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Back in November, AGRO Springfield set aside some time to focus on a project that Josh Taylor and Alisia Colbert had been considering trying, an ornately rigged lotus suspension with huge 6 foot tall ‘wings’ coming from her back. Anyone who has worked with complex rigging knows that things rarely end up being exactly the same on paper as they are when you begin working on the actual suspension. This was probably one of the exceptions to that rule; the piercing placement that Shane Shields and Scott Creel chose for it combine with the rigging by Josh came together perfectly. The end result was an almost weightless, fairy-like look with the dark wings angled out behind Alisia with her body sitting exceptionally centered and level.

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“Truly ahead of his time.”   This phrase has been used throughout the ages to describe a myriad of different people.  However, within the suspension community, this sentence illustrates no one better than Stelarc.

For those who do not know his name, Stelarc is one of the most famous and influential suspension pioneers.  Between the years of 1976 and 1989, several years before the beginning of the age of modern body suspension, Stelarc had performed 25 extraordinarily difficult and breathtaking beautiful suspensions.  Several of which are featured here on his website – http://stelarc.org/?catID=20316

Over the next few days or weeks you will definitely be seeing more about Stelarc here on Hook Life, including some official announcements about his upcoming lecture and performance at the 2013 Dallas Suspension Convention.  In the meantime, I would like to present a video that gives a bit more insight into the artist’s work spanning far beyond the topic of suspension.  Enjoy:

It is somewhat difficult to know where to begin when talking about Anchors Aweigh; oddly it is always harder for me to find the right words when I know a team well than when it is a group of strangers. Do I start with the incredibly talented people involved, the abundance of lovely photos coming from their work, or the heart warming romance that turned into a cross country adventure for members of their team? I supposed the only appropriate place to start would be the beginning. Luckily for the length of this post, that beginning isn’t so far back.

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For those outside of suspension, it can be incredibly difficult to explain what motivates people to take part in this; how do you really explain to them that there is something happening beyond the flesh and hooks they are so focused on? It also happens to be one of my favorite things to learn about people in our community. Although many of us have some common ground for why we suspend, there are always details that really make each person’s reasons unique to them. Katy Doran was willing to open up and share part of her story with this video and photo shoot of her superman suspension done with Sick Boyz Suspensions of Oklahoma City. Not only is Katy a proud part of the SBS team, they were also the first people to bring suspension into her life at a time when she needed it more than she knew.

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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

Australia has a growing number of suspension teams, and one of the newest faces in their community is Flesh Concepts out of Perth. Formed in June of 2012, Brandon‘s original goal was to show people that there were different and often safer ways to suspend than the methods many were using. He wanted to help expand the knowledge and learning in his area, and through reaching toward that goal his team was created. It’s always refreshing to see someone whose first priority is learning rather than just jumping into suspension head first. To help with that, he has been in contact with several people from the suspension community including Eden Thomson of Skindependent in New Zealand, and even had the chance recently to collaborate with Betty, one of the lovely ladies from the Skindependent crew.

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The new year is bringing with it several exciting upcoming events in the suspension community. The biggest one being this year’s Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention, scheduled for March 29th-31st, 2013 in Dallas, TX. In previous years, the Dallas Suscon has been very limited to non-practitioners and aspiring practitioners due mostly to limited space. The growing momentum of the event has led to a new location with much more room and with that the event will be able to offer learning opportunities for more non practitioners, as well as several new classes for both novice and advanced practitioners in attendance. It’s a unique opportunity that will bring together instructors from 6 countries to offer their knowledge and experience in the classes, workshops, and roundtables, as well as some of the most experienced practitioners in the world to work alongside on the suspension floor. Included in the long list of people in attendance will be our very special guest and lecturer, and one of the most influential names in body suspension, Stelarc.

Keep reading to find out how you can attend! Read more

Crucifix suspensions certainly were seen a lot for the holidays, some as art and some just for fun. I think the one that tops the list for dedication to the theme would definitely have to be Neil Chakrabarti‘s suspension with Pariah’s Point, which included four Blacksheep hooks in his back and hands to hold him up and 6 mustads pierced through his scalp to create his ‘crown’. Neil suspended at 3:45 pm, around 15 min before the December 24th showing of the Nutcracker Suite was scheduled to let out at the Wortham Theater in downtown Houston, TX. The public display on Christmas Eve seems like it would have been something that would have drawn at least a little negative attention from those passing by, but the reaction was surprisingly quite the opposite.

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There are some suspensions that are so moving, so intensely meaningful to those involved, that no amount of words can really capture the depth of what took place. This, well this is not one of those times. With as serious as we all take what we do, every now and then it really is just about getting together with some great friends and having a little fun. The AGRO Springfield suspension team came together for a bit of holiday entertainment, and decided to make their very own Christmas tree out of Jake, who was appropriately, or perhaps inappropriately depending on your sense of humor, suspended in a crucifix suspension. I really love every time I get to go work with this group. They are brought together by their passion for suspension, but more than that, they are friends who care for each other very much. It doesn’t take knowing them for that to be abundantly clear when you are around them. I have always appreciated the commitment this group has to each other, even outside of their monthly meets. As much as the word family might get overused in our community, these guys really do look after each other like brothers and sisters, sometimes going very far out of their way just to make sure a team mate is happy and doing well. As many good qualities as I could point out about their team, it is probably my favorite thing about them, and just one of the reason their photos are always full of so many smiling happy faces.

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Much of the content you see here on Hook Life comes from within our community.  Whether it’s a personal experience or a piece written about another suspension, these blogs  are generally written by someone involved in our world.  However, today’s post is a bit different.  Dr. Dominik Muench of Blacksun Productions submitted a beautiful film documenting WayLay Suspension Force and was kind enough to give his perspective as a self described bystander:

[Filming] was pretty amazing and a bit overwhelming. I’ve got a few piercings and about 80 hours of tattoo work on my body so I’m not completely new to body modification, but this was a whole new level. We picked a nice quiet spot by the river in the middle of the rain forest, set up all the gear and then the girls got their hooks put in. I was surprised how calm and easy the girls took it, considering how big the hooks were and how deep they had to go in. Even just as a bystander I thought it was a pretty amazing experience because its not something a lot of people get to see and I’d assume most people would have a pretty wrong image of what actually transpires. There was no blood, the girls didn’t even flinch and when they finally got suspended they seemed almost ecstatic and overcome with joy. It was really amazing to watch.

Dr. Dominik Muench is an ACS award-winning cinematographer & glamour photographer who has worked extensively throughout Europe, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia and India. Accredited with a Doctor in Creative Arts on Digital Camera Technology, Bachelor and Masters degrees in Film & Television from Bond University, Gold Coast, where he also tutors photography students, Dominik offers a vast array of services.