Spring Break
Transcension
Albuquerque group says hanging from hooks and skin is a matter of the mind
Jessica Del Curto
Issue date: 4/6/06 Section: Culture
by Jessica Del Curto
The Daily Lobo
Vickie Temer said dangling from a rope by the skin of her knees and shoulder blades isn't as painful as it looks.
"It's mind over matter," she said. "It's really just how you look at it."
The 20-year-old has been performing acts of suspension since she was 18. She is part of the Albuquerque group Ascension Suspension.
Suspension is a practice where eight-gauge hooks are pierced through various areas of the body. The hooks are attached to a pulley system that lifts the person off the ground, and he or she is suspended in the air by a few inches of skin.
"It's an adrenaline rush," Temer said. "It's a high all in itself, and a healthier way to do it. Some people use cocaine, but this is more of a natural high."
At a show on Thursday at the Downtown nightclub OPM, Temer had two hooks placed into the skin of her kneecaps, two hooks in the skin in her calves and two put into the skin above her shoulder blades. Then she hung in what is called a Lotus position, while Jessica Rimmer, a fellow Ascension Suspension member and UNM student, hung next to her in a similar fashion. In front of a packed audience, the MC of the event brought out another participant, Kasja McCarthy. McCarthy, also 20 years old, had four hooks placed into her upper back, in what is called the Suicide position. As she hung vertical in the air she began swinging back and forth, gaining momentum. Then she was lowered to the floor, where another girl wrapped her arms and legs around McCarthy in an embrace. The pulley lifted the two into the air, and McCarthy supported the weight of both girls with just a few inches of skin on her back.
Earlier in the night, Jeremy Adams wowed the audience by being suspended from the skin on one of his kneecaps. Another member, Ben Kennedy, had four ropes hooked into his chest. While he was suspended in the air, he asked someone to cut two of the ropes.
Most group members have had body modification of some sort. Full-body tattoos, split tongues, gauged ears and beads or horns implanted under their skin are not uncommon among members of Ascension Suspension.
The Daily Lobo
Vickie Temer said dangling from a rope by the skin of her knees and shoulder blades isn't as painful as it looks.
"It's mind over matter," she said. "It's really just how you look at it."
The 20-year-old has been performing acts of suspension since she was 18. She is part of the Albuquerque group Ascension Suspension.
Suspension is a practice where eight-gauge hooks are pierced through various areas of the body. The hooks are attached to a pulley system that lifts the person off the ground, and he or she is suspended in the air by a few inches of skin.
"It's an adrenaline rush," Temer said. "It's a high all in itself, and a healthier way to do it. Some people use cocaine, but this is more of a natural high."
At a show on Thursday at the Downtown nightclub OPM, Temer had two hooks placed into the skin of her kneecaps, two hooks in the skin in her calves and two put into the skin above her shoulder blades. Then she hung in what is called a Lotus position, while Jessica Rimmer, a fellow Ascension Suspension member and UNM student, hung next to her in a similar fashion. In front of a packed audience, the MC of the event brought out another participant, Kasja McCarthy. McCarthy, also 20 years old, had four hooks placed into her upper back, in what is called the Suicide position. As she hung vertical in the air she began swinging back and forth, gaining momentum. Then she was lowered to the floor, where another girl wrapped her arms and legs around McCarthy in an embrace. The pulley lifted the two into the air, and McCarthy supported the weight of both girls with just a few inches of skin on her back.
Earlier in the night, Jeremy Adams wowed the audience by being suspended from the skin on one of his kneecaps. Another member, Ben Kennedy, had four ropes hooked into his chest. While he was suspended in the air, he asked someone to cut two of the ropes.
Most group members have had body modification of some sort. Full-body tattoos, split tongues, gauged ears and beads or horns implanted under their skin are not uncommon among members of Ascension Suspension.
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