Body Suspensions - two experts explain ...

A suspension is the act of suspending a human body from hooks that have been put through body piercings. These piercings are temporary and are performed just prior to the actual suspension.

(Wikipedia)

LEE LA ENTREVISTA EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ

I interviewed two professionals, Joel and Fran of A Sangre Fria Body Art in Madrid, Spain.

How was the step from being a tattoo and piercing professional to being a key figure in the world of body suspension?
Joel: Obviously, we have evolved. From the very beginning on I've been in contact with body piercing, practicing a lot until reaching a certain level of expertize and becoming a professional. I learned about other techniques, materials and piercing methods.
Having experimented a lot with my own body, piercing it, tattooing it, I know quite well how it responds to pain. Over the years, we all have grown more and more our threshold of pain, and one day, surfing the Internet, I saw some images of suspension. And, as any other person would do, I asked myself: "What it is about? How does it feel? How is it done?". And as I had already trained myself as a piercer, one day I felt motivated and said: "I want to get there, I want to try this". So that day Fran and I took our first step in this extreme practice, suspending ourselves for the first time.

Guided by someone already initiated in the art of suspension, I guess?
J: No, no. We are self-taught.

So you see a video of a suspension and just go and try it?
J: As we are professionals of the field of piercing, we know the technique - placing a hook in ones back or chest is actually a form of piercing. Then, little by little, we had to learn about appropriate materials and techniques for different types of suspensions.
Fran: Apart from an evolution that each of us experienced at a personal level, we also evolved as a group. It began long before the first suspension. It was a sort of project that had been growing. The process lasted about one and a half years; we started with play piercings, began experimenting with hooks, tried pullings...

Play piercing?
F: We pierce our bodies temporarily and arrange the needles in a certain configuration to create, for example, geometric shapes, to lace them together like a corset, to sew the eyes, mouth, or arms ... or we simply pierce ourselves for fun.

(Photo by Clare Foxcroft Williams for Sweet Nauseas)

Or to turn yourself into a leopard-man, for example?
J: Could be. In that case it is a set of body modifications – piercings, tattoos, implants – that gives the person the appearance of an animal. Once I pierced my knuckles with protruding needles to make my hands look like claws. It was part of a show during which I was suspended upside-down.

F: But all that happened at a later stage, when we were already combining suspensions with play piercing or pulling, or even a dragging suspended people with a pulling.

What is a pulling?
It’s the practice of piercing the flesh and then pulling by the pierced body parts. It is essential when preparing for a suspension.

If I show up at your studio at, let's say, five o'clock in the afternoon and say: "I'd like to try a body suspension myself". What would you respond and how would you initiate me into this practice?
F: You know, first of all we would have to make you aware of the step your going to take. Because for us, a suspension is something very personal. So it is fundamental to understand that there will be a before and a after.
F: We get to know the person who wants to be suspended, we show him or her the material to be used, we talk about the pros and cons and try to create a certain level of confidence.
J: However, if you come here at five o'clock in the afternoon asking us to suspend you we would probably say no at first.

Why?
J: Because it's obvious that if you knew what this is all about you wouldn't come and ask that way.

And not at five o'clock in the afternoon?
J: Exactly. But if you insist, we would explain you what suspension mean to us, how we initiated ourselves in this art, what materials we use and how; a number of explanations to let you know what you are going to get involved in. You have to know all the details before you start, because it's your body you are going to "play" with, it's an aggression to your body. It's not like putting on a shirt and changing it if you don't like it; you will pierce your body. Hygiene, for example, is a very important issue. If your wounds get infected you can have serious health problems. Hygiene is essential.
F: Indeed, hygiene is a very controversial and heavily criticized question. It is fundamental if the job is to be performed in a professional and we try to inform people as much as possible about the methods to prevent infections. In addition to that, as Joel mentioned, a novice suspendee has to understand the techniques and materials used for a suspension. And we want to understand the reason why a person wants to be suspended. We respect all motives, even the most extreme ones. But it is necessary to know the candidate in order to approach the suspension in one way or another.

After we had a little chat and you know more about me and my motivations - how would we proceed from that moment on, how would you start preparing me for my first suspension? The most extreme piercing I had so far was a neck piercing...
J: First of all we would have to put in contact with the piercing needles. But as you've already experienced the piercing of your neck, you may have a slight idea of what you feel when pierced. When it comes to hooks, the only thing that changes is the caliber: the lengths and diameter of the piercing and the body part that is pierced. But you might say: "A 4mm needle must be extremely painful!". But I assure you that a thinner needle, a 1,2 mm needle, hurts more. Because pain can be sharp or rather dull and intense.

