BME: Body Modification Ezine

A tattooed person suspends from hooks, laying flat, one leg higher than the other. Their head is back, and they seem to be smiling, dark hair dangling like an anime character.

Celebrating body modification culture since 1994.

Tag: Suspension

  • Preparing Every Part For You

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    And finally, folks, here are some soothing suspension shots from the good people with Ascension Suspension. Up top (and, of course, after the jump) is the lovely Mindi Kaiser, swingin’ away, surrounded by birch trees in Jemez Springs in New Mexico, and captured in these beautiful photos by Melissa Shephard. It’s hard to imagine this wasn’t a great experience.

    Until tomorrow, ModBloggers. In the mean time, all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

    See more in ““Suicide” Suspension“ (Ritual)

  • Puzzle Pieces From The Clay

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Here’s a particularly peaceful suspension photo from the good folks with Russia’s Thesinnerteam suspension crew, one of the more than 70 suspensions they’ve facilitated since they formed last December September. Really, for our money, it doesn’t get much better than a quiet, isolated, outdoor suspension like this, and, as you’ll see after the jump, these fellas are pretty damn high. Luckily, in case of emergency, Russians have the power of levitation, right? Oh, no? Well…huh.

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

    See more in “Knee suspensions“ (Ritual)

  • Live From Oslo SusCon: The Tiny, Fat-Free, Late Update

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Alexander Trowell is a body piercer and student nurse from Southport, U.K. He’ll be filing reports for us from the Oslo SusCon. Keep checking ModBlog for updates!

    This final update from Oslo has been a little longer in the making than planned due to (1) overambitious partying, (2) an airport snack that just wouldn’t quit and, of course, (3) the reintroduction to regular society can be a harsh mistress.

    As a final recap from the SusCon itself, I did promise some photos, and here they are, in no particular order:



    Jussi doing a “Metal” suspension


    Ana preparing for a crucifix with a twist


    Michele looking serene in a two-point suicide


    Havve enjoying an angel suspension

    Steve and Tracy put on a hell of a show for us, and Christiane looks like she enjoyed it too! This was on Saturday, but hey, it had to be included!

    On Monday, the infamous after-party took place in a lovely and somewhat wet back yard in Oslo. Barbecues, tents, lights and giddy people with rice-crispy suits were gradually set up, set down, and had alcohol poured alcohol onto and into them.

    It didn’t take too long before the party started getting rowdy, and in some ways I think the pictures speak for themselves.


    Warming up the branding iron for the third year running


    It always leads to flocks of people gathering around the action.


    Some of the brands turned out awesome!


    But precision isn’t always the game after a ton of beer. And what’s more charming than a fucked up branding, after all? Those things tell stories for sure!


    Legs and ass seemed like popular choices.

    I have no idea how many people are currently sat with their underwear glued to their ass in clover-format, but I can tell from personal experience that it was a pretty funny memory to wake up with!

    As a final goodbye from Oslo, I want to leave you with the creative efforts of a multinational crowd of tattooed freaks (before the influence of alcohol set in no less!). It was an amazing convention yet again, and I thank Havve, Christiane, and all crew from all corners of the world deeply for making it what it is!


    “I Love Pure Anal Pain”

    Till next time…

    – Alex

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

  • Live From Oslo SusCon: Interview With Havve and Christiane

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Alexander Trowell is a body piercer and student nurse from Southport, U.K. He’ll be filing reports for us from the Oslo SusCon. Keep checking ModBlog for updates!

    To give a better insight into the 2009 Oslo SusCon, I thought an interview with organizers Christiane and Havve might be interesting.

    Havve Fjell is a freak-show artist/fakir performing under the name Pain Solution both in Norway and internationally. He runs the Fakir Academy in Oslo. Christiane Lofblad is a body piercer in Oslo, running the successful Pinpoint Piercing studio. Together, they are responsible for the Wings of Desire organization, which arranges the Oslo SusCon and smaller suspension events throughout the year.

    Alexander Trowell: This is the eighth incarnation of the Oslo suspension convention. Can you briefly tell BME readers how the convention has evolved over that time?

