The Anti-Gravity Relaxation Organization was founded in Houston, Texas in February of 2004 by Rick Pierceall and his wife Angela Marsh. Every year, on the first Sunday in February, A.G.R.O. Houston holds it’s annual Superpull Sunday, marking the anniversary of that very first meeting. This is an event exclusive to the Houston chapter, where A.G.R.O. got its start. In honor of Superpull Sunday, A.G.R.O. Houston opens its meet and welcomes the other A.G.R.O. chapters and suspension teams from all across the country to join in on a massive flesh pull.

This year will mark Houston’s 6th annual Superpull Sunday and we are changing the event up. Instead of everyone joining in on a central hub and just pulling aimlessly – we will have the hub, and we are making this a Tug-O-War competition, with an AGRO Superpull 2013 trophy awarded to the winning team. Read more

We know that many of you have been waiting for the final results from the Suspension Competition.  Why haven’t we posted them yet?  Well, besides the honest truth of just being overwhelmed from Dallas Suscon, we’ve also been waiting for a photo from award presentation.  So without further ado we give you the runner up and winner of the 2011 Suspension Competition.  In second place we have the entry from Helsinki’s Supersankari Suspension Team.  This photo received a total of 113 out of a possible 150 points and was the favorite of 2 judges. (Actually favorite of one, tied for favorite by a second judge)

Runner Up

…and the one you have all been waiting for…the winner of the 2011 Suspension Competition…with a total of 122 out of a possible 150 points…from CoRE LA

Winner

Suspension Competition Entry #15 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: The Los Angeles City Hall building was designed by John Parkinson, John C. Austin, and Albert C. Martin, Sr., and was completed in 1928. Dedication ceremonies were held on April 26, 1928. It has 32 floors and, at 454 feet (138 m) high is the tallest base-isolated structure in the world. The original plan was to suspend on southern steps of city hall from a suitable tree that had been mapped out. After the Occupy Camp was evicted, City Hall property was fenced off and turned into a no trespassing zone with its own security detail. This forced us to scout new locations. We decided upon The Broad Plaza which is diagonal from City Hall and offers a multitude of structural rigging points with an unobstructed view of City Hall to utilize for the image we intended to capture. Anyone working at the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters that happened to look out one of the Eastern facing windows shortly after midnight on Christmas Eve 2011 would have seen the multitude of different colored remote camera strobes popping off to light the CoRE “Angel” performed by Andrew floating in the night sky. The entire CoRE crew was in and out without anyone having known we were there. We all learned that a guerrilla suspension is just a bit more exciting when you are hanging next to the jail you could end up in. Photography by Syrus.

The CoRE “Angel” is a non-suspending character that has been used in some prominent CoRE shows and processions over the past decade that is created using custom fabricated “wings”. The latest incarnation of the “wings” that are used to visually aid in creating the character are custom designed AMF Korsets crafted by Louis Fleisheur that are integrated with a steel mesh plate and aluminum frame fabricated by members of CoRE. The wings come to life once the bearer is laced into the korset and the aluminum frame is manually tensioned into the arc visually required to create the character. The frame is laced to the bearers back by multiple hooks down the upper back with 550 cord and the skin takes the tension as the aluminum fights to go back to its original position. To give birth to the suspending angel we used six eight gauge Blacksheep locking hooks pierced horizontal down the back for a 6 point vertical back suspension and laced the wings into the shackles with white 550 cord. We then rigged the suspension using black 550 cord and tactical black rigging gear to hide it in the shadows of Andrew as the flashes popped from various locations on the ground.

Congratulations to CoRE and thank you everyone for their amazing entries.  For those that have been asking, we will be putting together another competition for 2012, but this one will be a bit different.  Rather focusing on danger or high visibility, we will be looking for seclusion and beauty.  Yes, this year’s will be an outdoor/nature themed competition.  Details will be announced very soon, or at least once we recover from suscon.

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

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.

Suspension Competition Entry #21 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: December 19th 2011, featured is Carli D from team WasteLanD of DisGraceLanD Family Entertainment doing a modified crucifixion rebirth suspension. She is rigged to the fire escape outside of the Chicago bar, Exit. This was her 2nd suspension for the night at the 2nd Location in the beautiful 36 degree Midwest weather, and at this point she had hooks in for about 2½ hours.  We scoped out the Exit knowing it was the night of the staff Christmas party and a large, random audience would be in place. When we got there we gained access to the closed 2nd floor which gave us access to the fire escape. We were rigged and had her up within minutes of securing the spot. As she was lifted in the air, patrons and staff of the bar rushed out to see what was happening outside.  In the photo you can see the Bar Manger (Grey Hair) with his camera phone along with other bystanders capturing the random moment. WasteLanD managed to shock, at a place where nothing is shocking, and to top off a successful night…Our rope never touched the ground.

D-I-S-GR-ACE…. LAND!

Photo by Dj Scatter / WasteLanD

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Suspension Competition Entry #20 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: December 19th 2011, featured is Carli D from DisGraceLanD Family Entertainment’s newest chapter, WasteLanD. She is doing a modified crucifixion/rebirth suspension.  Just 2 days before, Ribble received a call from JiJi Disgrace telling of the competition and that WasteLanD needs to be in it. Within minutes, a team was being assembled and planning had started. We picked Monday night knowing there was a punk show happening in Chicago and that there would be a good amount of people in town for the upcoming holiday.  Access to a private green room was arranged and this allowed us the ability to have a clean spot to prep and pierce. Hook selection was four 7g Black Sheeps in her back, and two 8g Mustads in her arms. 4mm black accessory cord was used for the primary support line and pink paracord was used to accent the rigging in a stylized pattern.  We rigged to a fire escape outside of Cobra Lounge’s front door. We had crazy responses from this as people from the show and bystanders took notice.  Passing cars swerved to a stop to take a look at what was happening and crowd comments of, “Oh my god, does that hurt?!! …..Quiet! She’s mediating….” And, “She’s like a pretty, pierced fairy!” were heard from patrons that came out to see the commotion caused by WasteLanD.

*Gloves seen in photo were clean and were not used for contaminated items.

Photo by Jo Ko / WasteLanD

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Suspension Competition Entry #19 with the information provided by the submitter:

Information about the entry: 2 point resurrection in a chain link catwalk over HW 75 in Sherman TX.