Sev: Hello Scrappy, it’s great to have you here. I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while now, you do something pretty unique and brave for your studies at your university. But lets let the readers get to know you first before we go there. So Scrappy, tell us a bit about yourself, how did you end up in the kinky world? How did you discover you’re into kinky stuff, and how did you start living it out?
Scrappy: Awroof! Hey there Sev, pleasure to be here, and thank you for the kind words. About me, well I am a 26 year old gay pup working and studying in London. My exploration of kink started not very long ago, it will be just about year and a half since I have had my first kinky meet up. I had just been out of a really bad relationship, which failed mainly because of my ex partner being too closed minded; I have realised that I am far more open to things sexually than is considered your average norm.
So I went and found myself a Dominant with which I could try things out. I was very lucky as I met few really great and skilled Dominants and Masters afterwards, with whom I was able to try things out; I have realised that I do have an extremely strong submissive side to me. Over time I have explored things that I come to love nowadays; Bondage, CBT, Power Play and eventually the most important thing of them all; Pup Play.
It is the Pup Play that has changed my world, my perception of myself and the way I relate to people around me. After just a few months of being in the kink community I have made few pup friends, with whom I was able to explore it more, and as time went I have become more and more immersed in it, so much that I would no longer consider myself submissive anymore; I have become a full time pup. I live, act and sound as a pup 24/7. I even found myself a Sir with whom I fell madly in love with, and we are living together nowadays 🙂
Sev: Live, act and sound as a pup 24/7? Does that mean you bark at people? (not judging, I do that sometimes too 😉 ) How do you think being a pup has shown itself for you? What pup traits have you taken in your life?
Scrappy: Pretty much. I respond mainly in barks and various pup sounds first and then talk. Luckily people around me know what to expect so it is not a problem, and when I meet someone new, they quickly learn that I bark 😀 Simply I do not stop myself from doing it, no matter who I am with. I even did it in front of my Sir´s parents who do not know about me being a pup at all. Bit less then usual, but still did it.
I am far mischievous and excitable than before, jumping around and being bit silly, especially when around my Sir. But I am also very much devoted, loving and above all cuddly 😀 I have taken quite a few traits from the breed of German Shepherds as that is the breed of bio-dog I have grown up with;
they are known for their loyalty, intelligence, courage, confidence and obedience. When I was a kid we had a dog who was pretty crazy, enjoyed life and was mischievous instead of obedient, and I take part of my influence from her.
But apart from these traits it is just small things that have changed my life in the practical sense. For example I have a dog collar from a pet shop, which I feel naked without wearing. I have a genuine need for it as I love the feeling of it and of belonging to my Sir. I always prefer to sit on the floor at my Sir´s feet, and go up on couch only when I am being a bit naughty. I also prefer to eat from a dog bowl, but using normal cutlery as certain things would be impossible to eat without it. Its those small things that have allowed me to be in pup head space 24/7.
Sev: Hehe I know the feelings. You’re right, its the little things that matter. Now you not only have fetish in your private life, but in your study and work life as well don’t you? Not that long ago, you finished a dissertation about Matt Spike’s photography. What made you take that as a theme?
Scrappy: Indeed I have. The main reason is that I struggle with the current idea of masculinity both in general gay culture and even more so in the kink subculture, and the very body specific representation that is given to anyone within both. My experience of the fetish world is that it is full of many different amazing individuals of all body types, ages and cultures. Yet even here it is becoming more apparent that the cult of masculinity has become very body specific; the focus is on white muscular bearded men and that everyone should aspire to be like them.
Matt Spike’s photography is the perfect example of this that I have chosen; the type of man who dominates his work is white muscular man, with facial hair, tattoos, often smoking. The modern ideal of masculinity. What interested me most is this representation that is everywhere nowadays, and its potential to be both harmful and beneficial to not only men within the kink world, but every gay men in general. As I was writing the dissertation I have realised even more how personal and important this topic is to me. The feeling of dissatisfaction with the current body culture and the idea of masculinity and the pressure it puts on mental and physical heath of myself and every gay man out there have become the most important thing for my writing.
