216THE ALLURE OF THE VENEERspeculative taxidermy is that of mediating the balance between the lin-
guistic domain and the abrasive essence of materiality. At this point, can
the abandonment of realism equate to a departure from the condition
that traps materiality within the linguistic domains?
K36 confronts the viewer with a deliberately nonaffirmative reconfig-
uration of a very familiar animal body, that of a horse. Through her
reworking, De Bruyckere deliberately blunts the realism of details, which
FIGURE 6.7 Berlinde De Bruyckere, K36 (The Black Horse), 2003. Horseskin, wood,
iron, polyurethane foam. 295 × 286 × 158 cm. Collection Pei-Cheng Peng. © Berlinde
De Bruyckere. Courtesy Hauser & Wirth and Galleria Continua. Photo by Attilio
Maranzano.