    Wings of Desire: Well, the first year we aimed for too much. We were in a big warehouse with no sinks, and partied every night. There were performers and bands and things like that, and although the suspensions were supposed to be the main part of it, they weren’t. We soon learned that we needed to keep it more to the point, focusing less on the unimportant stuff. Then the second year, we had no crew and trained everyone who participated. What we didn’t think of was that some people didn’t want a workshop, they just wanted to hang, so from there we changed. The third year, we had our first lectures, courtesy of Allen Falkner. We have grown in that direction since, accommodating guest speakers, and having a dedicated crew to handle the action.

    AT: The convention sees members from all over the world and seems to be widely recognized among much of the body modification community. I know from personal experience that this is due to hard work and good organizing skills, but has it come as a surprise at all how popular it has become?

    WOD: It has been something of a surprise, but we’re good [laughs]. We both have friends, within both the body mod industry and among performers, so it has kind of grown from that. Plus, of course, Allen Falkner helped spread the word.

    AT: I have a feeling this isn’t going to be the last Oslo SusCon. Do you feel that the level it’s at now is good, or do you want more/fewer people for future events?

    WOD: From last year, we decided not to increase it much. There’s a really good atmosphere at the Oslo SusCons now, and we get a lot of positive remarks in that regard; we don’t want to lose that. The way the crew and team leader system works means all suspendees are followed by a set of crew members, which we have also been told is a nice way of doing it. That connection between crew and participant could be difficult to maintain if the convention grew too big.

    AT: Obviously you guys travel to other conventions and body mod-related events around the world. How do you feel this has affected your own practices, and do you consider it reciprocal—do you find you get to influence other suspension groups’ practices?

    WOD: Well, we do learn a lot of little tweaks from other people, and we are able to help others out too, so yes. There is a kind of social consensus to share good methods and technique, and the community seems good at that. Most people who run groups seem to do so for the love of it, as opposed to financial motivation, so most people want to expand and share their knowledge base.

    AT: You guys appear to have excellent communication with local government, to the point where the local council provides you with some funding. I think it’s safe to say that this is quite rare in this subculture. How has this “partnership” formed, and what advice would you give to other suspension groups that want to function more dynamically with local government?

    WOD: We are really lucky. We are really lucky, because legislation is quite relaxed and open in Norway. Scarification, subdermal implants and things like that aren’t banned, and it’s relatively easy to communicate with the council. We have the approval of the local council in Oslo to do this event, so that’s cool—they’ve inspected our protocol and are happy. In other countries, the situation is completely different, so if you don’t think you’ll get approval for suspension events, don’t ask [laughs]. Funding-wise, it’s very much intertwined with networking again. Havve has ties to cultural and art agencies, so that’s where the funding comes from.

    AT: The Oslo SusCon sees well-established practitioners from Europe and America function as team leaders. It has piercers from all over the world that all seem to work very well together, and the convention no longer has the workshop feel it had in the beginning. Is this a result of wanting to include more people and suspensions, and do you feel this is the direction you want to keep moving in?

    WOD: Well, from the beginning, we have communicated with piercers internationally because the “scene” was quite small to begin with and not that many people were available locally. The way it’s run now, with experienced team leaders in charge, is very good, and when we do workshops, we do smaller events. We still try to teach our crew continuously of course—it’s an evolving field. But yes, we do plan to continue in the same way forwards, since the recipe works well.

    AT: Thank you very much for the time guys, I look forwards to coming back next year.

    That’s all folks, now it’s time to start partying. Pictures will be on the way soon. Until then, I spy with my little eye, a branding iron…

    – Alex

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

  • Don’t Mean a Thing

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Well here is some grisly torture footage courtesy of Kay, huh? This little red-shirted emperor was just walkin’ around Marshallfest like he owned the place when he stumbled upon some nice gentleman mid-suspension and decided people were having just a little too much fun. Look at the cold, indifferent stare on his face. You may not be able to read it from here, but the young master’s T-shirt actually reads, “If He Dies, He Dies.” Chilling. A shot of one of his accomplices taking a free ride of his own, after the jump.

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

  • Live From Oslo SusCon: Day Three, Plus A Roundtable Interview (Of Sorts)

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Alexander Trowell is a body piercer and student nurse from Southport, U.K. He’ll be filing reports for us from the Oslo SusCon. Keep checking ModBlog for updates!

