SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF
Body suspension is an ancient practice. Western people discovered it when they got in touch with the Mandan Native American tribe. It was a rite of passage consisting in piercing the suspendee's skin with metal hooks and hanging him with ropes. Enduring the pain meant becoming an adult.
Suspension of Disbelief is a six year long reportage about the modern incarnation of body suspension, a practice still shrouded in mystery that's nonetheless spreading from the US throughout Europe.
Modern rituals of body suspension are performed in the western world both during events, where enthusiasts of the practice gather to share the experience, and in private, more intimate environments.
Both situations share the same relaxed feeling and despite what might come to mind when thinking about hooks and flesh, practitioners go right through the first painful moments to the joy and euphoria the "flight".
There are lots of kinds of suspension. From the brief and intense "one point" suspensions to the longer lasting, multiple hooks "lotus" or "coma" suspensions.
The differences are not just aesthetic: the intensity or lack of dynamics has a huge impact on the feelings of the suspendee and the same is true about the number of hooks involved.
Press:
Suspension of Disbelief has been covered by many different media, both online and traditional, such as
Hooklife (interview, EN)
Vice (interview, IT)
ClickBlog (review, IT)
Swiss National Radio (interview, IT podcast)
Collateral (review, IT)
Royal Anthropological Institute (London exhibition, EN)
Ser Fotografo (review, BR)
Eyael (interview, IT)
MerikenMetals (review, EN)
TheWalkman (review, IT)
Primera Hora (mention as source, ES)
The Book
Suspension of Disbelief was originally published as a photographic eBook in 2013 and it's still available for purchase in that form on lulu.com.
On Facebook you can follow the official page at: Suspension of Disbelief - Facebook