Eén

The monumental Eén is undeniably a key work in De Bruyckere’s oeuvre. It consists of two antique display cases, each containing a body made of wax, resin and textile. They appear to be caught somewhere between life and death, frozen in state in their final resting place. One figure turns their back to the viewer, as though they have been sent to stand in the corner for punishment. The other resembles two bodies that have merged into one another entirely, intimate and restrained. The defenceless forms embody a recognisable human suffering. 

The glass case is reminiscent of a museum vitrine used to display taxidermied animals, or of the enclosure around a reliquary, simultaneously a barrier and a pilgrimage site. It both draws you in and keeps you at a distance. The work seems to be an attempt to preserve pain or carefully store it away. Like people, the somewhat battered glass cases bear the marks left by time. By reusing the cases, De Bruyckere is incorporating someone else’s past into her work.

In 2005, Eén was the highlight of the exhibition by the same name in De Pont Museum [link]. Within her oeuvre, it marks a transition to fully nude, amorphous forms, more universal and abstract than previous works. The title refers to a joining together – yet there is also a disadvantage to that connection, as the only way to separate the bodies is through a violent act that will rip them both apart.

De Bruyckere’s work is aligned with that of Francis Bacon, Kiki Smith and Louise Bourgeois, artists who deploy the human body as a vehicle for existential themes in order to visualise vulnerability and suffering. At the same time, there is an echo of the vanitas – death as part of life – to be found here as well. The fragile wax she uses to make the sculptures reinforces the idea of something temporary. The surface has been worked in great detail. Every wrinkle bears traces of lived experiences – a reminder of what it means to be human.