    14.30
    On this third (or fourth if you count Thursday) day of Oslo SusCon (OSC), the atmosphere is quite relaxed. The weather is good and the suspendees are still going strong. Here’s a list of the suspensions for Sunday:

    Christiane (2 point resurrection), Norway
    Bena (coma & 2 point suicide), Sweden
    Oscar (superman), Sweden
    Stein (angel), Norway
    Sanny (suicide/spinning beam), Germany
    Stephan (suicide/spinning beam), Germany
    Martin (suicide), Norway
    Lea (crucifix), Slovenia
    Kristin (lotus), Norway
    Ida (seated), Norway
    Becky (superman), US
    Angst (4 point suicide), Norway
    Nancy (6 point angel), US
    Tracie (chest), US
    Alice (knee), UK
    Havve (angel), Norway
    Stine (knees), Norway
    Tommy (knees), Norway
    Oddbjorn (single point chest), Norway
    Line-Therese (knees) Norway
    Lucky (2 point resurrection), Finland
    Jussi (metal), Finland
    Andreas (Angel), Norway
    Zumo (suicide/spinning beam), Italy
    Enrico (suicide/spinning beam), Italy
    Bastian (suicide w/rib hooks), Germany
    Morten (knees and ribs), Norway
    Alex (calf), UK/Norway
    Michele (suicide/spinning beam), Italy
    Daniel (suicide/spinning beam), Norway
    Ana (crucifix), Croatia
    Ninak (suicide), Norway

    For those with a keen eye for details, you’ll notice a few of us were able to hang twice this time around—a nice byproduct of the efficient team effort of the crew. By the way, this list may be somewhat wrong in terms of nationalities and such, so sincere apologies to anyone who has been mislabeled in any way shape or form..

    21.05
    In other news, we had our first fall today when Obbe did a one-point chest suspension. A tear occurred within a minute of his going up, and as Christiane noticed the formation of the tear and started lowering the rig, it was already too late. Being that he was on his way down anyways, Obbe managed to land solidly on both feet, and was repaired promptly with sutures by flesh-seamstress Christiane.

    Aside from this, the convention has been very incident-free. Well, incident-free, but not event free. So many beautiful suspensions, so many beautiful people. A friend of mine pulled me aside a little while back with a little secret to share, which I had no choice but to include here, purely for the sake of comedy. Integral to the story is that OSC opened its doors to the general public for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. It was during this time our friend was doing a suspension of some variety. She really enjoyed going up…like, really enjoyed it. At some point, mid-air, she ended up climaxing—in my opinion, a hell of an advertisement for suspensions…

    I guess the bar is set for how much fun it’s possible to have while suspending, but I hope you all go forth and try to top it, although I struggle to see how that would go down.

    16.15
    It’s Monday, and my intention of interviewing Havve and Christiane came to a halt last night due to them being extremely busy all day. Nevertheless, I am sat with Ben & Alice from the UK, Muffe from Denmark and Bena from Sweden, so why not do an impromptu interview with them, right?

    Alexander Trowell: Guys, you all have a lot of experience with suspensions, and are all part of the standard OSC inventory at this point—how do you think this one has compared to previous versions?

    Bena: Since 2002, the convention has improved hugely. This time we have water running and stuff, you know? [Laughs]

    Alice: It’s been really accident-free. There are usually a few hiccups, but this one has been really good.

    AT: Have you got any particular memories from the SusCon, either from this year or previous ones?

    Bena: [Laughis] You remember being tea-bagged, right Alex?

    Alice: Yeah, and you remember me biting your ass so hard it left a huge mark?

    AT: I think it was pretty great watching Allen Falkner swing hard one year from a two-point suicide and his hook failing. He landed quite miraculously, and seemed quite unaffected by it.

    Alice: I think the tea-bagging effort has been really poor this year, so we all need to sharpen up for tonight!

    AT: There was no ass-suspensions this year. What happened, Bena?

    Bena: Ah, that’s so 2005, you know? Plus, my hemorrhoids… There were a lot of knee-suspensions this year, and a lot of angels. That seemed to be the theme this year.

    Alice: The two Italians on the spinning beam was a highlight though.

    Ben: Yeah, 20-kg weight difference and crazy spinning! [Laughs]

    AT: I am the worst reporter in the world, I can’t even think of any more questions to ask.

