The gang over at Hooklife have thrown down the gauntlet to suspension teams around the world.  Today they announced a guerrilla suspension challenge.  Here’s some of the details:

We are challenging the suspension community to dream up, create, produce and photograph the most amazing Guerrilla Suspension.  Before anyone goes crazy we need to make one thing very clear.  Hook Life, suspension.org and our affiliates DO NOT condone any illegal or dangerous activities! Now with that said here’s how it will work.

Please submit ONE photo.  You can submit as many different entries as you like, but please only one per suspension/location.  By submitting a photo you are giving suspension.org and Hook Life permission to use the photo on this site and possibly on other sites to promote this competition.

Photos will be judged and scored accordingly:

• 20% – Location – Based on visual appeal, complexity and higher public visibility
• 20% – Suspension – More complex suspensions gain higher marks
• 20% – Photography – Image quality and getting the perfect shot is part of the challenge
• 40% – Creativity – Overall score based on judges opinions
• Safety – Unsafe rigging and/or dangerous suspension practices will have points deducted

Grand Prize – A one of a kind “trophy” rig designed and donated by Skin Mechanics Steelworks.  The grand prize will be awarded at the 2012 Dallas Suscon.
Other Prizes – As the competition progresses we may adding more prizes.  Companies/Individuals interesting in donating prizes please contact Hook Life.

Judges:

• Allen Falkner – Administrator of suspension.org
• Misty “Southtownbaby” Forsberg – Head Writer for Hook Life
• Mark “nakedlens.org” Kaplan – Official Dallas Suscon Photographer
• Stewart “S2B” Stephens – Certified Entertainment Production Rigger
• Erik “Lizardman” Sprague – International Performer

Submissions will be accepted until December 31st, 2011.  After that date the judges top picks will be posted.  Good luck everyone.  We are looking forward to seeing your entries.

The full details as well as the contest entry form can be found at this link.

Now remember, only entries submitted to HookLife will be counted.  That said, knowing some of the fantastic suspension teams that are out there, there are going to be more than one photo of each suspension.  BME is inviting those teams that participate to submit any additional photos to the suspension galleries.  I’m going to be keeping my eye out for these submissions over the next couple of months, and I’m hoping to feature as many as possible.  So if you plan on entering the challenge, remember to send your extra photos to BME, and send me an e-mail with the story behind them (don’t e-mail me your photos).

While we’re on the subject of suspension, here’s my counterpart at HookLife, Misty, doing a tandem 6pt resurrection, 4pt rebirth suspension.  Misty is the one on top.

A couple of weeks back Rites of Passage held their annual gathering in the woods of Massachusetts.  The ROP BBQ is a weekend unlike any other.  All of the suspensions are held outdoors with some of the best scenery you can imagine.  This year Allen Falkner brought his camera along and made this short film that gives you a taste of what happened.  After watching the video, head on over to the ROP BBQ galleries to see photos from this year’s BBQ, as well as images from previous years.

Every year the gang at BMXnet.org get together to hold their annual conference.  This year’s conference is being held in Essen, Germany the weekend of October 14th, with events starting on Thursday Oct 13th.  There are still a number of spots available, so if you’re able to attend, register as soon as you can.

The list of classes hasn’t been posted yet, but going by the speaker list, you can expect seminars from the likes of Allen Faulkner, Steve Haworth, Ron Garza, Dan Dringenberg, Havve and Christiane from Wings of Desire, Gabor Zagyvai, Swasi Dan, Paul King, and many many more.   This is a fantastic opportunity to learn from some of the world’s finest modification artists, at a reduced rate.  Because admission gets you into all of the classes, you’ll be able to see seminars that would normally cost quite a bit individually.  These seminars are all on top of the regular classes on everything from piercing techniques to anthropology, laser tattoo removal to store management, and so much more.  In addition all classes will be offered in both English and German.

In addition there will also be a large number of vendors and exhibitors, your food is included in the price, and you’ll get to stay at the wonderful Unperfekthaus, a former convent turned into an art project house.

Just click here to register, and start packing your bags for Germany.  Oh and while you’re waiting, check out some of the stories that have come from past BMXnet conferences.

It’s been a couple weeks since the 2011 Dallas SusCon, and the photos are starting to trickle in.  Mark from Naked Lens Photography was on hand all weekend documenting every suspension.  But before any of the suspensions started a small business matter needed to be conducted.  Allen and the owner of the building needed to perform the secret handshake for the event to get under way.

What is the secret handshake you ask?

You might recognize the man with the massive transscrotal as Andrew from Swing Shift Side Show.  Later in the week he would go on to do the incredible facial suspension.

I know someone told me the exact size of his transscrotal on the weekend, but I can’t seem to recall it right now, so lets just leave it as, it’s freaking huge.

I’m spending the weekend in Dallas for this year’s annual SusCon.  For those that don’t know, SusCon is an annual event hosted by Suspension.org’s Allen Falkner.  The point of the weekend is for suspension crews from all over to come together to learn from each other, and of course have a good time.  This weekend is very much a learning weekend as crews bring not only their most experienced members, but also new members who are learning the ropes.