(Photo by Helene Fjell)

You are saying that a thinner needle can hurt more than a huge and thick one?
J: This is all about perception of pain, which is different for each person. A thin needle causes a sharp and slightly burning pain, which may feel a bit like ripping the skin. The pain produced by a thicker needle is rather dull. Besides that, if the pain is very intense, let's say 40 or 50 points out of 100, the brain activates a defense mechanism to make the body be on the alert. For example, if somebody hits your arm and you feel pain, you activate all your senses to be prepared to defend yourself and flee. An analgesic substance is being secreted if the pain is intense. A moderate pain, like the one felt while being tattooed, is not intense enough to activate the secretion of the calming endorphines, which would make the pain more bearable. Another example: if I cut one of your arms, the pain would be so intense that you wouldn't feel it if I cut your other arm as well, because your body's endorphine's, similar tu extasis, would anesthetize you to a certain degree.

Ok, let's say, I feel prepared and want to actually start with the pre-suspension program. Would you now start placing hooks in my back?
F: If we feel that you have been informed and that you have definitively taken the decision to go on with the suspension, we would invite you to come another day. In a very relaxed way we would probably start piercing and suspending ourselves to make you become familiar with the practice and lose the fear you may feel.

I'm ready, let's go on!
J: Well, this would be the moment were we pierce you with a hook and do some "rehearsals" with pullings.

I have to say that the piercing itself doesn't impress me that much, but what I couldn't even look at when I saw the video, was the pulling. It seems like the skin is just about to rip! How is it possible that the skin resists when someone pulls at a pierced hook? I think I just couldn't bear the thought of my skin ripping...
F: That's just natural. That's why we experiment with progressive pullings to make you lose this fear. We place the hooks, for example in your back or chest and then gently pull using a chain or string. Or we tie the string to the wall and you move forwards little by little until feeling the tensi0n, your weight and making yourself an idea of how a suspension might feel. Once you feel comfortable with that we could proceed to a real suspension. Even though there are people who want to be suspended right away, we prefer to do it this way, little by little.

I think we all ask ourselves: how is it possible that the skin resists this incredible tension? I can understand that, when 20 hooks are used, each hooks does not support more than a small percentage of the body weight. But using only two hook in the back (and placing them almost at the same place) or even worse, in the chest or knees?

(Photo: www.delawareonline.com)


J: There are two things you have to consider: the physical and the psychological aspect. At a physical level, you have to understand that the skin has a certain level of resistance to tension. As you said, if several hooks are placed, each of them has to support a certain amount of weight, depending on the body area and on the person's race (black skin is tougher and thicker, for example).
F: The length of the piercing and the hook's diameter are not the only factors that influence the successful result of a suspension. Also the skin is very important. All these factors have to be considered in order to do a good job. It's not about placing a hook without thinking and waiting to see if it can support the weight - or not. Thanks to the experience we have acquired over the years, we have a working procedure where every step has been carefully thought - we know where and how to pierce. For example, some parts of the body are rarely exposed to sun and the skin is much softer there.

But, if using few hooks, you also pierce the muscle so that the hook can support the weight, right?
J: No, no, in no way! If we pierced the muscle, we would cripple ourselves. It would be possible to support the pain of piercing the muscle beneath the skin, but probably only once. It's enough to pierce the skin due to it's enormous elasticity. It has occurred that the hook gets broken before the skin rips, if the piercing is well done. The human body is just a perfect invention ...

Fran performing one of the most difficult suspension. Photo courtesy of A Sangre Fría

The suspension shown in the photo looks like something physically impossible to me. Only two hooks placed very close together in the sternum area!

I can assure you that this chest suspension is one of the most extremes we've ever done. It's like using one single hook, which is possible, if the hook is very thick. A we've discussed, the less hooks you use, the more weight each of them has to support - that's why they have to be thick enough. If they aren't, the act like a knife, cutting the skin and ripping it. And the sternum is a very complicated body area. The skin should neither be too thick nor too elastic. there is not much skin to work with in the sternum area. For this suspension we placed two hooks quite close together, but one of them exerting a force to the right and the other one to the left. By doing so we managed to even up the tension in a way. There are people who have managed to perform this suspension using one single hook. But in that case the hook's diameter has to be 8 mm. The hooks on the photo are 4 mm.
A normal suspension can last a long time, two hours, for example. But in that kind of extremely complicated suspensions it's difficult to withstand more than 20 or 25 minutes.

Has your skin ever ripped?
J: Yes, a little bit (showing his forearm).

Obviously you know quite well your body when it comes to piercing it. But in my case, if it's my first suspension, is it possible that my skin doesn't resist even though there weren't any problems during the pulling?
J: Yes, it could happen but it's our job to make sure it doesn't occur. That means that we will be with you during the whole process, holding your hand. There will be a person pulling the rope, another one behind you (in case of a back suspension) will keep an eye on the hooks and regulate them if necessary and there will be somebody in front of you holding your arms tightly. If you feel confident, you will let go of his/her arms by yourself, little by little, until you are completely suspended.

What do you feel in that very moment? Y mean, it must hurt quite a lot only to introduce these huge hooks; do I have to be prepared for a lot more pain when being suspended?
The perception of pain is different in each person. In my case, for example, the piercing hurts a lot, but the suspension not any more. But there are people who feel less pain when being pierced but when the suspension starts they break down.
When we pierce a person a certain amount of air is introduced in the body. We have to massage the area to remove this trapped air through the piercing hole. That's when most people bleed and it's probably the most painful part of the process. However I specially enjoy it.