    Bena: I’m worse. I went to a tattoo convention with a press pass, and ended up taking 10 photos over a span of three days.

    Alice: Muffe, you haven’t said anything in this interview, how about some words?

    Muffe: Bollocks.

    I think that caps it off nicely. Now, it’s just a waiting game for the proper interview with Havve and Christiane, and, of course, the gang-bang.

    – Alex

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

  • Rescue the Frog

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Oh, hello, ModBloggers! Hope the weekend treated you well while Toronto started to eat itself. Anyway, let’s kick things off this week with this rather striking and environmentally conscious suspension (because it’s green, right? Eh? Maybe the worst joke ever written here, not gonna lie) featuring Nick, who was helped along by his compatriots—the good folks at CoRE. And hey, what’s that hanging off him, hmm? A suckling pig, perhaps? Yes, let’s just agree that it’s a suckling pig and move on with our day.

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

    See more in “CoRE Gallery“ (Suspension Teams and Bonus Galleries)

  • Live From Oslo Suscon 2009: Day Two

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg



    Rolf doing a coma suspension.

    Alexander Trowell is a body piercer and student nurse from Southport, U.K. He’ll be filing reports all weekend from the Oslo SusCon. Keep checking ModBlog for updates!

    14:20
    It’s a slightly wet Saturday. There’s a bit of Norwegian press here currently covering Ben and Ronnie who have just gone up on a spinning beam, and are pushing it harder than dead or alive. Meanwhile, Ron Garza is doing another seminar in the chill-out area, passing around a huge-ass skewer he brought.

    I thought I’d include a list of suspensions today, so as not to exclude anyone, and here it is, in typical Microsoft suspension template style, i.e. name, type of suspension and nationality. My biggest apologies if I miss anyone out – feel free to teabag me later as punishment. (I can tell you that teabagging is one of those dark secret rites that always seem to take place once the Jager and various other liquids have been broken into at the after-party, which itself seems to have gotten the nickname “The Gangbang” (for reasons I would be neutered and lobotomized for exposing). Come to Oslo SusCon—it’s a scene, man!)


    Ellen doing an angel suspension.

    Thursday
    Alan (coma), Norway
    Marte (2 point resurrection), Norway
    Fabian (2 point suicide/spinning beam), Sweden
    Marco (2 point suicide/spinning beam), Italy
    Bard (6 point resurrection), Norway


    Alice doing an angel suspension.

    Friday
    Ellen (6 point angel), Norway
    Rolf (coma), Germany
    Line Therese (suicide), Norway
    Andrea (crucifix), Italy
    Lari (suicide), Finland
    Alice (angel), UK


    Yours truly taking it from Ellen and Cere. Gotta do what you gotta do, right?

    Saturday
    Pirre (suicide), Sweden
    Christer (resurrection), Norway
    Mads (suicide), Norway
    Anita (superman), Norway
    Enrico (angel), Italy
    Daniel (lotus), Sweden
    Jesper (lotus > suicide), Sweden
    Anders (suicide), Sweden
    Emma (suicide), Sweden
    Saskia (resurrection), UK
    Hillary (seated), UK/US
    Zumo (2 point chest), Italy
    Lasse (suicide/chest), Norway
    Christoffer (suicide), Norway
    June (2 point suicide), Norway
    Klem (resurrection), France
    Julie (venus rising), France
    Enrico (resurrection), Italy
    Ronnie (2 point suicide/spinning beam), Norway
    Benoit (2 point suicide/spinning beam), UK/France
    Stine (2 point suicide), Norway
    Jonathan (2 point suicide), Netherland/US
    Rakel (seated), Norway
    Tommy (angel), Norway
    Ingunn (knee/suicide), Norway
    Marius (crucifiction), Norway
    Alex (2 point suicide), UK/Norway
    Stine (suicide/spinning beam), Norway
    Hilde (suicide/spinning beam), Norway
    Lasse (lotus), Norway
    Steve (performance), US
    Tracy (performance), US
    Saskia (resurrection), UK/Norway


    June doing a two-point suicide suspension.