This ended up being a bit wordy, so I’ll save some space on the main page by bumping it behind a click though. So just click the read more button to see the rest.

Read more…

Yep, I’m going to be “that guy” this year.  I completely forgot to put this up yesterday, so it’s coming in a day late.

Anyway, this past weekend Allen Falkner celebrated his [REDACTED]th birthday!  Allen has been a huge part of this community for years, and even in his old age he isn’t slowing down any.  This coming weekend will be the 2011 Dallas Suscon, hosted by Allen and sponsored by BME.com, which is the annual gathering of suspension practitioners, to learn new techniques and new ways to make suspensions even safer than they are now.

So take a minute today to wish this living legend a happy birthday today (even though his birthday was on Sunday).

(photo stolen shamelessly from Facebook.  Photocredit: Nakedlens.org)

Now in addition to all the learning to be had this weekend, there is plenty of fun happening as well.  On Friday night, The Lizard Lounge and Allen are presenting Freaks and Fetish!  This year’s show includes a performance by Swing Shift Sideshow, who we’ve seen on ModBlog before.  In addition there will be performances by Mosh, Genne Lasko, IAM: southtownbaby, and Håvve Fjell, from Pain Solution.

The event is open to the public, so even if you’re not attending the conference, if you’re in the Dallas area stop on by.   Doors open at 9:00 – 18+ $10 over / $15 under 21 / $5 off with dog tag or Church VIP - You can get more information right here.

The 2011 Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention just opened up it’s registration a bit over a week ago, and it’s filling up fast! If you are unaware of what it is exactly, or if you are interested in signing up, check out the official website.

The video below was made from footage from last years event and it really does a great job of capturing the spirit of the event and letting everyone know what it’s all about.

… Allen makes this face.

Wondering what could possibly be happening that would cause so much pain?  Keep on reading to find out.

Read more…

If you’re in Europe next week, and can make it over to Berlin, you’ll have the opportunity to check out the BMXnet conference that’s happening from the 16th to the 19th.  You can get the details about the conference at the BMXnet website.  There you’ll find out the times and locations of all the lectures and workshops taking place over the course of the weekend.

BMXnet Conference 2010

Open for up to 500 Attendees / 6 Classrooms / huge Expo space!!!

Thu. 16th Sep. 2010 : Half- / Full-Day Classes and Workshops
Fri. 17th Sep. 2010 : 10:00am start Conference 2010
Sat. 18th Sep. 2010 : full day Conference 2010
Sun. 19th Sep. 2010 : 08:00pm end Conference 2010

Location:  Congress Hotel Holiday Inn – Berlin Schoenefeld

I was going to hold off on this article until later in the week, but then I realized that I’d be depriving people of a really special treat.

So I was going through the newsfeed submissions when I found this article on an exhibit currently going on at the Wellcome Collection in London.  The exhibit is titled “Skin” and it showcases the significance different cultures have placed on skin over the centuries.  It includes images of early anatomical lessons, as well as skin samples preserved to showcase the tattoos on the donor.

A black and white photograph of a patient in a Parisian hospital is the first piece in the exhibition. Running the length of the patient’s back is a giant scar.

“This photograph sums up a lot of the underlying themes in the exhibition, first and foremost the exploration of skin as a physical and metaphorical frontier between the inside and outside of the body,” co-curator of the exhibition Lucy Shanahan told Reuters.

Pieces of tattooed human skin from the 19th century are on display beside a case devoted to the Maori tradition of tattooing.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “That’s it Rob?  An art gallery?  What kind of treat is that?”.  Well, I have a simple answer to that.  Keep reading.

Now after reading about the exhibit, I thought to myself, “Self, what can I post that would go well with a story about the historical study of skin?”.  Well, I started to look around when I heard the familiar chime of an e-mail hitting my inbox.  I switch windows to find an e-mail from Jen.  In it contained something that some of you may have seen before, but I’m guessing a lot of people haven’t.

The following is a video from a 1995 documentary on a very young Allen Falkner.  In it Alan talks about the importance of skin and flesh, and the significance he puts on working with it.  I could go on, but I’ll let Allen take it from here.

It’s interesting to look back 15 years, or 1500 years, and see just how much the modification of skin has played an important role in our cultural development.  While techniques and procedures have changed over the years, the importance we as humans put on identifying ourselves through our skin is still present.  In the video Allen has captured the essence of realizing that the skin is much more than just a simple organ covering our bodies.  The skin can serve as a doorway to both spiritual enlightenment and personal satisfaction.  Through modifications such as suspensions, one can not only learn about themselves, but also how they wish to become through whatever transformative act they choose.

If you don’t have time right at this moment to watch the video, I encourage you to come back to ModBlog when you can and watch it in its entirety.  This is our version of a historical document, one that will one day be added to a historical exhibit such as the one going on at the Wellcome Gallery now.