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Berlinde De Bruyckere – Statue in a state of being

Ourobouros, Dikkele (Zwalm)

Photo – Nele De Roo

The project ‘WIJHEIZIJWEIHIJ…’ is concluded in a special way with the intriguing contribution by Berlinde De Bruyckere. In the orchard of the biodynamic grower’s garden Ourobouros in Dikkele, she places a statue that is made out of fat, white fat that looks like wax, which is transparent with slight nuances of colour. It reminds us of the transparency of white Carrara marble.

The fat is applied on a carrier of linen as a reference to the textile of old masters’ paintings. The linen is drenched by fat that will be eaten by the birds. The linen will be ripped apart and will fray, just like the loincloths in old masters’ paintings. The statue will find itself in an ever change state of being. From the perfect statue of which you know it will be ruined up till the complete decay when the statue has been completely eaten by birds and insects. The statue combines the negative of decay with the positive of serving as food. It thus becomes an image of hope. Hope that everything will be ok in the end.

Another layer of meaning is that of beauty and perfection. As for Berlinde De Bruyckere the statue shows that it does not need to be beautiful and to please all of the time. The emphasis is on the process and thus also says something about us, about the road we travel. We are all ugly and vulnerable at certain moments, but we don’t dare to show this. Beauty actually resides in other things. For instance in caring for someone else like the statue that serves as food for birds and other animals.

In total the statue will be given over to the elements for about a year. The decaying process will be documented photographically and finally result in a publication.

• Opening:                                     Saturday 20 November 2010 at 3pm
• Visiting hours:                           every Saturday from 2pm till sunset till end of                                                      January 2011
• Address:                                     Ourobouros – orchard, Dikkelsebaan,                                                                  between Olmkensstraat and Hoeksken,                                                                  Dikkele (Zwalm)
• www.ourobouros.be

The contribution of Berlinde De Bruyckere is the end of the project ‘WIJHEIZIJWEIHIJ…’ that ran in different locations in Belgium from June 2010.

CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT

Sometimes art is a way to bring forth social change, to promote social coherence, to battle poverty, respect human rights. Theatre, film and music can be a way to get to grips with some situations.

THE ART PROJECT

In different locations in Belgium we brought together an artist and a farmer to make an art piece or to give room for it. The farmer in this way gets, together with the artist, a central role that is true to the starting point of the ngo Vredeseilanden. Both farmer and artist are at the basis of the human act and survival and are also its future. Without the activity of the farmer, however small, there is no food, no life. The artist has a similar role – he/she depicts his/her surroundings, interprets it and finds new possibilities. Both in their own way supply us with vital food.

As a title ‘WIJHEIZIJWEIHIJ…’ points to the relations between artist and farmer, between us here and them there, between land and human being. The title talks about narrow commitments and dialogue, about discovering, about poetry, attention, beauty. The title is not static but can be composed in changing ways and thus also points to dynamics and creativity.

THE ARTISTS

The artists were selected on the basis of their high artistic quality and their radiation to both a wider and a more specialized public. Their interest in a social dimension, in whatever form, was also important. They are artists from ‘here’ that commit themselves for a wider perspective.

Apart from Berlinde De Bruyckere the other artists we worked with were Johan Creten, Nathalie Hunter, Lucy & Jorge Orta, Koenraad Tinel and Koen Vanmechelen.

THE FARMERS

The farmers were selected on different grounds: sometimes because the artists already knew them and liked working with them. Always because of their commitment and because we wanted to as wide an overview of different ways of farming as possible within this project.

Apart from Karel Houdmont and Ourobouros, they were Koen and Stefan Busschots in Koningshooikt, Dirk Draelants and Koningsmolen, the families Dominique De Clerck, Chris De Dijn and Noël Debeuf at Vollezele and Luc and Krista Callemeyn in Jabbeke.

PARTNERS

For each province a museum was chosen as a referral site, like Museum M in Leuven for Vlaams-Brabant, Mu.ZEE in Ostend for West-Vlaanderen and S.M.A.K. for Oost-Vlaanderen.

http://www.vredeseilanden.be/wijheizijweihij/