In the video we can see that you pinch body area to be pierced with your fingers.
J: It's a kind of warm-up, to prepare the area.
F: For the same reason we "train" with pullings before we start de suspension. Besides that, it's useful to find out if you feel comfortable with the hooks, and to make sure they don't pull more on one side that on the other, which would be very unpleasant during the suspension. When I was suspended from my chest, I started to have breathing difficulties and had to interrupt the session. Because my lungs didn't have enough space to expand.

Let's talk about the spiritual aspect of this practice. It seems like suspensions have been practiced in certain tribes for spiritual reasons, right? Do you aim to reach a higher state of spirituality, are the suspensions a way of meditation for you?
J: In a primitive tribe things are different. The first suspension were performed as early as 800 B.C. Tattoos, piercings and suspensions have been practiced in a great number of civilizations, from the very beginning on. Nowadays, en certain parts of Africa, when a girls has her first menstruation, she gets pierced to let men know that she has become a woman. When she loses her virginity, she gets another piercing to indicate this condition to other men.

But I've heard that in some places suspensions are a way to go into trance through pain. Do you have the same approach?
J: People ask us if we enjoy pain. No, we don't enjoy it it. What we seek is what we obtain from pain. Indeed it's a form of meditation, it's a way to be alone with yourself; there is a before and a after. Our approach is rather spiritual, yes, and that's the reason why we always try to get to know the people who want us to suspend them. Some professionals charge for suspensions, we don't. Because during a suspension we act as shamans. Asking for money would destroy the positive energy necessary for this practice. But obviously there are people who do suspensions as if it was a sport discipline, or something crazy, or simply a show. Or just to be able to say that they've hung themselves from hooks.

Book recommendation: "Dune" by Frank Herbert

Do you want people to prepare themselves psychologically before a suspension? Through meditation, for example.
F: I think there are different methods to reach the same state of mind. Sometimes we have meditated before a suspension, but there are days when we are so happy and euphoric that we don't need it. There is a routine preparation, but it depends on the situation and how the person feels at that very moment. And it also depends of the reason why somebody wants to be suspended - because something very bad or very positive has happened to him/her or just because of a physical necessity. These are the suspension we really enjoy because we can obtain something from them, they are curative. It's different if we are hired for a show for a certain day. In that case it's just a job, no meditation, nothing. But still, even in that case we are nervous and tense before the performance.

Why exactly are you nervous before a suspension?
J: It doesn't matter if you prepare yourself through meditation or not, a suspension is always the acceptance and overcoming of pain. To know and to accept that what you are going to do will hurt. And that you will overcome it - or not.

And does it still hurt as much as the first time?
F: Sometimes even more. Because after piercing the skin so many times it has become tough.

Are there differences between men and women when it comes to withstand the pain?
F: It's easier to pierce woman and she will bear the pain more easily because she is prepared to give birth to children.
J: You, just because you are a woman, are psychologically better prepared to withstand pain than any man. It's just nature. I mean I don't want to make generalizations, but it tends to be like that.

Would you say that people who practice body suspensions belong to a kind of urban tribe and share other interests as well?
F: I don't think that they belong to a urban tribe, it's simply a way of escape for the people who practice it. You can find any kind of person among the suspendees - people who dress smartly wearing their office suit or people who deal with tattoos and piercing, which is the most common case. The latter are usually pierced and show an interest in body modifications in general. So you could say that the majority share an interest for this kind of practices, but more and more there are also other people who are curious about suspensions.

I guess that it's absolutely not recommendable to drink alcohol or take drugs before or during a suspension, am I right?
J: We have never suspended anybody who was drugged or drunk, to be true. And we won't do it in the future.
F: But there are different ways to perform a suspension. There are people who even use anesthesia, but we are not in favor of doing so, because there is no sense in doing it that way. I could also put on a harness and do aerial acrobatics.
J: And there are people who do it just in any way, simply to say that they've done it. And their environment perceives their act as something impressing and brave and the image of the person changes. But we are actually completely normal people, we drink, we eat, we sleep; we have just found our own method to experience drug-like sensations. Other people may experience something similar practicing meditation or parachuting.

I've read that there are certain people who instead of piercing themselves to place a hook before each suspension have chosen the option of an implant under their skin with a kind of connecting piece for the hook sticking out.
J/F: We were unaware of this practice.
J: But one of the fathers of body suspension, Fakir Musafar (in the photo), has a piercing whole so huge, that he can put his finger into it. The whole has healed, so he doesn't have to pierce again before every suspension.

Wouldn't that be the logical thing?
J: Probably, but in my opinion part of the ritual gets lost. The process has to be painful, otherwise it would be like a garden without flowers. Pain is the essence in this case. Pain produces this special sensation that we seek and that makes every suspension so unique. It's something different each time.

Can you do other things while you are suspended? Eat, drink...
J: Or play Parcheesi, if you want.

Stefanie Kaiser, 2010.