ritual, which started in ancient Europe and Asia. Two or more people, typically male, intermingle their blood in some way. This symbolically brings the participants together into...
s noted that "The concept of Torture Garden may initially be difficult to accept, as it encompasses the most extreme manifestations of body piercing, mutilation, and ritual uses of blood in Western culture" and that the Torture Garden manifesto "clearly demonstrates the anomalous nature of fetish clubs".
Events
TG has hosted club nights in several other cities and countries, including Edinburgh Russia, Greece and Japan, and it also runs a Fetish fashionFetish fashion
Fetish fashion is any style or appearance in the form of atype of clothing or accessory, created to be extreme or provocative. These styles are not usually worn by the majority of people on any regular basis. They are usually made of materials such as leather, latex or synthetic rubber or plastic,...
label. TG ran a live stage show as the centrepiece of the Erotica exhibition at Olympia
Olympia, London
Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...
in 2004, and hosted a night at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
art gallery to coincide with the “Seduced” exhibition.
Rubber Banned, an exhibit of photographs of TG club-goers taken by fashion photographer Perou
Perou
thumb|perou by frances|rightRalph John Perou , known professionally as Perou, is a British fashion, portrait and music photographer who has also appeared as a judge on Make Me a Supermodel UK and on season 2 of Bravo TV's American Make Me a Supermodel...
was shown in London and Paris in 2005.
Celebrity attendees
Marilyn MansonMarilyn Manson
Marilyn Manson may refer to:* Marilyn Manson , an American rock musician* Marilyn Manson , the American rock band led by the singer of the same name...
, Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese
Dita Von Teese is an American burlesque dancer, model, costume designer, author and actress.-Early life:...
(who had her UK debut at TG), performance artist Franko B
Franko B
Franko B is a London-based performance artist. He studied fine art in London at Camberwell College of Arts and Chelsea College of Art . His work was originally based on the bloody and ritualised violation of his own body...
, Jean Paul Gaultier, Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...
, Jack Dee
Jack Dee
James Andrew Innes "Jack" Dee is an English stand-up comedian, actor and writer known for his sardonic, curmudgeonly, and deadpan style.-Early life:...
, and Marc Almond
Marc Almond
Marc Almond is an English singer-songwriter and musician, who originally found fame as half of the seminal synthpop/New Wave duo Soft Cell...
have all been to TG nights.
Dresscode
There is a strict dresscode: "Fantasy Fetish, SM, Body Art, Drag, Rubber, Leather, PVC goes, but no cotton t-shirts, street wear, or regular club wear". This has been summarised as "if what you’re wearing wouldn’t get you stared at in the street, don’t bother even queueing up to get in".See also
- Body modificationBody modificationBody modification is the deliberate altering of the human body for any non-medical reason, such as aesthetics, sexual enhancement, a rite of passage, religious reasons, to display group membership or affiliation, to create body art, shock value, or self expression...
- Fetish culture
- Nightclubs
- Performance artPerformance artIn art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
- Sex clubSex clubSex clubs are either groups that organize sex related activities or an establishment where patrons can engage in sex acts with other patrons. A sex club differs from a brothel in that, while sex club patrons typically pay a fee to enter the club, they have sex with other patrons rather than with...
- Sexual fetishismSexual fetishismSexual fetishism, or erotic fetishism, is the sexual arousal a person receives from a physical object, or from a specific situation. The object or situation of interest is called the fetish, the person a fetishist who has a fetish for that object/situation. Sexual fetishism may be regarded, e.g...
- SlimelightSlimelightThe Slimelight club is a goth nightclub.It is an alternative music club which has three dance floors. playing music genres such as darkwave, EBM, trad goth, gothic rock, futurepop, power noise, synthpop, industrial, and noise....