    As you can tell, there is a lot going on here. According to Christiane, there are going to be around 70 suspensions this year, give or take a few. It does seem that crew meetings are more frequent and better organized this year, this being reflected in the convention running smoother than James Bond on Xanax. [Ed. note: Or should that be Ex-Lax?] A few new beautiful rigs have been brought in, and Industrial Strength‘s Jonathan has sponsored again this year, bringing some super-sharp needles to make the prep work that much less traumatic. Since I’m being a big fat name-dropper, I’ll mention that Pinpoint Piercing, The Manefisken Venue, Pain Solution and, of course, BME are all proud to sponsor the convention. Well, it’s time for me to dig into some of the vegetarian cuisine and recharge my batteries—more writing to come.


    Anita doing a superman suspension.

    17:56
    Just wrapped up a 2 point suicide myself, so I am feeling somewhat hormonal and unable to write anything that’ll be even remotely worth posting. It’s open to the public here at the moment, so I’m going to go mingle with some outsiders and have a coke I guess. More blogging tomorrow, or tonight if I feel ambitious!


    Lea doing a funky suicide/one knee combo suspension.

    Peace.

    – Alex

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

  • Live From Oslo SusCon 2009: Day One

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Alexander Trowell is a body piercer and student nurse from Southport, U.K. He’ll be filing reports all weekend from the Oslo SusCon. Keep checking ModBlog for updates!

    So, after a morning of paying extortionate amounts of money for a boarding pass, arguing with airport security about the importance of sticking my toothpaste in a see through plastic-bag and then finally arriving on Norwegian soil (only to sit next to a person who was clearly intent on waging gaseous warfare on my tender nostrils for a couple of hours), I finally arrived at Oslo SusCon.

    I was very pleased to see that I was not alone in having made the trip an annual tradition. Familiar face after familiar face kept popping up in front of me as I made my way into the solid epicenter that was the eating quarters. After getting some much-needed grub and a hasty cigarette/coffee, it was time for the official introduction to the weekend. I say “official” because I know many of the crew, volunteers and participants have been busy making all the cogs fit together since Thursday—big thanks to you all! In fact, word on the proverbial streets of the SusCon is they already managed to fit in five suspensions yesterday; my suspicion is they’re planning to gradually make it an all-year event, stretching the time-frame and participant numbers just a touch every year. Havve started the introduction in his usual informal comedic fashion: Warning us to watch out for whatever may be worth watching out for, to be nice to each other, and to treat the venue with respect. A sort of support group round of introductions to crew and participants alike was quickly ventured, and I’m sure I remember at least five per cent of who’s hanging when and from what part of their lovely inked bodies. (Not a bad job at all if you ask me.) Next, it was time for Ron Garza to present an interesting lecture on suspension culture before the action was set to kick off. I don’t even know where to begin quoting and paraphrasing it—though, to be fair, I couldn’t do it justice, so I won’t even go there.

    I realize I’m not a very good reporter so far, because frankly I am not 100 per cent on whether it was six or eight people that went up today—hell, it could have been 12 and I’d be none the wiser. But the people all seemed to enjoy them and there were even one or two first-timers, at least one of which seemed to enjoy it lots!

    An awesome new rig was tested out by a couple of folks, and it made for some pretty pictures that I’ll try to submit tomorrow. So all in all, a smashing start to a weekend that carries great potential which I’m sure it will smash!

    It’s bedtime now—need to be bright and shiny and whatnot for the morning. Please pardon the tongue-in-cheek approach to this first entry; tomorrow I’ll take it a bit more seriously and get my facts right…

    – Alex

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

  • Bigger’s Better But Bigger’s Bigger

    Written by

    Jordan Ginsberg


    Hey now, it’s been a while since we’ve checked in with La Negra and her pals, eh? Time to correct that! Here we have some shots of Towa‘s first suspension, facilitated by the aforementioned La Negra, as well as Valnei and photographed by Martinetik. First suspension ever, surrounded by a crew like that and wearing a jaunty ascot to boot? That’s a recipe for a good time, folks. A shot of the refractory period, including a nice view of Towa’s shoulder scarification, after the jump.

    Tattoo Hollywood, BME’s first tattoo convention, is coming to Los Angeles from August 21-23, featuring contests, prizes and some of the best artists from around the world! Click here for more information.

    See more in ““Suicide” Suspension“ (Ritual)

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