Pain Solution US Tour

Posted on March 4, 2013 by Shannon Larratt

Håvve Fjell and Pain Solution are back in the United States soon, touring with The Sqidling Brothers Circus Sideshow, and perhaps most excitingly wrapping up their tour in Dallas for the suscon with a performance with Stelarc (generally considered one of the grandfathers of modern suspension, along with Fakir Musafar). Jump to the website for up-to-date tour info, but here’s what’s been announced:

Wed. 13th Philadelphia PA Underground Arts
Thu. 14th Pittsburgh PA The Hollywood Theatre w/ hosts Trundle Manor
Fri. 15th Chicago IL- 311 Rouge! An Electroswing Circus (Steam Punk Chicago)
Wed. 20th Greensboro NC with Purrrlesque at The Blind Tiger
Thu. 21st Asheville NC- The Landing
Fri. 22nd Huntsville AL at The Flying Monkey Arts Center
Sat. 23rd New Orleans LA,The Red House, Cannibal Cabaret
Sun. 24th New Orleans LA- Siberia
Tue. 26th Austin TX Spider House Cafe
Sat. 30th Dallas TX Suscon with Wings of Desire and Stelarc
Sun. 31st Dallas TX, The Church, Freaks & Fetish

To get an idea of what Pain Solution‘s shows are like, check out these videos:

And as to the show with Stelarc, I’m not sure what they have planned for Dallas, but here’s what they did in Oslo last year. This is not something you want to miss — it’s one of those “once in a lifetime” events that will change the way you look at suspension. Any performer or practitioner able to make it to Dallas should do everything they can to make it!

Inverted Superrigging

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

I was thinking about the “musical arc” of suspension, and if we’re going to compare the early suspension movement to all the little rock’n’roll bands that sprouted up across the Western World in the 1950s and 1960s, then I think that some of the suspension masters today — Havve of Pain Solution and Wings of Desire being a prime example — are in their prog rock phase. Prog rock was characterized with an absurd level of musical technical expertise and composing complexity that’s never been outdone in popular music, and I think suspension today is much like that — extreme technical feats, with complex and beautiful rigging that’s harder and harder to outdoe. I was about to wonder whether some sort of punk rock renaissance was next in suspension, a rejection of all this engineer-artistry and replacing it with guerrilla two-hook suicide suspension with a couple of shark hooks, but then I realized that one of the great things about suspension is that it’s not a matter of changing and exclusive tastes — it’s a matter of broadening tastes. Havve still plays in his garage punk band on the side while noodling away with the Musical Box-era Genesis of the suspension scene in Italy!!!

Rambling aside, I really do continue getting blown away by every new suspension photo set I see (these are from Christianne’s collection) from the Italian Suscon — whenever the best minds in suspension get together at these events (and a big thank you to Allen Falkner and his Dallas Suscon for setting that in motion), amazing and inspiring things always happen.

Tripod Suspensions in Italy

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

Almost a decade ago I remember admiring pictures from Gus Diamond and Paragon in Hawaii doing suspensions, often on a beach or in the water itself — Suspension.org has some great photos of a sandbar suspension and ModBlog as well posted a nice pulling/suspension combo — using a large bamboo tripod allowing them to set up anywhere quickly. I was reminded of these pictures when I saw the tripod rig in use at the recent Italian Suscon, which is a similar design, but realized in metal for both increased durability and because it’s hinged at the top, even faster set-up and break-down. And like with the Hawaiian style suspensions, the resultant photos are quite beautiful. The first photo was posted by Marjolein Lankester van Rijn and the second by Giuseppe Beppe De Palo.

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Suspending at Cadillac Ranch

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Shannon Larratt

Speaking of guerrilla suspension, the Cadillac Ranch (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch for more info) may not be quite as idyllic as a diving structure over the water at sunset, but half-buried cars covered in graffiti in the desert around Amarillo, Texas, is so very American. Never thought I’d have seen a suspension done between the cars, but I am today proved very wrong and happily surprised about it — these come from (and I apologize if I get this wrong) Skin Mechanic Suspension.

And now speaking of suspension in America, I wanted to mention that HOOKED is hosting the SUSPENSION MECCA Omaha Suscon from August 31st to September 3rd, which includes lectures from suspension luminaries including Allen Falkner, Havve Fjell, and Steve Joyner. For more information follow this link: hooked13.com/suspension-mecca-2012/

Up, Up, and Away

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Rob

Photos from the most recent Dallas SusCon are starting to trickle in, which means we’re going to be seeing some incredible suspensions here really soon. To kick things off we’ve got the lovely Starr doing a 6pt superman that was facilitated by Wings of Desire. Photo by Naked Lens.

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ROP BBQ coming soon!

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Sean Philips

Hello everyone! Its that time of the year again! It is time to reserve your spot for the 2011 ROP BBQ in Pittsfield, MA! The dates are set in stone for the weekend of Friday August 12th until Sunday August 14th, rain or shine! (And given our history, it will probably be leaning toward rain) For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the event, you can expect three days of camping, relaxing with friends old and new, BBQing and the main event: Suspensions and pulls in the beautiful Pittsfield State Forest. This is considered a public event, and everyone is welcome to attend! Whether you are considering your first suspension or have hung 100 times, the ROP BBQ is a guaranteed good time. There will be a few points to hang from in the woods, including a private spot for those of you seeking a more secluded experience. Most spots overlook Berry Pond for a beautiful suspension experience in the heart of the Berkshires. (Fun Fact: Berry Pond is at an elevation of 2,150 feet, making it one of the highest bodies of water in New England)ACCOMODATIONS:

It’s camping!

http://www.reserveamerica.com/r/campgroundDetails.do?subTabIndex=0&contractCode=ma&parkCode=pitt

The most important thing to note about staying for the weekend is that campsites are limited. That being said, they are extremely cheap (a few bucks a day) so get on the website and book that shit! Also, there is an important change this year when it comes to motor vehicles. There will be no parking available at either of the group sites! This means that you MUST reserve your own campsite to assure that you will have a parking spot. There will be a shuttle set up between Bishops Field (group site) and site 01 (top of the mountain- suspension sites). We will also have an indoor space reserved in the event that we have to move inside for a bit.

