2005 Oslo Suscon Report
by Allen Falkner
Photos: CRUSTPICTURES.COM (IAM:kinkyevil)
Editor’s Note: Why post the 2005 report now, so much later? Because it’s almost time for the 2006 Oslo Suscon! This year it’s being held July 28 to 30, and you can find out more on the BME events page.
For anyone interested in body modification, that spends any time at all on the Internet, the photos of people suspended from flesh hooks has become quite commonplace. Because of movies and primetime television, the images of the human form hanging from fishhooks in the skin have reached even the most vanilla people of Middle America and secluded cultures internationally. In fact, if you weren’t intimately involved in the community, you might think that the service was offered up as regularly as ear piercing in your local mall. The truth is, suspension is an uncommon activity. In fact, hands-on exposure is still quite rare indeed. Over the last decade, with the media explosion we have all seen, the demand to suspend more and more people and the need for education has finally grown to the point that hanging large groups over a one, two or three day period has been become more cost effective and has built a social community unlike the world has never seen. The solution? Suscons!
Suscon � sus·con (səs-kŏn)
n. A shortened term for the words suspension convention. An organized group gathered to hang people from flesh hooks. Often a mixture of ritual, performance and art, these conventions are also recognized as learning and social events for those interested in science, beauty and spiritualism associated with the experience.
If you are involved in the body modification community, the term suscon is by no means foreign. However, hearing the term, seeing the photos and reading the experiences will never do justice to attending an actual event. As I have mentioned, suscons are still quite rare, and often very far away, but for those interested in a truly amazing experience, the Wings of Desire Norwegian Suspension Convention is one of the most amazing events held in the world. It has been this writer’s privilege to attend two years in a row and my hopes to attend again in July of 2006.
Why do I speak so highly of this event and what makes it so different? Well, here is my perspective. Over the years I have traveled extensively and attended ten organized suscons, participated in multiple suspension gatherings, and suspended with more people than I can count. To date, the Oslo Suscon is still my favorite for many reasons.
Location: Not only is Oslo a beautiful city, with a rustic old world feel mixed with ultramodern glass, steel and wood, the location that Wings of Desire has secured is amazing. Månefisken is a performance venue that sits right on the edge of a creek with two waterfalls, one on each end of the building. The interior of the space is broken into several rooms, all filled with different works of art and numerous metal sculptures. There is a kitchen, full bar, stage, theatrical lighting, video, sound system and many comfortable places for people to sit and mingle. I doubt I can explain it correctly but for lack of better terms, the place is inviting and relaxing.
Size: Besides the location being broken up nicely, with perfect rafters for rigging, the venue itself lends nicely to the amount of people that attend the events. Even though there were numerous people participating, plus an equal numbers of onlookers, the space never seemed empty or cramped. When we sat to eat lunch and dinner, that was catered, it never seemed crowded. Even the piercing and aftercare stations, a place that is normally too small for most conventions, always had plenty of room for movement and the people seemed to flow in and out easily.
Organization: For anyone that has ever tried to organize even the smallest event understands how difficult this task can be. Take into account, blood; cross contamination, rigging, shock, and hell, even egos, putting together a suscon is a truly daunting task. To date, the best organization I have seen has to be the Rites of Passage Suscon in Providence, Rhode Island. The only words I can use to describe the event are “well-oiled machine”. However, the Oslo Suscon easily rivals the ROP convention, but the comparison is truly unfair. WOD has taken a very different approach. It’s a much more free form event. Rather than having crews working in stations, this event has people move with the suspendee from beginning to end: piercing, rigging, suspending and aftercare. Both ways work quite well and have their own pros and cons. It really just breaks down to how the event is run.
Vibe: As I have said, the Oslo Suscon runs in a very smoothly flowing fashion. I’m still not sure if it’s the nature of the Norwegians, the feeling of the space, or how it was all organized, but the vibe was relaxed and moved so smoothly. There were very few mistakes and people never seemed stressed. I can’t remember anyone barking orders and tempers, which are normally on edge at these things, never flared up. Even though I was there primarily to photograph and document the event, it never seemed like work. I must admit, there was even a point at the first event, that I ran up and hugged Håvve, one of the event organizers. I was just so blown away and even a bit jealous at how wonderfully things were running.
Crowd Interaction: Håvve and Christiane had done something that I have never before seen; they allowed the general public into the venue at a specific time to view the event. This was done every day in the evening. Prior to the spectators entering, they would close off certain areas as to allow the onlookers full access, but keep them from endangering themselves or anyone else. There was a small admission fee; promotional materials and merchandise such as shirts were available for purchase. Also, the crowd was given regular explanations as to what was happening. The whole event was presented as mixture of performance art and spiritual exploration. To be quite honest, I’m not sure if this approach would work in other countries, but the Norwegian people are a different breed. Everyone seems so polite and courteous. To my knowledge, there was never a problem with onlookers, even with alcohol being readily available at the venue’s bar.
Suspensions: Yes, this was the reason we were all in attendance, the chance to suspend with a well-trained crew, but again more was offered, other than providing a clean, safe environment that you would always expect at an event like this. This mixture of all the things I mentioned above had made for an incredible experience by all that attended. I’m not sure if it was the close, personal interactions between the crew and those that were hanging, or the ambiance of theatrical lighting and well chosen music, or just the fact that the people there truly loved the act of suspension, but for me, it has been life changing in that both times I left Oslo, I had fallen back in love with beauty and art of suspension.
- Allen Falkner
suspension.org
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Allen Falkner (iam:Allen Falkner) is a body piercer with well over a decade of experience and is the owner of Obscurities in Dallas, TX. He is one of the founders of the modern body suspension movement as the progenitor of TSD (and now suspension.org). Allen is credited with the invention — and naming — of much of what people take for granted in modern suspension (including the knee suspension, his signature piece). He’s also a talented photographer.
Online presentation copyright © 2006 Shannon Larratt, Allen Falkner, and BMEzine.com. Requests to republish must be confirmed in writing. For bibliographical purposes this article was first published online June 7th, 2004 by BMEZINE.COM in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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