For more information on suspension visit – http://www.suspension.org/

As most of you know the Oslo Suscon is going on this weekend, and things are off to an amazing start. I have to say that I am so impressed with how Wings of Desire have set up and run this event. The atmosphere is stress free, and the suspensions throughout the first day have gone by so smoothly that I think we were all amazed when we realized we had made it through the list of suspendees. Although many of you are unable to attend this weekend, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun of the event. Wings of Desire have been kind enough to set up cameras through the venue with a live feed of what is going on. For those of you who would like to join in the fun, feel free to tune into the live feed here or though the Wings of Desire website.

Video is live from noon to 10:00 (6:00am EST to 4:00pm EST) both Saturday 7/21 and Sunday 7/22

Live video for mobile from Ustream

And be sure to check back after the weekend is wrapped up for a full review of the Oslo Suscon weekend!

Skindependent Suspension is a team that I have been in love with since first talking with them. Their dedication to safety and cleanliness, as well as their love and passion for this art come together to create a fantastic atmosphere and experience for the suspendees they work with. When talking with their team leader, Eden Thomson, it doesn’t take long to realize why this team has quickly come into the spotlight, receiving praise from both their fellow practitioners and the people they work with in their area.  In this documentary by Lela Fraser and Kate Lahood of the New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch, the team takes a little time to discuss what it is they do and what the act of suspending means to them.

Watching this video fills my heart with so much happiness to see that Eden is lucky enough to have a team of individuals who love this as much as he does, and that they in turn have a leader who pushes them to always better themselves and continually learn about this craft. It’s those qualities about this group that also make many of us so sad that we rarely get the opportunity to work with their team. Being in New Zealand certainly creates a number of challenges for this team, the greatest being their efforts to build a community among the practitioners in their country. Luckily, they now have the Wellington based Suspended inTension team, created by former Skindependent members, to work alongside them in creating this community as well as on suspension collaborations in the future.  I think Eden’s words at the end of the video are a perfect statement about this family and art we share; for many of us, it will always be a part of who we are.

Congratulations to the members of Skindependent for such a positive and wonderfully made documentary.

I think for a lot of practitioners, first time suspendees are a love or hate situation. There are a lot of people I know that really don’t enjoy the process of putting someone up for the first time. Generally it takes patience, coaching, and a little hand holding to help them through the nerves and fear as they get off the ground for the first time. But for those who enjoy sharing that experience with someone, it can be so rewarding to watch as they work through that moment of hesitation and make it into the air. Devin Young recently had the opportunity to have that experience with some wonderful practitioners at Jared‘s loft in Columbus, OH. As Hell City 2012 was wrapping up, the fun times for everyone hanging out at the loft were still going. Luckily for Devin, the event brought together some great people to help her out with her first suspension.

Having been through three open heart surgeries in her life, a suspension was certainly not the scariest event Devin has tackled. For her, this was a chance to push her personal limits and prove that it was something she was capable of. She was pierced by Brian and Jared for her two point suicide, and she said that they both did an amazing job of caring for her as she worked to get off the ground. Coaching her up was her boyfriend Colin, who can be seen here offering her both physical and emotional support as she suspends. Although she wasn’t able to stay up as long as she wanted, Devin described the experience as euphoric and said that as soon as the holes heal up, she is ready to do it again.

It’s great to know you had such a wonderful experience Devin. You were definitely in great hands for your first time up. Thank you and Jared for sharing this video with us!

In writing for Hook Life, the hardest part is not simply finding material that we can feature, but finding suspensions that have been documented with high quality photos and videos. There are few groups that choose to seek out professional photographers and cinematographers to capture what they do, but those that take the time really make me so excited when I see their work. So much is put into what we do, it’s nice to see the same care and effort put into sharing our art with others. Bardo is certainly a group that puts a considerable amount of time into creating something beautiful; it shows through in their suspensions as well as in the photos and videos that accompany their work. In this video by Jesse Hall and Ashleigh Abbott, we are given a spectator’s view of their performance at the Hydra Gallery in January.

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I think anyone who has had the pleasure of experiencing the act of body suspension can relate with trying to explain it to those who haven’t. I know, for me at least, trying to describe the thoughts, feelings, and emotions passing through my body and mind is impossible; no amount of words really seems to do it justice. But what if those watching could actually get inside your mind as you pass through the experience of taking hooks, the tension beginning to pull at your skin, and your feet leaving the ground? That is exactly the concept that Spectre members Enrico Viola and Stefano Moscardini paired up with Lukas Zpira to create and bring on stage. When you take into consideration the process that makes the audio and video presentation working with this suspension possible, the result is nothing short of incredible.

Spectre + Lukas Zpira @ Borderline Biennale 2011 from SPECTRE on Vimeo.

