Summary Of Bloody Hell By Kendall Geers

Cultural Appropriation is the taking up of outside cultural elements by others of another group. This is usually between an oppressed culture and a dominant culture whereby the dominant culture inherits theses elements through the oppressed cultures.(Eden Cacede, 20 January 2015, our culture are not your culture). These culture are know as the Imitating culture and there cultures can then be seen as the holders of the particular practices that are inherited, and to observers these practices can be wrongly associated with the imitating culture instead of the original culture(Helen Shaw, 17 January 2006, A Major Achievement). Kendall Geers displays a large amount of cultural appropriation within his works and unlike the common connotation of
“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelations 1:5), quote from the bible which has a direct resemblance towards Geers work Bloody Hell. This clearly shows Geers appropriation towards the christian religion as he cleanses himself of the wrong doing of his family, country and ancestors, the “sins”. Geers describes this work as the “beginning of the journey” (Kendell Geers, 20 February 2014) to explain his work. This particular work was a private performance that Geers did, he simply took the blood from his arm and bathed himself in it. This work was was a symbol of rebirth because when he came back into South Africa everything he had learnt became unlawful and he explained himself as having no heritage at this time, this became a rebirth of himself along with his creation of a new heritage of himself through art. This became a fresh start for Kendell Geers. ( Kendell Geers, 20 February 2014) Geers uses one of Nelson Mandela’s favourite poems by William Ernest Henley as a reverence to this work and specifically to the line “my head is bloody, but unbowed” which in meaning means that he will stand up with his head held high and that nothing can get in his way. Like Nelson, who read this poem throughout imprisonment, Kendell Geers was imprisoned within himself and this work was a way of showing and creating his