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BLOOD RITES/ EAT YOUR WORDS 2010, 21min 42 sec

My face is covered in honey and 23ct gold leaf. I place 50 individually engraved razor blades in my mouth. Each blade is then turned around in my mouth, moved from cheek to cheek and spat out. The gesture reminds of communion and even of the concealing of blades in prisoners’ mouths for nefarious intentions. Each of the blades is engraved with a generic term for a family member including ‘mother’, ‘father’, ‘son’, ‘cousin’, grandmother and so on. However, the list of family names also include non-blood relatives such as ‘partner’, ‘divorcee’, ‘ex-wife’ etc.The soundtrack was made using samples of various ships and submarines traversing the oceans (referring to my own colonial heritage, and the shipping trade routes through which South Africa was founded). The work has been slowed down to almost 40 percent of its original speed making for a meditative viewing experience in contrast to the violence of the repetitive gesture.

Video stills below.