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SUSPENSIONS:

If you would like to suspend at the event, YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER. You can do this by contacting this guy named Cere. He is handling all of the donations and will be happy to hook you up with a guaranteed spot to suspend.

FOOD:

The event is BYOFTBBQ (Bring your own food to BBQ). Bring what you like to eat, we will provide the place to BBQ! There is a Big Y not too far from the forest. Because we will be inside a State Forest, there are no drugs or alcohol allowed.

SPONSORSHIP:

We are currently looking for sponsors for supplies. Anyone can sponsor (shops, companies, particularly generous individuals) and we will have a little sponsorship package to offer that will showcase the sponsor. If your company is seriously interested in sponsoring our awesome event, contact Kristina- [email protected]

Be sure to hit up the events page for more info and a forum!

The best of the best

Posted on June 25, 2010 by Sean Philips

At the Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention, where the best of the best in the suspension community work together, you get to see the best of modern suspension rigging.

Take this photo Jared submitted for instance. The most noticeable variation of the rigging is the catch cups. How many times have we seen tandem suspensions done that took no precautions to reduce the risk of the lower suspendee being contaminated by the upper suspendee? These catch cups may not 100% isolate the lower suspendee from risk of contamination but they certainly lower the risk factor to a far more acceptable level.

The cord I am assuming is tech-12, (feel free to correct me if you were there and I am wrong on this) which has a ridiculously higher breaking strength than the 550 cord most suspension teams still use. Then there are the hooks, these particular hooks are made by Black Sheep Hooks and are an 8 gauge locking design with a higher breaking strength and the added safety factor of it being a locked design when compared to the mustads, which are far more commonly used. Then, of course, there is also an assortment of locking carabiners and high rated shackles.

If you want to keep up with the latest and greatest in suspension techniques and equipment, be sure to check out the SusCon picture recently uploaded to this gallery , and also read up on the forums at suspension.org.

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From The Vault: Mark’s Rotisserie Suspension (Video updated: more footage!)

Posted on April 22, 2010 by Sean Philips

TSD was the original (modern) suspension crew and a lot of the amazing feats of engineering and artistry the members of TSD and there associates have come up still stand the test of time and many have not been duplicated or surpassed. I was thrilled to see another email from Ron Garza, with a picture, video and story about Mark’s rotisserie suspension circa 2003.

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For a video of another one of Mark’s rotisserie suspensions, and to hear Ron tell the tale, keep on keeping on .

The story as told by Ron:

When I was involved with the old TSD group back in the mid 90′s most of us back then had our own individual visions of what suspensions were to us back then. It was a much different time and suspensions were still relatively a new thing and there wasn’t one way to do anything or just one mindset as to what suspensions were back then. There wasn’t really people doing this everywhere or pictures online to give people preconceived notions as to what a suspension were or could be.
The few of us that were into this stuff all talked and worked together and brought our own individual ideas, thoughts and visions to suspensions. We all differed in that aspect as well as out reasoning for being involved in this. You really saw this when you look at we did individually when everyone moved away or did solo stuff and started their own personal groups.
Steve Joyner ( of CoRE fame), with his excellent use of make up ,costumes, plots and show themes really brought more theatre to suspensions and took the emphasis off the act of suspenions, Allen with his intense solo shows and large group projects, Oliver Gilson whose engineering take on everything has changed not only larger suspension projects and hook designs but also whose rigging style has influenced many and taken suspension rigging into an artistic realm that is easily recognizable.
My whole deal with suspensions has always not only been multi-person suspension projects, but also high tension kinetic suspensions. This clip was one of my favorite things we pulled off. It was from an early MAYHEM show in Austin Tx back in 2003 I want to say. Mark Rose at the time was one of our hardest suspension models/hook monkeys who thrived on being able to take a large amount of intense stuff. This one threw him into shock and broke him. He still did this 2 more times at least that i can think of. I’m just glad someone had a camera around this time!

This 360 frame was created by Tom Moore from Steel Fetish.

A little more fingering fun

Posted on April 21, 2010 by Sean Philips

I know quite a bit of you modbloggers were a wee bit disturbed when I posted the pictures of Ala’s open wound fingering, so you can imagine how thrilled I was when Jamie sent me these pictures from the recent Dallas Suscon.

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The pics are of me getting a hole in my arm fingered by my boyfriend. This happened after the two of us did a forearm suspension on a spinning beam together. I was prepared for some tearing on my arms with doing this suspension, but we were both somewhat excited when I ended up with a hole in my arm big enough for Biohazard to get a few fingers in. Tearing hooks is of course not usually something to aim for, but in this case the result was sexy! I suppose the slogan for the event was right – ‘Even bad ideas are bigger in Texas’. Haha

For a close up shot of the “open wound fingering”, keep on keeping on.

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Happy birthday Chuck!

Posted on April 17, 2010 by Sean Philips

If you have ever suspended, watched a suspension, thought about suspending or even just enjoyed a photo of a suspension, you should probably go wish this old fart a happy birthday.

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This picture took place at the recent Dallas Suspension Practitioners Convention. What this photo doesn’t show well is the fact Allen and Samar are gracefully balanced and rotating on a spinning beam. Photo credit goes to Rolf, who took dozens of awesome pictures of the event.