Friday
This tenth incarnation of the now world renowned Oslo Suscon welcomes practitioners and participants from fifteen countries around the world.
It is the intention of creators Christiane and Havve to see a hundred suspensions take place over the weekend; an ambitious but attainable goal. While I don’t want to go into too much detail about this, I would like to mention that no-one involved in the suscon has been hurt in any way from the explosions that are currently in the news worldwide.
Much like last year or the year before that, there are many familiar faces present, and the atmosphere is vibrating with anticipation and happiness.
Allen Falkner is with us again, and will give a lecture on rigging this year. From Russia we have, among others, Stanislav, Elena, and Max from The Sinner Team – known for their controversial free fall suspensions; which can roughly be described as a combination of suspension and bungee jumping. They will show the premiere of their documentary Free Fall Suspension – The Birth. After watching the trailer, I can see why a lot of people are excited to learn more about these crazy Russians!
Wings of Desire’s own Marte is also giving us a talk entitled „Pain as Medication“, and finally Matt is organizing another movie showing of CoRE’s Journey to Enlightenment – their 10 year anniversary movie.
As part of the introduction to this suscon, Havve & Christiane gave a talk on it’s now decade-long history. From it’s inception in 2002 as a suspension festival held alongside freaky fashion shows and several bands, it has since been held on a boat, before taking roots in it’s current venue; Månefisken. I couldn’t help but reminisce back to my own first attendance back in 2003, when everyone was crew, or at the very least crew in training. Since then there has been a steady and reassuring progression. Gradual evolution of every aspect. The equipment and techniques used this year are more refined than ever, and as well as being filled with fantastic people, I always find it interesting to see what innovations various groups have come up with from year to year.
For example, this year has seen the interlocking rigs that steel fetish produce – real clever stuff!
Guest speakers also help create an environment that’s very helpful for learning, and have been a welcome tradition since 2004. Attendance by people from the most prestigious and respected suspension groups is typical, and perhaps because of this, I can say with no hesitation that there are no inflated egos here. In its place, the convention seems to organically turn to laid back discussions and a willingness and desire to learn.
On questions of what were the most rewarding and interesting aspects of the event from an organizer’s viewpoint we were given a straightforward answer; the opportunity to see friends, and share new knowledge. This attitude is, I’m sure, why most people I speak to aren’t shy in saying this is their favourite suspension convention.
A live feed from the suscon can be found here!
I don’t have any pictures to post yet, but will do my utmost to link to some later on this evening.
On behalf of Oslo Suscon, thanks for reading.
– Alex