Sev: So they are kind of a doubleedged blade, you think? Very interesting. You spoke about attention, your newer project is trying to bring that to a fetish of yours too right? What exactly are you doing? And what are your goals with it?
Scrappy: Very much so, and it is important that everyone is made aware of this. Many are not fully aware of the impact something as simple as a photograph they see can have on them. So I find myself in a position where my dissertation is to raise awareness and bring attention to the issues at hand, similarly like my Art practice is bringing pup play into the focus of an Art world.
So not only my latest project but during the whole final year I have been focusing on pup play, working on it as my main theme, exploring the possibility of pup play in context of a gallery space. The project you are talking about was a video piece, in which I had asked pups on twitter, Telegram and other places for help and creating short video of them in hood, barking and wroofing and making all kind of pup noises. Those I have then combined together in one big projection, in which the videos come on one after another, starting slowly but eventually bringing all the pups together on the wall at the same time, with the deafening sound of all of them, completely taking over the gallery both by the use of visual and acoustic means.
The thinking behind this was to get everyone in the community to participate and share their videos online and with me, to show the unity of the community and to introduce pup play in different light. But although we are a community, we are all still individuals, our own pups with different tastes, past, mentalities . . . not a single pup is like any other. And this is shown by the diversity in the hoods. So overall the videos show diversity and unity of community at the same time, bringing pup play to completely different audience.
But that was only a start, am now working on a different piece for my final degree show, where I am using all that I have done so far this year, and expanding on it. So I am working on installation which will include video and audio work as well 🙂
Sev: Uh must’ve been one hell of a howling concert with all pups together xD I’m looking forward to see something of your final project then. Is it a complete secret or can you give us some pretaste?
Scrappy:It was, at one stage I had to even shut it down as the noise took completely over the whole gallery, and it was impossible to finish critiques with tutors. But worked so perfectly, it disrupted the gallery space far better then I thought it ever would.
My final project is something that reflects what I have developed interest in over the whole time at university; I am taking over a whole room as I have done before, and creating an installation within that room. This time I will create a proper pup space, foam mats on the floor, dog beds, chew toys, bowls with treats; all spread around the room. Then on the back of the room will be a TV showing interviews I have done with a few pups about pup play. The TV itself will be quite low, encouraging people to go down on the level of where we pups usually are on all fours. There will be couple of pairs of headphones plugged in, to make it more intimate and personal. But mainly it will be fully the choice of visitors if they want to find out more about what the space and subsequently pup play is about.
And finally there will be a sound piece playing through the whole time from set of speakers. I went to Social paws (Pup event in Southampton) and recorded the sound of pups there during the event, which I will then play once or twice every hour then at the final exhibition, in contrast to a random bark or howl every five minutes or so. it is to capture the essence of the event, but not overplaying it, to lure people in the room yet not entirely giving the whole thing away and make them work a bit in order to understand what is happening.
Sev: Wow a complete park? Be careful, if word gets around of that your room is going to be bursting with pups 😉 Now I think we are getting to the end of our interview, you got some last words/advice for our readers before we end here?
Scrappy: Very much so, I am using everything I have done this year and more. And all pups are more than welcome to come and play, if anything I very much encourage it. I promise I will be putting fresh treats in the bowls every few days hehe. I am confident many will enjoy those.
Well, a few things then if I may. Firstly I would say to everyone not to get swept by the cult of Masculinity; be yourself and do not fall into the trap that is being set for you. Always take care of your mental health first, and if you need help, go and seek it. Secondly if anyone is interested in pup play, go and meet pups, we are friendly bunch and we all welcome and help newcomers. And then to anyone who is interested, I will be continuing creating Art and play with pup play as a theme in the future, hopefully expanding into other subcultures as well. So feel free to contact me on Twitter on @Pup_Scrappy
But most importantly I would invite everyone to come and see the exhibition if they can, not only my work but many other amazing works by my classmates. The show is open from 17th till 24th, with private view being on the Monday 19th from 6pm till 9pm. Again everyone is more then welcome to come, but for that they need to book a ticket for free from Camberwell website. All the informations and how to get your free ticket can be found here:
