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Regardless of your chosen beliefs or lack thereof, I think we can all agree that there is an amazing energy that comes with body suspension. The connection it brings between each of us and the powerful effect of that experience can be life changing. For me, I view body suspension as one of the greatest gifts ever put into my life, and likewise, the greatest gift I can share with anyone. Many of us know the overwhelming joy of helping someone go up for the first time, or being there as they move through the process from suspendee to a skilled practitioner. Peter Tabaco was one individual lucky enough to have shared this beautiful craft with so many people that he loved and considered family. Working with Disgraceland Hook Squad, he was there for many of the practitioners that are still with them today as they learned the ropes. After he passed away, Disgraceland, along with a few close friends, offered up the most fitting tribute they could; a day full of suspensions in the same place so many of them had learned with Peter.

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After over a year and a half of daily digging and sorting through suspension images, it always catches me off guard when I come across really great suspension photos where I don’t recognize any of the people involved. It also makes me extremely excited; it means another group in our growing family of practitioners that is taking the time to do something beautiful with our craft. Levitate Tallinn is one of the newer additions to the community, and it seems that they are off to a wonderful start so far.

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It is always interesting to see how varied the reactions are to body suspension from region to region and culture to culture. Here in the US, one neighbor witnessing a suspension can alter the laws of an entire city based upon their close minded views of it. That reaction, however, is drastically different than the warm reception it seems to be receiving in Brazil. Diabos Mutantes Suspension has been hard at work educating themselves and sharing their craft with others.

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For many of us, our first suspension was a moving and personal event that marks a great moment in our lives. There are some experiences, however, that also make a dramatic impact on not only the suspendee, but those lucky enough to witness it as well. One of the most touching suspensions I have seen are these photos from Tom‘s first steps into the body suspension community; they happen to be the first steps he has taken in almost 10 years.

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Suspension Competition Entry #26 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: Designed by architect Frank Gehry, Walt Disney Concert Hall, new home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, is designed to be one of the most acoustically sophisticated concert halls in the world, providing both visual and aural intimacy for an unparalleled musical experience. From the stainless steel curves of its striking exterior to the state-of-the-art acoustics of the hardwood-paneled main auditorium, the 3.6-acre architectural landmark embodies the unique energy and creative spirit of the city of Los Angeles. Construction began in 1999 and was completed in October of 2003. On Christmas Day 2011, members of CoRE rigged from a tree across the street at the Los Angeles Supreme Court Building and suspended Natalie Smith in a four point resurrection. Neither waiting for the buses at the light to stop blocking the shot or the foot traffic on the sidewalk that was oblivious to what was going on could stop Natalie from suspending from four blacksheeps when the light went from red to green. Photography by Damon Pierce.

We had plan

Suspension Competition Entry #25 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: This is Lucky Hell, part of Helsinki’s Supersankari Suspension Team, suspending from a 200 year old beam that was used to hoist ammunition to the cannons, on the island/old military fortress, Suomenlinna.  The island is a very important historical place in Finland, occupied for almost 200 years and included as a world heritage site in 1991.

We had planned this location for some time.  We waited until the very last day of the year. December 31st 2011, to see if the snow would come, but amazingly no real snow has fallen yet in southern Finland.  But don’t let the lack of snow fool you, it is minus degrees in Helsinki right now, and the wind on Suomenlinna has quite a nasty bite to it, due to its location in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea).

There is less than six hours of sunlight during the winter so we started early, piercing in the city at Paradise Tattoo & Piercing, walked to the harbor and took a 20min ferry to the island, walked to the last corner of the fortress area and got straight to it.

The shot was hard to get as there were so many tourists walking in and out of our pictures, obviously not prepared for a naked suspension in the icy wind.  We chose a suicide because we were outdoors and in Finland at this time of year it’s so cold, you don’t really have the luxury to spend time on beautiful rigging

Crew:

Jussi Paradise – piercing/rigging
Lucky Hell – suspendee
Tinttu Hentonen – photographer
Joona – assistant

www.supersankari.fi
www.luckyhell.fi
www.facebook.com/theluckyhell
www.paradise.fi

“Our family is a circle of love and strength. With every birth and every union, the circle grows. Every joy shared adds more love. Every obstacle faced together makes the circle stronger.” -Joseph Campbell

I have been amazed by this community since the first day I stepped into it. My eyes were opened to an incredible group of people who had an amount of love for both this craft and for one another that I had never seen before. There is something that is so much more than friendship between the members of our suspension community; we are without a doubt a family. As with any family, there will always be arguments, disagreements, and bumps in the road, but we have shown through the tragedies that have hit us over the last few years that when times are hard we will pull together with unmatched strength and loyalty to get one another through it. That amazing unity has inspired the creation of SynerG Metals, and their first run of suspension pendants which will raise money to benefit those who need help in the suspension community.

