Bound · Neighborhood Collective · Invisible City 2026

24th StMission St

i ·

What keeps you bound?

What holds you?

24th StCapp St

ii ·

The neighborhoods

We are interviewing people across San Francisco and asking each of them the same two questions. Their recorded answers play in the room, next to a Polaroid of each person.

In Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, the people of Ersilia stretch strings between their houses to mark their relationships, until the strings outnumber the streets. Bound is San Francisco's Ersilia.

Illustration: six neighbors stand in a row, Rosa of the Sunset, Marcus of Bayview, Ray of SoMa, Lupe of the Mission, Jun of the Excelsior and Sam of the Castro, each looking up at a glowing knot labeled San Francisco, tied to it by red and jute threads.

What binds me

“{{ nb.binds }}”

What holds me

“{{ nb.holds }}”

24th StS Van Ness Ave

iii ·

Inside the room

What you will experience, step by step.

Animation: walking slowly down a long, pencil-drawn office hallway at night. A red rope runs along the left wall toward a door at the far end, where warm amber light spills out. — 01 · the hallwayYou find a red string on a hallway wall. A tag asks, “What keeps you bound?”

Hand-drawn aerial map of the route: 1, the atrium with nine red lanterns; 2, a hallway with a red string, a Polaroid and a tag; 3, the door, where a host says hello; 4, the center of a 28 by 24 foot room so dense with red and jute rope it reads as a canopy, a skeleton seated under one lamp. Also marked: the knot table, Polaroids in the rope, the rope artist's floor mat, the aftercare corner, and the accessible path from the door to the center. — 02 · the doorA host tells you what is inside. Nothing will touch you unless you ask.

Animation: seen from behind three visitors at a doorway, a wooden door opens onto a room dense with red and jute rope, glowing under one warm lamp. — 03 · the webYou step into the web: rope wall to wall, faces at every height, voices in the rope.

Illustration: a skeleton sits upright on a timber plinth under one warm pendant lamp, red rope knotted across its ribcage and simple metal cuffs at its wrists. Hundreds of red and jute ropes radiate from it, with Polaroid portraits of San Franciscans and paper tags tied into the web. — 04 · the centerAt the center, the body of the city, bound and cuffed.

Illustration: under a warm lamp, a visitor's hands write on a single cream paper tag at a wooden table set with a spool of amber thread, pencils, a stack of blank tags, and a dish of oxblood wax seals. A card reads: One tag. What binds you. What holds you. Behind, hundreds of cream tags hang on amber threads like wishes tied to a tree, and a skeleton glows far off in the rope web. — 05 · the knot tableYou write what binds you and what holds you on one tag, and tie it in with a single amber thread.

Illustration: under a warm lamp, a fully clothed visitor sits cross-legged on a red floor cushion, eyes closed and calm, wearing a simple jute chest harness over their shirt. A rope artist kneels beside them, one hand on their shoulder, safety shears at the belt. A host waits nearby with a blanket and a glass of water, beside candles and flowers. — 06 · the tieOn some nights, if you choose, a rope artist ties you. Restrained and held at the same time.

Illustration: two cupped hands in sweater sleeves hold a short knotted rope of jute and amber thread, one end frayed and loosened, sealed with an oxblood wax seal bearing the Neighborhood Collective emblem. Behind, the hallway with its red string leads back to the glowing room full of tags. — 07 · the way outYou leave with a small knotted rope. One thread that holds you. One you are ready to loosen.

24th StShotwell St

iv ·

Four nights

Every tag visitors tie stays in the web. Each night it gets denser, and more rope comes off the skeleton. Select a night to see how the room changes.

Animation: a timber frame webbed in knotted jute rope under a warm lamp, with muslin draped over the top. The ropes holding the figure at the center slowly loosen over four nights.

24th StTreat St

vi ·

The room

The room is about 28 by 24 feet. Freestanding timber frames hold the rope, so nothing is attached to the building. Select a number to see what happens there.

24th StHarrison St

vii ·

Care and consent

Everything in Bound is optional. This is how we keep the room safe.

Content note

The room holds rope, restraint imagery, and stories of hardship and tenderness. A host shares this at the door before you step in.

Everything is opt-in

You can listen, look, and leave whenever you like. Nothing and no one will touch you unless you ask.

Ties by sign-up only

Ties are offered only by sign-up at the host's table, never on the spot. Every tie is ground-based, with no suspension.

A stop word

Before a tie you agree on a stop word together. Saying it ends everything instantly, and you never need to explain why.

Trained rope artists

Only experienced, vetted rope artists tie, and every one carries safety shears. They check in on your comfort throughout.

Aftercare

Water, blankets, and a quiet corner wait for you afterward, with a host nearby for as long as you need.

Interviewee consent

Interviewees can stay anonymous: voice only, first name only, or a Polaroid of hands holding rope. Anyone can withdraw at any time.

24th StAlabama St

viii ·

The team

Char Lacsina

Art and project lead

Iara Bachmann

Lead architect

Join the team

Bound will also have live performers, rope artists, and hosts in the room. If you are interested, leave your details and we will be in touch.

Thank you. Someone will be in touch before the first night.

24th StFlorida St

ix ·

Share your voice

We are interviewing San Franciscans from every neighborhood. Each interview covers the same two questions. You can stay anonymous, hear your recording before it is used, and withdraw at any time. Every interviewee receives a small thank-you gift.