More after the break on how they made it happen. Read more

Anyone who has said there are no original ideas left clearly hasn’t taken a look at the incredible artwork by Ryan Holandes. I don’t know really what to label these concepts he has brought to life; they fall somewhere in a wonderful combination of performance art, flesh pulls, piercing, and metal work that is perceived through sensation and experience as much as visual interpretation. As they have come to life, we were given teasing glimpses of the process and the pieces in short video clips he has released. The full videos for this project are finally complete, and were presented Friday night in Savannah, GA at his physical exhibition at the Hall Street Gallery. For those of us not fortunate enough to be there in person, a digital gallery has been created on his website, Meriken Metals, to allow us to see the pieces of art in action.

Dominion from Ryan Holandes on Vimeo.

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One of the hardest parts of having a community that is extends around the world can be the language barrier we face when sharing information. Although some information can certainly get lost in translation, Nero Daikokudo‘s chest suspension is impressive enough on its own, with or without a perfect description. I apologize in advance if I don’t get the information for his suspension completely accurate, but from what I am told Nero first attempted a one point chest suspension in 2008, which failed due to tearing. Three years later, he finally had his opportunity to try it again. On his second attempt, he succeeded in suspending for 10 minutes before coming down. Although many would consider that an impressive amount of time for a single point chest suspension, Nero wanted to push himself further. For his third attempt, which is shown here, he challenged himself to remain suspended for 20 minutes. I’m sure it was quite intense, but he managed to remain calm and relaxed throughout the experience.  Congratulations on your accomplishment Nero, I hope we see more as you continue to achieve the goals you set for yourself.

A few months back we featured a video about a small body suspension group headed up by Alexis Noventa and the growing interest in body suspension throughout Puerto Rico. This next video is one example of suspension coming into the spotlight as more and more people become curious about what it is we do. Alexis was invited to be a part of this news segment by reporter Marjorie Ramírez called Taboo Tribes, which covered a range of subcultures considered by some to be taboo, to discuss the practice of body suspension. Although the segment doesn’t necessarily paint the best picture of what we do, Alexis made an effort to explain that they don’t suspend for the pain, they do it for the joy and happiness it brings into their lives. Hopefully people are able to take away a positive message from it, and disregard the assumptions made by those commenting from outside of our community that we are in someway doing this to be negative or as a sort of teenage ‘rebellion’. Alexis has stayed positive about it though, saying that it gave them exposure, and allowed people who were interested in suspension to reach out and contact them.  It certainly says a lot that he maintained a professional manner as he explained body suspension, even with the somewhat rude attitude of the crew working on it. The most important part was that Alejandra, who is filmed here suspending for her first time, had a wonderful experience with it. In the end, that means far more than what one television crew or priest thought about who we are.

Thank you so much for sharing this Alexis. Please continue to keep us up to date with what is happening in Puerto Rico with body suspension.

Another holiday season has come and gone, and for many of us the tinsel covered nightmares of shopping malls and department stores are still fresh in our memory. However, this year Disgraceland gave one lucky crowd a completely different kind of Christmas experience with their performance at the Gramercy Theater in New York City. This fantastic video by Angelica Vanessa gives those of us who weren’t there in person a little glimpse at the excitement and chaos that took place on stage that night.

The evening started out simple enough as the Disgraceland entertainers eased the audience into the performance with a small dance routine. As the crowd began to focus on the performance, suddenly Kimmy and Stacy were in the air and on the move, swinging above the crowd to shower them with glitter, snowflakes, and candycanes. With that, the show was in full swing as 40 performers worked the stage to thrill the crowd with sideshow acts, play piercings, body skewering, and more. As the girls came down from their suspensions, Mikey took their place in the air to show the crowd just how crazy you can get with over 30 feet of height to play with. As he was swinging over the stage, Mr. and Mrs. Claus wrapped up the night with a flesh pull against one another underneath him.

It seems like the crowd and entertainers all had a wonderful time that night, and Angelica did a wonderful job putting this video together. A special thank you from Kaspa goes to his DHS family, as well as to Angelica Vanessa, Kay, Amanda Chainsaw, Laz Chainsaw, Orb, and Cere for all of their hard work on this.

Thanks for the great video Kaspa!

Body suspension is serious business. Those of us in this community not only perform out duties as practitioners with the utmost professionalism, but also hold one another in the highest regard as colleagues. Being the mature adults we are, we would never enjoy a laugh at another practitioner’s expense. Ever. Well… maybe just this one time. This little piece of mischief was made possible by Allen and a handful of individuals that wanted to give Rick the finger, along with a little encouragement, as his hand heals up.

Of course, we wouldn’t give Rick such a hard time if we didn’t love him so much. He is a huge part of this community, and a wonderful person to know. I am sure he knows this video comes from the heart, but everyone who participated had better make sure to give him lots of love and well wishes at Superpull anyway.

We all hope you feel better soon!