The creators behind SynerG Metals were so moved by the outpouring of love, support, and donations after the car accident, which eventually cost us one of the most loved individuals in this community, that they came together to find a way to help. They turned to the form of expression that they knew best, and this pendant was the outcome. A small batch was made to be sold at Jill‘s baby shower originally, and after a little downtime, production has begun again. The proceeds (after material costs) from the current design being produced will go to aid in the medical bills surrounding the many months of treatment and care that were needed for Arwen “Spliff” Rosa. They are a beautiful design, and will go towards a great cause. Not to mention that the price will include a custom inscription on the back to make each piece unique.

I hope we see one of these on every person at suscon this year. It’s such an incredible way for the creators behind this to give something to this community. And just in case you are curious, the artists involved are not only making no profit from the pendants, they are not being paid for their time either. It is strictly a labor of love. As time goes on, they hope to continue using SynerG metals to help others in the suspension and modification community as the need arises. If you would like a pendant, please visit their ‘How It Works’ section of the group page for information about payment and custom engraving. Also, for those of you attending, if you order before January 28th you can opt to have your pendant delivered to you at Superpull rather than shipped.

I realize that we have been vague about who the individuals are behind SynerG Metals. Those taking the time to create these pieces are members of the suspension community, but ask to remain anonymous. This project is being done for the love of the community, not for a pat on the back or recognition. The choice to reveal the members working on this will be up to them. 

Suspension Competition Entry #24 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: After the first successful run doing this suspension (with Opal Colombel in a lotus position) we soon discovered it was too late in the evening for any decent photographs. It would be to our benefit to try yet again during the day time. The next day being New years, the park was a bit more crowded adding to the excitement and struggle to be unseen.  Jill Coudray came to town with the idea of suspending somebody on the Diving Bell Ferris wheel.  The Diving Bell is 100 feet high and located amongst downtown buildings, next to a major freeway at the Houston Aquarium.

Kieran Diedrich came up with the rigging ideas and overall organization of both suspensions, with Jill’s help. Britt Laird did an awesome job rigging both lotus suspensions in a very minimal time frame, risking possible jail to be in the cart.  Completing Jill’s idea was Jess Allbright suspending for our final attempt and submission photo. Hope you enjoy the photo as much as we enjoyed the experience.

Suspension Competition Entry #23 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: This suspension was performed at the corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose Blvd in Houston, TX.  Neil decided to suspend between Jaume Plensa‘s septuplet of “Tolerance” sculptures.  The sculptures are in a kneeling position and are meant to inspire the citizens of Houston to consider the city’s diverse culture.  That being said, Neil wanted to suspend amongst them so people can look at what we do in a little more positive light.  He suspended from an SMS Tambourine drop rig in a kneeling position with two 4g Gilsons in his back, two 4g gilsons in his thighs, and two 8g blacksheep hooks in the bottoms of his feet. A.G.R.O. and WasteLanD are officially dubbing this suspension “The KNeil”.

Suspension Competition Entry #22 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: This suspension took place on December 28, 2011 in Colosseum in Pula, Croatia. My first idea was to go up in 2 point resurrection+single point chest, a sort of a triangle suspension. It was just too hard to breathe and I couldn’t really take my time to adjust the rigging so I just detached the chest hook and went up pretty easy in a 2 point resurrection. It was all done pretty quick; we threw a 60 meter sling over a volt with a bottle of water tied to the end of it. That was our main concern: will we be able to throw it so high and far. And of course not to get caught. Harder then suspending was picking the photo for this contest. There were just too many beautiful pictures and I have to thank Teddy Lee for that. I picked the one where you can see the true beauty of the place where I hanged.